I agree with sandwedge and sunset. I'm not looking for a specific number of wins.
I want to the team playing hard to the end, improving every week, and NOT repeating mistakes. There will be plenty of those, I assure you, we just need to learn from them.

(04-29-2020, 07:26 PM)SladeX Wrote: I agree with sandwedge and sunset. I'm not looking for a specific number of wins.
I want to the team playing hard to the end, improving every week,  and NOT repeating  mistakes. There will be plenty of those, I assure you, we just need to learn from them.

Yeah that's my view.

I thought some of the bad areas improved some as the season went on. I expect to see some improvement as the season goes on this year. That happens and we're dominating December, I'm happy. Even if we only win 4-6 games, as long as it looks like we're heading into a solid 2021.

Now if we play flat all year, then I'll get on the "burn it all down" bandwagon.

(04-29-2020, 03:26 PM)jason Wrote: Anything under 8-8 is a disappointment this season.

Pretty much where I'm at. 8 of our losses were by one score or less last season. Our free agency and draft should basically swing those in our favor for this season. 

Hopefully I would expect nothing less than 9-7 from this team.I think the forty niners only won 4or 5 games year before last, and then became a super bowl team.It happens.

I'm hoping at least a .500 record...

My expectation is a winning season. It's a 17 game season upcoming, assuming normal returns, right?

I'll go with 10 - 7 & one of the wild card spots.

Burrow wins ROY.

(04-30-2020, 09:23 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: My expectation is a winning season. It's a 17 game season upcoming, assuming normal returns, right?

I'll go with 10 - 7 & one of the wild card spots.

Burrow wins ROY.

No, that wouldn’t start until 2021 at the soonest iirc. There will be extra playoff teams this season though.

(04-29-2020, 09:04 PM)Benton Wrote: Yeah that's my view.

I thought some of the bad areas improved some as the season went on. I expect to see some improvement as the season goes on this year. That happens and we're dominating December, I'm happy. Even if we only win 4-6 games, as long as it looks like we're heading into a solid 2021.

Now if we play flat all year, then I'll get on the "burn it all down" bandwagon.

I don't want to sound like I am just greasing the skids to get Zac out of here, but I don't see how we could look like we are headed in the right direction if we just win 4-6 games.

I'll cut Zac some slack if there are a lot of injuries.  We have added a god bit of talent, but we still don't have much depth.  And I'll give him a break if we lose some games on hail marys, pick sixes, or some lucky flukes like that, but keeping games close is meaningless.  Almost EVERY NFL game is close.  When you look at betting lines it is rare to see a spread over 7 points.  The biggest difference between good coaches and bad coaches is winning the close games.

(04-30-2020, 10:02 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: No, that wouldn’t start until 2021 at the soonest iirc. There will be extra playoff teams this season though.

Well then, my 10-7 is now 10-6.

Assuming that there will even be a season at all, and it's looking less likely by the hour there will be, but just to indulge ourselves for no other reason than nothing else to do why not go for bust? They go undefeated and win the whole thing. Is it possible? Sure, why not?  We got Borrow, Higgins, Mixon, AJ and a cast of thousands..we've also taken just too many for the league so it's our damned turn.  So there!  

(04-30-2020, 10:32 AM)grampahol Wrote: Assuming that there will even be a season at all, and it's looking less likely by the hour there will be, but just to indulge ourselves for no other reason than nothing else to do why not go for bust? They go undefeated and win the whole thing. Is it possible? Sure, why not?  We got Borrow, Higgins, Mixon, AJ and a cast of thousands..we've also taken just too many for the league so it's our damned turn.  So there!  

The "best case" scenario is that the NFL will play games in empty stadiums.

The "worst case" scenario is that the season will be canceled completely.

(04-30-2020, 10:04 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't want to sound like I am just greasing the skids to get Zac out of here, but I don't see how we could look like we are headed in the right direction if we just win 4-6 games.

I'll cut Zac some slack if there are a lot of injuries.  We have added a god bit of talent, but we still don't have much depth.  And I'll give him a break if we lose some games on hail marys, pick sixes, or some lucky flukes like that, but keeping games close is meaningless.  Almost EVERY NFL game is close.  When you look at betting lines it is rare to see a spread over 7 points.  The biggest difference between good coaches and bad coaches is winning the close games.

If our QB is in fact human, he will make some mistakes. He needs to learn from them, but some of them could cost some games. 
Also, for whatever reason, last offseason was abysmal,  which I lay at the feet of the FO, not the coaching staff. So it's like ZTs first season. Not really, but I give them credit for improving and ADAPTING during the season.
So yeah, you do sound like you're greasing the skids.
I THINK the team can and should win more games this year, but my measuring stick is not the W/L column.

I watched a youtube video the other day from an outside fans perspective. Basically he said we are up and coming, and next year should be our 'look out for us' season.

Look at our division really quick
Ravens -- SuperBowl favorites right now, have a really good roster
Steelers -- Getting Big Ben back, went 8-8 without him. Could be a good year for them
Browns -- Had the down year last year after all the hype, have potential to get back on track
Bengals -- Drafted Burrow, but was the worst team last year, will need to improve a lot

He said this years focus should be making a splash much like the Browns did two years ago. You WANT to be the Browns of two years ago, when they went from 1-31 the past 2 years to a respectable (for a bad team) 7-9.

