As we know the proof will be in their play but so far so good

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2020/05/31/lou-anarumo-cincinnati-bengals-trying-creative-offseason/5300408002/

Quote:“All of them have done well on our side and their football IQ,” Anarumo told The Enquirer. ”I think it all goes back to the type of guys we looked to take, former captains, leaders, guys that are good communicators and going from there. We are pleased so far.”

The Bengals’ free-agent acquisitions have asserted themselves during the voluntary virtual offseason as well.

“The new guys have communicated well. D.J. Reader has spoke up in the d-line meetings. Josh Bynes has done a good job as a veteran communicating in the linebacker meetings. In the backend, you have a bunch of guys who like to stick their chest out, if you will, in Vonn Bell and Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander,” Anarumo said to The Enquirer. “All those guys have done well.”

There's reasonable hope for improvement, but Anarumo himself is one of my bigger concerns for the season.

Good to hear

Yes it means little until it actually comes together on the field. However I really like and agree with the angle they're taking to get there. Guys with experience, leaders, captains. Surely it will help.

How many times over the last 3 seasons or so have we seen the defense get burned on passing plays, well any play really ? And the DB's and LBers are all looking around and at each other with that WTF look on their faces ? Hopefully we can cut the majority of that out.

(06-01-2020, 12:19 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Good to hear  

Yes it means little until it actually comes together on the field. However I really like and agree with the angle they're taking to get there. Guys with experience, leaders, captains. Surely it will help.

How many times over the last 3 seasons or so have we seen the defense get burned on passing plays, well any play really ? And the DB's and LBers  are all looking around and at each other with that WTF look on their faces ? Hopefully we can cut the majority of that out.

And you have to hope this was not a coaching issue - and from the Anarumo quotes it sounds like it was a player issue.

We'll see.   But give me smart, aggressive, accountable...

(06-01-2020, 01:33 PM)3wt Wrote: And you have to hope this was not a coaching issue - and from the Anarumo quotes it sounds like it was a player issue.

We'll see.   But give me smart, aggressive, accountable...

Just think about how many times last year guys were in position to make the play on third downs, for instance, and a missed tackle allowed the conversion.  Right off the top of my head, I can think of one of those that cost us the Bills game.

(06-01-2020, 02:04 PM)McC Wrote: Just think about how many times last year guys were in position to make the play on third downs, for instance, and a missed tackle allowed the conversion.  Right off the top of my head, I can think of one of those that cost us the Bills game.

Lou said last week, guys not doing their job last season were gone. I have a hunch that is why players like Brown and Dre were shit canned. 

(06-01-2020, 02:51 PM)sandwedge Wrote: Lou said last week, guys not doing their job last season were gone. I have a hunch that is why players like Brown and Dre were shit canned. 

Now it's on Lou to see what he can do with the type of guys he wants.

(06-01-2020, 12:11 PM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: There's reasonable hope for improvement, but Anarumo himself is one of my bigger concerns for the season.

This.

Anarumo and Taylor are more of a concern for me than their players. I'd rather have the 2019 roster with Hue Jackson (or Jay Gruden) on offense and Mike Zimmer on defense than the 2020 roster with Zac Taylor on offense and Lou Anarumo on defense.

Everything sounds great on a zoom call, let’s see if their brains and bodies are coordinated enough to execute...

(06-01-2020, 12:11 PM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: There's reasonable hope for improvement, but Anarumo himself is one of my bigger concerns for the season.

Yep. 

Last year, the Bengals defense allowed 26.25 pts per game on average. The offense scored a terrible 17.4 pts per game.
Given that I don't see this offense magically becoming a 27+ point team all of a sudden, the defense will probably need to average 21 pts or less a game if they want to turn many of those losses into wins.

It’s never a bad thing to have quick learners and guys paying attention and wanting to learn in the classroom. Execution is what matters but knowing where you need to be and what they want you to do is the first step to execution. It’s better than the slow learner thing.

(06-01-2020, 02:51 PM)sandwedge Wrote: Lou said last week, guys not doing their job last season were gone. 

He should have said "players" instead of "guys".

It seemed to me that there were a lot more big plays given up on "blown coverages" than DBs just getting beat one-on-one.  It looked like more of a coaching problem than a player problem.

Kirkpatrick and Jackson didn't constantly look confused back in 2017 when our pass defense was 8th in yards allowed and 12 in pass efficiency.

(06-01-2020, 05:59 PM)fredtoast Wrote: He should have said "players" instead of "guys".

It seemed to me that there were a lot more big plays given up on "blown coverages" than DBs just getting beat one-on-one.  It looked like more of a coaching problem than a player problem.

Kirkpatrick and Jackson didn't constantly look confused back in 2017 when our pass defense was 8th in yards allowed and 12 in pass efficiency.

1.) We were given up big plays in the 18 as well as last season.
2.)The defense improved after Preston Brown was cut.
3.) It was a new system of course there were going to be bumps in the road.

(06-01-2020, 12:11 PM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: There's reasonable hope for improvement, but Anarumo himself is one of my bigger concerns for the season.

You might be right, but I'm willing to see what he can do with some players that he had a hand in bringing in to the team.  I've got a feeling that it might not have been him, as much as the players skill sets not fitting what he wanted to do.  Square pegs don't fit into round holes, and vice versa.

I'm more concerned about Zac than Lou. Zac pretty much run the offense which I was not too happy, we always invest heavily in our offense more than our defense. Last season we had many 3 and outs, a rookie QB and tired QB and our D was on the field most of the time. I expect more from our offense this season than I will expect from our defense. I dont think most of us think of D is gonna get us to the playoffs but rather Mixon, AJ, Burrow and Boyd. If we can't score, we can't win.

Lou's going to field a tough defense this year, bank on it.

(06-02-2020, 08:32 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Lou's going to field a tough defense this year, bank on it.

Believe so too. Love the leadership focus.

(06-01-2020, 08:56 PM)J24 Wrote: 1.) We were given up big plays in the 18 as well as last season.
2.)The defense improved after Preston Brown was cut.
3.) It was a new system of course there were going to be bumps in the road.

This, and I will add that they looked damn good week 1 and knocked Russell Wilson around quite a bit, but it didn't take long (the next week) for teams to figure out how to attack the Bengals:   The LBs.  

(06-01-2020, 02:04 PM)McC Wrote: Just think about how many times last year guys were in position to make the play on third downs, for instance, and a missed tackle allowed the conversion.  Right off the top of my head, I can think of one of those that cost us the Bills game.

That's so true.   All of the incoming folks have reps as really good tacklers - from the rookies to the FAs.   That's what makes Waynes worth the overpayment.   He's a quantum improvement tackling wise.  

(06-01-2020, 12:11 PM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: There's reasonable hope for improvement, but Anarumo himself is one of my bigger concerns for the season.

Yea pretty much. Can Lou put a good defense together?