(02-23-2016, 11:47 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: The season was a failure. Until there's a playoff win, not a bye, a win, then the season is a failure, which gets the letter grade F.

(02-23-2016, 03:33 PM)Hoofhearted Wrote:

(02-24-2016, 01:49 AM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: Sorry, but that Texans game drops the Bengals season grade down one full point alone.

(02-24-2016, 11:52 AM)2MinutesHate Wrote: For the talent this team has, anything over a "C" is just thinking with your heart and not your head.

(02-24-2016, 12:06 PM)fredtoast Wrote: A Division title with a last second loss in the playoffs with the #2 QB does not equal a "C".  

Anyone who thinks so is just hating.  You would not give a grade like that to any other team in the league who did the same thing.  It is only a "C" because it is the Bengals.

(02-24-2016, 04:14 PM)2MinutesHate Wrote: A Division Title!!  Holy smokes Fred!  Did you get one of those AFC North Division Winner caps or t-shirts?  If you're a Redskins or Texans fan, you could've also ordered similar apparel.  

I wouldn't say I'm "hating", but I'm am critical and giving them a "C" for underachieving this year.  You have to win when it counts, and they did not.  Nobody really cares about your regular season record.  Teams like Denver and Carolina get "A's", while teams like the Pats and Steelers get high "B's".  If you think the Bengals should get either an "A" or a "B", I think you're just being silly.  I even think that the Bengals might have actually been one of the top 2 teams in the NFL.  If we're grading just the regular season, I'd give them B+ to A-.  Unfortunately, the season doesn't end there and McCarron was playing well enough for the Bengals to win, which they were.

It's ridiculous the way they lost that game and I'm not giving them a gold star and a pat on the back for their record.  They had an awesome team this past year but melted down in the playoffs (again).  The end of this season bothered me more than any other in 35 years watching this team.  I'm glad for you that you enjoyed your season, but I just have sour grapes over the ending.  

(02-24-2016, 04:30 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: Really the Steelers defense was dominating us until Ben went down. The only ridiculous thing about that game was how good our defense was playing to keep us in the game (which we were only winning very briefly).

Honestly though I don't see how anyone would give us a "C" just because we couldn't win a playoff game with a backup QB. The Bengals had a great 2015 season, and anyone who wants to downplay it is just silly.

(02-23-2016, 08:26 PM)CincyProduct Wrote: First you say first 8 games were average, then you call that start amazing make up your mind....

(02-24-2016, 04:45 PM)2MinutesHate Wrote: Ben doesn't play defense and we had the game won pretty much.  Total collapse by the best Bengal team that we may ever see.  Anyone can say, "We would've won with Dalton, so it really doesn't count."  Every team has injuries.  The Steelers might have destroyed us without their own injuries with or without Dalton.  I don't waste my time thinking about hypothetical situations.

I'm saying, A's are for Super Bowl teams, B's are for playoff winning teams, and C's-F's are for all the rest.  Doesn't matter what your record is if you don't win in the playoffs.  Sorry, but that's my take.  I don't think there's any right or wrong answer.  It's just an opinion.

Lots of criticism of other's grades but nothing to offer yourself?  

“Never make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them.” - John Wooden

(02-23-2016, 04:13 PM)jj22 Wrote: If we can be honest, after the first 8 games the team was pretty average. We lost 3 out of the 4 national tv games which was pretty typical of the Bengals and can't be considered an improvement. We only needed to win one more game to get a bye (which at the time was meaning a good chance to get Dalton back), and we choked under pressure, which again is typical. And we lost to playoff teams late in the season, which again is typical. So you can't say it was anything more than an average season. Even with the improvement of Dalton.

Overall after the amazing start, the team crashed and burned. Even with honorable backup qb play.

(02-24-2016, 12:11 AM)fredtoast Wrote:

How do you live everyday as a complete failure?  Especially since everyone of your friends and family are also complete failures?

At least the Bengals have hope.  How so you survive with none?

(02-24-2016, 06:47 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: I don't live in a competitive sport? The goal of any sport is to win, the Bengals are past the point of regular season wins meaning anything. The only way for this current team to get anything but an F is to win in the post season.

(02-24-2016, 06:01 PM)ochocincos Wrote: No he didn't. He said....

"If we can be honest, after the first 8 games the team was pretty average."

So he's not being inconsistent. It was just being misread.

(02-24-2016, 07:38 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If that is your opinion then you also have to believe that you and everyone you know is a complete failure.

We all agree that the goal is to win.  We all agree that the Bengals did not win the Super Bowl.  But only you think that deserves an "F", for complete failure.  How can you think like that about a football tram, but not apply it to your real life. If anything less than the best in the world is a complete failure in sports why not in your life also? 

I don't know if you are a complete failure, but you are clearly a hypocrite who judges others differently than yourself.

(02-24-2016, 09:50 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: Grading a team vs grading individual players or performances are completely different, as well as, trying to grade life, which doesn't have a single goal vs. a sport that does have a single goal, are completely different. I don't grade people's life because there is no standard way to live your life that makes you a winner or loser, it's all just opinions.

This "team" failed this year, no gray area in my opinion. The goal was win a playoff game. Do that and get an "A", don't do that and get an "F". In past years there were gray areas of B's and C's, team was young, playoff game was on the road, too many injuries. We are well past excuses as this point.

(02-24-2016, 09:20 PM)Derrick Wrote: Look, 8-0 is awesome! But they did their typical swan dive the rest of the season. That is 100% on Marvin Lewis PERIOD! Plot the season on a graph and a "C" looks like a gift.  It will never get better with Marvy. Marvin has gotten a lot of credit that should have been awarded to Duke Tobin. Marvin IS a "C" at best.

(02-24-2016, 10:02 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Anyone who does not see any difference between the '15 Bengals and the '15 Titans doesn't know anything about football.