(12-04-2019, 08:00 AM)Wyche Wrote: Jets also played without their starting QB for over a month, played with 3rd string QB Luke Falk for a few games, but you keep glossing over that fact for some reason.

Since Darnold has returned to the lineup, their offense has improved. Gee, I wonder why?

The Raiders scored 3 against the number 7 defense in the league, the Jets. They scored 9 against the 16th points allowed D...coupled with the number 3 offense that doesn't allow you on the field very much in KC, and 10 against our improving defense. But hey, why delve into any numbers when you have an agenda to push?

It won't kill you to admit the team is beginning to show signs of life even though it's much too late. Go on, try a *little* bit of positivity and see if the sky falls.  

The Dolphins won this week. The Redskins won. The bad teams are all looking better.

We're 1-11. Our positivity is not going 0-16. You know that Bengals management is thinking the EXACT same thing as your post. Like we put things together.

It took 12 weeks to actually resemble an NFL team. 12 weeks!

(12-04-2019, 12:14 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: It took 12 weeks to actually resemble an NFL team. 12 weeks!

They played very well against Seattle in week 1.

Field goal loss to Arizona (but it was Arizona)

Lost by 4 to what is turning out to be a Solid Bills team.

Gave Oakland a "bit" of a scare in Oakland with Finley at QB.

A long way to go but NFL Teams can improve a lot year over year if proper moves are made.  A Big if though with this Franchise...

I still have some Hope for Zac but he will have to pound the Table for certain players & ideas to influence Front Office Culture.

(12-04-2019, 12:51 PM)depthchart Wrote: They played very well against Seattle in week 1.

Field goal loss to Arizona (but it was Arizona)

Lost by 4 to what is turning out to be a Solid Bills team.

Gave Oakland a "bit" of a scare in Oakland with Finley at QB.

A long way to go but NFL Teams can improve a lot year over year if proper moves are made.  A Big if though with this Franchise...

I still have some Hope for Zac but he will have to pound the Table for certain players & ideas to influence Front Office Culture.

We're 1-11. The WORST record in the NFL.

In Dave Shula's rookie year, he won 5 games and lost another 5 by 7 points or less.

In the NFL, you either win or lose. You don't count close losses.

Plus, against the Bills and I believe Cards...we barely moved the ball in the 1st half. Terrible performances.

Rivera will be a head coach somewhere next season or he will get a fat check from ESPN then get a sweet coaching gig. Doubt he would be a coordinator anywhere.

(12-04-2019, 12:14 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: The Dolphins won this week. The Redskins won. The bad teams are all looking better.

We're 1-11. Our positivity is not going 0-16. You know that Bengals management is thinking the EXACT same thing as your post. Like we put things together.

It took 12 weeks to actually resemble an NFL team. 12 weeks!

I'm not Mikey, I have no delusions we've put anything together....but I will note improvement when I see it....lol.

Bengals management is likely looking at Swiss chalets right about now for their next ski trip.

(12-04-2019, 02:23 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: We're 1-11. The WORST record in the NFL.

In Dave Shula's rookie year, he won 5 games and lost another 5 by 7 points or less.

In the NFL, you either win or lose. You don't count close losses.

Plus, against the Bills and I believe Cards...we barely moved the ball in the 1st half. Terrible performances.

We're six starters at least away from being a contender and thats not including losing our free agents that would make it 9.
No doubt this team shouldn't be satisfied with one win.

(12-04-2019, 02:23 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: We're 1-11. The WORST record in the NFL.

In Dave Shula's rookie year, he won 5 games and lost another 5 by 7 points or less.

In the NFL, you either win or lose. You don't count close losses.

Plus, against the Bills and I believe Cards...we barely moved the ball in the 1st half. Terrible performances.

You mentioned them not resembling an NFL team for 12 weeks but they definitely resembled one in week 1 versus Seattle.

I agree that the Pendulum has swung far to the bad side in 2019 but not to the extreme "not competitive at all or ever" point.

I personally think that hopeful signs can be found in close losses (against playoff caliber teams especially)

Maybe at times the Bengals have resembled an NFL team in 2019 but not as often or consistently as we would hope.

(12-04-2019, 02:38 PM)depthchart Wrote: You mentioned them not resembling an NFL team for 12 weeks but they definitely resembled one in week 1 versus Seattle.

I agree that the Pendulum has swung far to the bad side in 2019 but not to the extreme "not competitive at all or ever" point.

I personally think that hopeful signs can be found in close losses (against playoff caliber teams especially)

Maybe at times the Bengals have resembled an NFL team in 2019 but not as often or consistently as we would hope.

So we resembled an NFL team twice all year?

I posted numbers earlier comparing this years team to the 1993 team. We didn't get beat by 40 points every game in 1993 either. In fact, the margin of defeat was fairly close.

The bottom line is we are the worst team in the league. You can find whatever hope you want in that, but tanking teams like the Dolphins have 3 wins.

(12-04-2019, 02:42 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: So we resembled an NFL team twice all year?

I posted numbers earlier comparing this years team to the 1993 team. We didn't get beat by 40 points every game in 1993 either. In fact, the margin of defeat was fairly close.

The bottom line is we are the worst team in the league. You can find whatever hope you want in that, but tanking teams like the Dolphins have 3 wins.

You are Preaching to the Choir here for the most part.

The issue will be whether they Remain the worst team in the League going forward.

You seem to imply a hopelessness going forward.

Zac jumped in with both feet having little experience with a deficient Roster, a New inexperienced Staff and they got pummeled.

Now lets see what he can do as he gains experience and recalibrates the Roster/Staff going forward.

