(11-12-2024, 09:58 PM)samhain Wrote: Yeah you gotta love their play designs on third and short.  Either throw it to Ja'marr behind the LOS or throw a bomb downfield.  

(11-12-2024, 09:38 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: More than that Lou can point to losing Dax Hill, who was looking to have found a home at CB, going down for the year with injury as a key contribution to the defensive failures. He can also point to losing both starting DTs and an aspiring rookie DT to short term injuries as an excuse for the early season struggles. Bottom line is that the front office set him up for failure by not ensuring that he had a genuine NT on the roster to start the year. And then to add insult to injury (no pun intended) the same front office teases with bringing in Howard for a workout at CB and let him leave without a deal...

(11-12-2024, 10:09 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: And people can point to where Lou’s defense has finished every season since he’s been here (Leap has posted it recently). You can only live off a couple nice playoff runs where the defense got some timely turnovers for so long. At some point you have to look at his results as a whole. And they aren’t great.

If he would have been able to field even a mediocre defense this season we’re currently in a playoff spot.

(11-12-2024, 10:19 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Is that his fault that the team let the key components of an even mediocre defense that was able to come up with some timely turnovers walk to other teams? No amount of coaching would have made the defensive roster function well this season, I mean they might have had a shot before all of the DT injuries and then later losing Dax Hill. You can pin this one on the front office for not keeping a NT, Safety and attempting to rush some DB draft picks into starting roles. All of that talk about "saving the money to keep the WRs together", yet no WRs signed or extended, still an OL that can't get a yard when they need a yard. Oh, and their 1st round DE is starting to look more like a bust than a promising, developing player as well.

I'm all for blaming coaches for bad calls, not preaching fundamentals, etc. But when it's clearly a lack of talent at key positions on the roster, that's the FO fault.

(11-12-2024, 10:19 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Oh, and their 1st round DE is starting to look more like a bust than a promising, developing player as well.

Here is the statistical comparison of Murphy, Ossai, and Hubbard over the past 3 weeks that I did for my article in chart form pic.twitter.com/lTnhB0cJx3

— mike (@bengals_sans) November 12, 2024

(11-12-2024, 10:25 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: The FO (ie Duke) isn’t going anywhere. This thread is about replacing coaches. And Lou is probably where they should start. I’d say Lou, Pollack, and Hobby are going to be the fall guys for this disaster of a season.

(11-12-2024, 10:37 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: You can call them fall guys, and that would be accurate. The fans liked them just fine when they had decent talent to work with, well maybe except for Pollack. He I believe is handicapped by the style of offense that Zac wants him to run. They never develop any continuity and consistency in run blocking, because it's hard to run by "surprise" on 4th and 1...

(11-12-2024, 10:44 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: The fans liked them just fine mostly because of two playoff runs where guys like Tannehill, Huntley, Allen, and Carr all turned the ball over.

Lou’s one big claim to fame has been making Mahomes look human. But that 3-0 record against them seems like a lifetime ago. We’ve dropped the last couple now.

(11-12-2024, 10:58 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: You don't see a correlation between the drop off in wins and post season success and the exodus of talent? I'll trade you Sheldon Rankins, Geno Stone and DJ Turner for DJ Reader, Jesse Bates III and trash talking Eli Apple 10/10.

Morning ramblings from a mad man pic.twitter.com/3LFl0gjiPD

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 8, 2024

(11-12-2024, 11:08 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: I suggest giving this a watch. He pretty much sums up the franchise perfectly in this video. Fair or not, coaches and players are often asked to produce with one hand tied behind their backs here. If you can’t overcome that there’s really no choice but to try and find someone who can. The family is never going to change.

(11-12-2024, 01:41 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Yes

And there's so many slices to the convoluted Bengals F.O. pie it's impossible to know whos really calling the shots? For example I've read many times that Carman was a MB pick. Is that really true?? Who knows?

And we've been on the who's really running the show merry-go-round hundreds of times with all kinds of issues going way back to the beginning of the mother ship. And besides the first couple seasons I've never been a big ZT basher. But this season has doubt creeping back in my head. Is he really the guy to get us over the hump? 

I fully believe he'd be way better off to step down as OC and hire a real one. And I agree most if not all the defensive staff needs shown the door.

All I know is this. If they're not careful the JB era is gonna be in the rearview mirror and then what??

(11-12-2024, 03:39 PM)Whatever Wrote: Ownership and the FO will look at what Zac accomplished when he actually had a competent defense. 

(11-12-2024, 04:28 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Good coaches win close games like Andy Reid is doing with the Chiefs. Zac has won close games before and his team is disciplined, one of 
the least penalized teams in the league and Lou and Hobby are probably the reasons for these close losses if we are going to defend Zac.

(11-12-2024, 01:10 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/bengals-free-agency-risks-could-mean-seats-are-getting-hot-in-cincy/ar-AA1tVUJR?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=d0d5c49fb6b84483b58cb9415acfc216&ei=10


I mean his wet gunpowder level slow starts are killing this team! He's 4-13-1 in the first 3 games of every season so far in his tenure here. His play calling is suspect to say the least. His in game decisions are very questionable at times.

Drafting in the top rounds has been crap and player development is not happening. In fact even the free agents seem to be getting worse cept for Trey and perhaps one other.

We're 4-6 and on the ledge of dropping off the playoff contention cliff. A loss to the Chargers and barring miracles it will be, and it's all but over. Steelers twice, Broncos, and I just don't see this team (defense) reeling off 6 in a row.

Do you think MB and the brain trust will say, we better go in a new direction before it's too late with Joe Burrow. Or even could JB ask for it? You can see he's not happy during pressers and interviews.

(11-12-2024, 03:39 PM)Whatever Wrote: Ownership and the FO will look at what Zac accomplished when he actually had a competent defense. 

(11-12-2024, 10:09 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: Lou should be on the seat closest to the pyre at this point. Yeah the FO didn’t add a vet NT, nor looked for any outside pass rush in free agency. But we’ve spent a lot of draft capital on defense with little to show for it in return. Marion Hobby should be sitting on Lou’s lap on that hot seat. If Lou’s scheme is supposedly so hard to pick up for rookies and some second year players that they need to rely on free agents to make it work then why hang onto either of these guys?

(11-12-2024, 10:36 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Is he a bust, or is Lou just not playing him enough?

Here is the statistical comparison of Murphy, Ossai, and Hubbard over the past 3 weeks that I did for my article in chart form pic.twitter.com/lTnhB0cJx3

— mike (@bengals_sans) November 12, 2024

There’s no case for giving Hubbard and Ossai more snaps than Murphy right now. The former is pretty much washed, and the latter has never done anything with all his chances, and is likely gone next year anyway.

(11-13-2024, 12:09 PM)Wyche Wrote: Andy gets a lot of favorable calls in those close games, jus sayin.....