(10-10-2022, 03:35 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: Bengals are losing with last second field goals

(10-10-2022, 05:28 PM)Tony Wrote: Hell no.. I can't belive I even gotta do this but Reid >>>>Taylor

(10-14-2022, 10:20 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I think one reason is he is just not comfortable yet.  He doesn't read what the linemen are doing as well as he did last year, but it took him time last year as well.  The pressure last year seemed to always come right at his face, and he could step around it.  This year, it seems to come mostly from the outside.  When he tries to step up in the pocket, there isn't room to escape.  Different problem, same result.  

He figured it out last year.  I still have a ton of faith in Burrow.  The coaches aren't stupid, even if they make stupid decisions sometimes when it comes to play calling.  They will work with Joe and have a better plan.  No one hates losing more than Joe.  And I am sure he is keeping receipts for all those in the media that are heavily criticizing him now.  

(10-10-2022, 03:33 PM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: You know that team that has hosted four AFC Championship games in a row? The same one our Bengals beat twice last season? Let's take a look at how their 2021 season started:

Beat Cleveland by 4 (1-0)
Lost to Baltimore by 1 (1-1)
Lost to LAC by 6 (1-2)
Beat Philadelphia by 12 (2-2)
Lost to Buffalo by 18 (2-3)
Beat Washington by 18 (3-3)
Lost to Tennessee by 24 (3-4)

They opened 2-3, and two of those losses were very close.

How about all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes in those first five games? He threw six interceptions. The Chiefs very publicly struggled through the first half of 2021 as defenses played with two safeties deep to force Mahomes to be patient and sustain long, methodical drives. It led to him making mistakes at an inordinate rate, and they were very slow to get out of that funk, even with Hall of Fame offensive mastermind head coach Andy Reid in command. Eventually they did (they won every other game not listed above apart from their two games against the Bengals). Hell, even as the Chiefs started winning, Mahomes himself was still struggling throughout the middle portion of the season against cover two. He finished with seven overall games under 7 yards per pass attempt.

There are clearly parallels here. How about another one?

~ They opened 2021 with three new starters on the offensive line (Thuney, Humphrey, and Brown) after their previous unit got pushed around in the Super Bowl.

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This isn't all to say that the 2022 Bengals are the 2021 Chiefs. But they sure as hell can be. These Bengals are also much better on defense than those Chiefs were. My point is that the struggles the Bengals have had so far this year should look familiar, because a team with a very similar build to ours (excellent quarterback with a million weapons, an offensive head coach, a defense with questionable pass rush but strong fundamentals, etc) just went through a lot of the same problems and still found themselves.

Indeed, I think the Bengals problems on offense are symptomatic of larger trends league-wide: scoring is down in general. Defense has been ahead of offense across the NFL for the first five weeks. There are exceptions here and there, but this is the trend. It's very easy to look at our arsenal of offensive talent and scream WTF, but it seems to me that the Bengals are not alone in this struggle (and neither is Zac Taylor). Their chances this season will likely depend on their ability to break free from the malaise faster than most other teams manage, and their willingness to follow the blueprint laid before them by the Chiefs.

(10-14-2022, 10:45 AM)LSUfaninTN Wrote: Even though you didn’t read the first part of the post (lol), don’t you feel like this part is somewhat of a positive? Albeit a frustrating one. Margin of loss has been 2-3 points. This team could easily be 5-0. By this point the Chiefs had that big loss against the Bills (granted, it was the Bills), and I don’t remember the game against the Chargers, but they lost by 6. 

I think the most frustrating thing is how obvious it was to everyone watching, that multiple decisions were stupid and ended up losing the game(s). And according to ZT, there were 5(?) coaches/analysts weighing in on the decisions. 5. I repeat. 5.

(10-14-2022, 10:39 AM)Dr.Z Wrote: Sorry for the tangent, but I remember seeing Reid say this earlier this year.   Prior to him saying this, wasn't everyone saying that he (Bieniemy) didn't call them?  It seems to have been an oft-referenced concern when he was a HC candidate over the recent past.  

(10-14-2022, 02:22 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Wild similarities. Nice post Jagged Jimmy Jay.

It is nice seeing the OL coming around and Joe Burrow WILL NOT continue to miss wide open WR's at this rate. Just a 
matter of time before he gets comfortable with actually having nice pockets at times and a running game as we continue
to run this Gap scheme instead of the Wide Zone that our O-lineman clearly are better at. The wide zone needs to only 
be used if it is working and if it fits your players. The Gap scheme clearly fits much better as we saw against the Ravens.

(10-14-2022, 08:36 PM)jason Wrote: 3 points is the most common margin of victory in the NFL over the last two decades. It's not a positive that all of are losses are by 3 points. It wasn't a knock on us when we won by 3 last year.

(10-15-2022, 11:37 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Probably the single most overlooked rationale for their slow start.  

(10-14-2022, 08:36 PM)jason Wrote: 3 points is the most common margin of victory in the NFL over the last two decades. It's not a positive that all of are losses are by 3 points. It wasn't a knock on us when we won by 3 last year.

(10-15-2022, 11:30 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Yeah, something about Bienemey didn't design the plays, too.  He has a dark part in his past that has kept him from becoming a HC, IMHO.  I really think the next great HC will be Byron Leftwich.  Love that guy.