As much as I dislike and disagree with most of what he has to say, especially when it comes to the Bengals, I heard him say something the other night that, I believe, hits the nail on the head!!

First let me back up and say one of the best pieces of advice I believe Marvin Lewis has ever given to his players is what he has posted in the locker rooms, and the players have echoed it many times in the interviews:

IGNORE THE NOISE!!

That's what I try to do.  I don't normally listen to pre and post game analysis, and stay pretty much on the Bengals website for news, updates, and opinions.

My son was home and had Sunday night football one a couple weeks ago, and at halftime, Rodney Harrison said this:

"In the past we always heard the talk of how 'talented' the Bengals are, and they are.  The missing ingredient on that team, which I've seen so far in the first 6 games, is they now appear to have that 'mental toughness'.  They never displayed that before as a team."

I was in the kitchen and heard it, and the second he said it, I said, "Bingo!  That's it.  That's the difference this year so far!!"  

Seems to me they have had that now for a while... with the exception of the last game of the year... every year

(10-26-2015, 11:49 AM)CoCoNuT Wrote: Seems to me they have had that now for a while... with the exception of the last game of the year... every year

Negative!  You wouldn't see them lay eggs during the season, especially big stage games.  These next 3 games will tell the true story.

He notoriously hates the Bengals.

Just wait. We lose one game and according to Rod we're the Bungals again...

Funny how teams that execute better and more consistently suddenly also have "mental toughness".

Andy Dalton has lead the Bengals from behind to win tough games before.

In 2012 we started the season 3-5 but finished 7-1 including an "elimination games" against the Steelers in late December.

This team has shown "mental toughness" before.  They just have not shown it in the postseason.  and that is a hump we can't get over no matter how many regular season games we win.  People are still going to doubt us until we actually do it.

People said the exact same thing about Matt Ryan and the Falcons.  Over his first four seasons Ryan was putting up better passing numbers than Dalton and also won more games, but he still didn't get any respect until he took Atlanta to the NFC Championship game in his fifth season.  Now, even though he has not had a winning season since 2012, Ryan is generally accepted as one of the best QBs in the league.  He just had to get over that hurdle of winning a post season game.  His passer rating his first four seasons was 88.4, and his passer rating in the three seasons since his playoff win in 2012 is 91.2.  Almost identical.  Yet he is considered a much better QB just because he "proved he could win in the postseason".

I don't think that is a very valid way to judge players.  But I can't deny that it is the way many people do it.

(10-26-2015, 11:27 AM)bengalguy71 Wrote: As much as I dislike and disagree with most of what he has to say, especially when it comes to the Bengals, I heard him say something the other night that, I believe, hits the nail on the head!!

First let me back up and say one of the best pieces of advice I believe Marvin Lewis has ever given to his players is what he has posted in the locker rooms, and the players have echoed it many times in the interviews:

IGNORE THE NOISE!!

That's what I try to do.  I don't normally listen to pre and post game analysis, and stay pretty much on the Bengals website for news, updates, and opinions.

My son was home and had Sunday night football one a couple weeks ago, and at halftime, Rodney Harrison said this:

"In the past we always heard the talk of how 'talented' the Bengals are, and they are.  The missing ingredient on that team, which I've seen so far in the first 6 games, is they now appear to have that 'mental toughness'.  They never displayed that before as a team."

I was in the kitchen and heard it, and the second he said it, I said, "Bingo!  That's it.  That's the difference this year so far!!"  

Rodney is an ass, especially don't like how he treats Dungy but he is correct here.

There is no quit in this team either. They seem to have that WILL that was not there in the past, especially Dalton and the gang.

We will see how much we got next week against a desperate bitter rival after a bye week where Marv historically never gets his teams ready.

Mental toughness is a part of it, but I still have to credit our scouting department and coaches for bringing in some great talent through the draft and developing that talent. Plus we bring in guys who know how to go about doing things the right way. Call it leadership, mental toughness, or whatever. They've got it. If we stay healthy we could win the Super Bowl this year. Getting Burfict back wouldn't hurt though.