If there are no Silver linings anywhere to be found in virtually any game in 2019 then they will likely remain doormats.

If they do NOT remain doormats going forward then we may look back at 2019 and see those few flakes of Silver with hind site.

Anyone who honestly thinks Ron Rivera is going to come here to work under Zac Taylor is as delusional as Mike Brown is cheap.

(12-03-2019, 07:50 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: You just gotta think that teams like the Redskins, Jets, Browns, Bears and others would likely see him as a great HC option.

You would think we would too...

(12-04-2019, 03:09 PM)depthchart Wrote: You are Preaching to the Choir here for the most part.

The issue will be whether they Remain the worst team in the League going forward.

You seem to imply a hopelessness going forward.

Zac jumped in with both feet having little experience with a deficient Roster, a New inexperienced Staff and they got pummeled.

Now lets see what he can do as he gains experience and recalibrates the Roster/Staff going forward.

If there are no Silver linings anywhere to be found in virtually any game in 2019 then they will likely remain doormats.

If they do NOT remain doormats going forward then we may look back at 2019 and see those few flakes of Silver with hind site.

I don't think the situation is hopeless...but I feel like IF say they finish the year 3-2...they may decide to just use the draft and stand pat on free agency and ride that 3-2 finish to an 11-5 record next year. I feel like this is a highly likely scenario.

As a previous poster mentioned...we are 6-9 starters away. We'll be lucky to get 2 in the next draft. So you have to fill the other spots.


We need to make roster improvements and maybe some coaching changes.

I think what you will see is that teams like the Bengals, Redskins, and Dolphins are all playing better at the end of the year. That happens when teams are eliminated and play lose. Seems like every year.

I’d say that some team will snatch him up pretty fast. He’s a true head coach,a leader.Most likely landing spot is probably the New York Giants

(12-04-2019, 03:47 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I don't think the situation is hopeless...but I feel like IF say they finish the year 3-2...they may decide to just use the draft and stand pat on free agency and ride that 3-2 finish to an 11-5 record next year. I feel like this is a highly likely scenario.

As a previous poster mentioned...we are 6-9 starters away. We'll be lucky to get 2 in the next draft. So you have to fill the other spots.


We need to make roster improvements and maybe some coaching changes.

I think what you will see is that teams like the Bengals, Redskins, and Dolphins are all playing better at the end of the year. That happens when teams are eliminated and play lose. Seems like every year.

Generally standing pat and Drafting is this Organization's comfort zone.

Zac may not realize that his biggest Win may have to be him Influencing changes to how the Bengals handle the offseason.

He needs to ruffle Mike & Duke's feathers for certain changes to have his best chance at success.

(12-04-2019, 04:05 PM)depthchart Wrote: Generally standing pat and Drafting is this Organization's comfort zone.

Zac may not realize that his biggest Win may have to be him Influencing changes to how the Bengals handle the offseason.

He needs to ruffle Mike & Duke's feathers for certain changes to have his best chance at success.

Unfortunately he's not in a position to ruffle anybody's anything...

(12-04-2019, 04:16 PM)3wt Wrote: Unfortunately he's not in a position to ruffle anybody's anything...

You are probably right.

He is a young man with a wife and family getting an NFL Head Coach paycheck so he may not want to risk his job by bracing up to Mike & Duke's Roster Plans.

Hopefully he can smooth talk for some of his own ideas versus the "ruffling" approach but it would be nice to see someone "ruffle" Mike towards a New approach to the point of causing countless wrinkles to be seen in Mike's suit right after the ruffling.

(12-03-2019, 06:37 PM)pally Wrote: The defense has shown signs of life over the last couple of weeks. Hey, they've moved from 32 to 31 in total defense.  But Ron Rivera has just be fired from the Panthers  Assuming he doesn't get another HC gig,  which he is likely to get. I can't help but think he would be an upgrade over Lou.

why would ZT Fire his buddy?

(12-04-2019, 04:05 PM)depthchart Wrote: Generally standing pat and Drafting is this Organization's comfort zone.

Zac may not realize that his biggest Win may have to be him Influencing changes to how the Bengals handle the offseason.

He needs to ruffle Mike & Duke's feathers for certain changes to have his best chance at success.

I don't think he's gonna have to ruffle any feathers. I believe they are behind him 100%, and know that this season he wasn't ready with staff/players/FA's etc, they did the same with Marvin in his first year. Got him FA's that he wanted and for the next couple years to. They will do the same for Zac now that he's got his feet wet. Also how many coaches did Marvin have to hire to start his tenure? Not to many, then slowly he picked and chose his own. Big difference.

(12-04-2019, 03:28 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: You would think we would too...

That's true, Nate.  The Bengals should be looking at men like Ron Rivera, and thinking to themselves "Wow, that guy's always been a winner, he got a raw deal do to injuries that he couldn't control.  We should reach out to him.".  However, let's not forget who our ownership and General Management team consists of, and the philosophies that they live by..

(12-04-2019, 05:54 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: I don't think he's gonna have to ruffle any feathers. I believe they are behind him 100%, and know that this season he wasn't ready with staff/players/FA's etc, they did the same with Marvin in his first year. Got him FA's that he wanted and for the next couple years to. They will do the same for Zac now that he's got his feet wet. Also how many coaches did Marvin have to hire to start his tenure? Not to many, then slowly he picked and chose his own. Big difference.

I hope you are correct.

I would expect that Zac gets to choose the QB he will want going forward or at least hope that he will get to.

Seems like he is getting to pick his Staff.

Will he get to choose from the Higher Quality Free Agent pool or have to choose from the mid tier or lower pools ?

Free agency may be where he has to ruffle some feathers to get one or two higher quality guys.