We need to challenge our divisional opponents, where yes, we aren't going to win the division, but they don't necessarily want to play against us either. "Ah shit, that Joe Burrow guy is coming to town looking to throw it all over the field. They haven't won many games but they are a hassle to deal with."

I think the realistic goal for next year is to split games with our divisional opponents and let Joe sling it around the field to gain as much experience as he can and to show the world he is for real. Don't worry about the record as much as the 'feel' of this team being an up and coming juggernaut.

with training camp not likely to happen it will take a bit for this team to gel. lots of new pieces, many are going to be disappointed with the win total this year imo. but its almost assured to be a odd year.

(04-29-2020, 12:39 PM)Fullrock Wrote: I know we're all excited about the season, and rightfully so. We have a new face of the franchise, spent the most money ever in free agency to bring in quality players, and have some talent on both sides of the ball.

The question: What are your realistic expectations this season in terms of wins and losses?

This is going to be far from a normal off-season. No rookie mini-camp, no OTA's, no team mini-camp, and possibly a delayed or abbreviated training camp. I'm not sure that bodes well for a team that will have several new starters on defense, 2 or 3 new starters on the offensive line, and a rookie QB under center. It's hard to replace the physical reps that come with being on the field.

With all that said, I think a realistic goal for this team is
8-8. It's going to be tough in the division. Every team improved themselves, and if Ben returns to form (that's a big if at his age) it'll be a dog fight to win 3 division games for this team. I'll be ecstatic if they can get to 8 wins and build toward a playoff appearance in 2021. Of course, I'll gladly hope to be wrong and wish for double digit wins.

The lack of OTA's aside, anything less than 6 wins should be considered a failure for the coaching staff.

In 2018 this was a 6 win team and the team has gone out and spent a ton of money of free agents, plus had the 1st pick in every round. If this coaching staff cannot produce at least what Marvin did in his final season then we can't pin it on Mike Brown and Co for being miserly.

This roster has more talent, at least on paper, than the 2018 team had by a decent margin. So it should produce more wins one would expect and should expect.

 

(04-30-2020, 01:47 PM)BengalChris Wrote: The lack of OTA's aside, anything less than 6 wins should be considered a failure for the coaching staff.

In 2018 this was a 6 win team and the team has gone out and spent a ton of money of free agents, plus had the 1st pick in every round. If this coaching staff cannot produce at least what Marvin did in his final season then we can't pin it on Mike Brown and Co for being miserly.

This roster has more talent, at least on paper, than the 2018 team had by a decent margin. So it should produce more wins one would expect and should expect.

 

Completely agree with this Chris, well said. MB and co helped out Taylor big time this Offseason so there will not be an excuse
except if we are just decimated by injuries and Burrow plays poorly. The latter I find very hard to believe, the Offense and Defense
should be much better than the last few years and the ST's is tops in the league.

(04-30-2020, 10:40 AM)PV Bengal Wrote: The "best case" scenario is that the NFL will play games in empty stadiums.

The "worst case" scenario is that the season will be canceled completely.

Worst case is the league folds and football goes away, but I kind of doubt that will be the case. I do suspect that salaries will change if the season is canned and they have to pay salaries anyway this year or even next as well. Truth is nobody really knows what the virus is going to do and if they can develop a viable vaccine in time to keep too many businesses from folding and millions cast into poverty.  Scary times no matter how you look at it. 

To me, it boils down to one simple thing: Health.

If AJ Green, John Ross, and Joe Burrow are healthy all season, this team makes the playoffs. I am predicting that will happen with a 10-6 record.

It is going to be a tough division, but I can see them splitting with the AFC North, and getting 7 wins out of the remaining 10 games. Once the playoffs start, it will be crazy around here. Burrow will grow and develop throughout the season and the team should really be hitting its stride ny year's end.

I also am predicting the subsequent explosion of the heads of the following ass clowns:

Mike Florio
Colin Cowherd
Stephen A. Smith

Burrows is not the QB everyone thought he was. Product of the system. AJ never plays for us again or Ross. The FAs are all busts and we do the 3-13. We draft at the top again and take Lawrence! That is the Bungles we all know and love.

(04-29-2020, 12:39 PM)Fullrock Wrote: I know we're all excited about the season, and rightfully so. We have a new face of the franchise, spent the most money ever in free agency to bring in quality players, and have some talent on both sides of the ball.

The question: What are your realistic expectations this season in terms of wins and losses?

This is going to be far from a normal off-season. No rookie mini-camp, no OTA's, no team mini-camp, and possibly a delayed or abbreviated training camp. I'm not sure that bodes well for a team that will have several new starters on defense, 2 or 3 new starters on the offensive line, and a rookie QB under center. It's hard to replace the physical reps that come with being on the field.

With all that said, I think a realistic goal for this team is
8-8. It's going to be tough in the division. Every team improved themselves, and if Ben returns to form (that's a big if at his age) it'll be a dog fight to win 3 division games for this team. I'll be ecstatic if they can get to 8 wins and build toward a playoff appearance in 2021. Of course, I'll gladly hope to be wrong and wish for double digit wins.

Absolutely agree. I think an 8-8 record would be a fantastic turnaround. So long as Burrow is as advertised....and Jonah Williams....I think the team will be competitive, but I'm not sure it'll be a contender. Now, if Burrow comes in and has the best rookie campaign ever? All bets are off. Who knows where we'd end up. I expect some growing pains, even with a prospect as good as Joe. It's just the nature of the beast.