(10-26-2015, 03:59 PM)Shady Wrote: ....... If we stay healthy we could win the Super Bowl this year. Getting Burfict back wouldn't hurt though.

HUGE ......IF!

Bengals are the only team that has the same 53 man roster it started with.

It's only a matter of time.

Hopefully the big injury, down the road, won't happen like it did in 2005!

I never really bought into the" mental toughness" thing. I think it comes down to having the better players all healthy playing at the top of their game and a coaching staff with a great plan and able to execute it.

(10-26-2015, 04:13 PM)grampahol Wrote: I never really bought into the" mental toughness" thing. I think it comes down to having the better players all healthy playing at the top of their game and a coaching staff with a great plan and able to execute it.

Having everyone healthy helps. However, there are lots of teams that have lots of people injured. Specifically the Pats come to mind. Their o-line is a mess with players rotating in and out due to injuries. But the team is tough enough mentally to not let that bother them.

In the past, when the Bengals would have some "bad things" (plays, calls, whatever) they'd let it get to them and wouldn't be able to recover.

(10-26-2015, 12:06 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Negative!  You wouldn't see them lay eggs during the season, especially big stage games.  These next 3 games will tell the true story.

even then the big game is the steelers...

Even though we have 2 prime times in a row its the Browns and the Texans and for how our team has been handling business neither should be much of an issue.

(10-26-2015, 11:27 AM)bengalguy71 Wrote: As much as I dislike and disagree with most of what he has to say, especially when it comes to the Bengals, I heard him say something the other night that, I believe, hits the nail on the head!!

First let me back up and say one of the best pieces of advice I believe Marvin Lewis has ever given to his players is what he has posted in the locker rooms, and the players have echoed it many times in the interviews:

IGNORE THE NOISE!!

That's what I try to do.  I don't normally listen to pre and post game analysis, and stay pretty much on the Bengals website for news, updates, and opinions.

My son was home and had Sunday night football one a couple weeks ago, and at halftime, Rodney Harrison said this:

"In the past we always heard the talk of how 'talented' the Bengals are, and they are.  The missing ingredient on that team, which I've seen so far in the first 6 games, is they now appear to have that 'mental toughness'.  They never displayed that before as a team."

I was in the kitchen and heard it, and the second he said it, I said, "Bingo!  That's it.  That's the difference this year so far!!"  

Now our fans need that mental toughness, heck half will jump ship if we lose one game!

I do think the mental part of the NFL is a big one but I also think this:

1. Our young team has matured
2. Andy Dalton is playing lights out 
3. Our offense is 100% firing on all cylinders.
   

Take those 3 bullet points and you have an undefeated squad thus far!

(10-26-2015, 12:06 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Negative!  You wouldn't see them lay eggs during the season, especially big stage games.  These next 3 games will tell the true story.

More important than this thread, what on earth happened to your rep mate

(10-26-2015, 04:31 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: even then the big game is the steelers...

Even though we have 2 prime times in a row its the Browns and the Texans and for how our team has been handling business neither should be much of an issue.

The browns are always an issue for us, no matter how bad a season they are having.

(10-26-2015, 06:54 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: More important than this thread, what on earth happened to your rep mate

I could care less about that!  I haven't used foul language, attacked or been disrespectful to any member on here. Outside of that, its all like a video game!

(10-26-2015, 06:54 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: More important than this thread, what on earth happened to your rep mate

Guessing it was mostly due to this thread:

http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Back-Down-To-Earth

"Agreeing With Rodney Harrison????"

Never

Also, Whines Hard and Ray Lewis

Again, Never

(10-26-2015, 08:36 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: Guessing it was mostly due to this thread:

http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Back-Down-To-Earth

Like I said, wait until they lay their first egg.

There will threads with so much hate and ridicule, that will make the above thread look timid.

(10-26-2015, 08:26 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: I could care less about that!  I haven't used foul language, attacked or been disrespectful to any member on here. Outside of that, its all like a video game!

Exactly how much less could you care?

(10-26-2015, 09:00 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Like I said, wait until they lay their first egg.

There will threads with so much hate and ridicule, that will make the above thread look timid.

No there won't.