Are Us Fans A Part Of The Problem?

[thillan]

I'm curious as to how you guys honestly view our fan base as opposed to other teams, and if it has any positive or negative impact on the team.

Do you think we drove coaches or players away? Are we at all a part of the reason for our teams lack of success (Lack of success being no playoff wins... going to 5 straight postseasons is success)? Can we help in any way?

I'm not challenging, just genuinely curious. I wonder because when that report came out that Marvin was leaving, there was some bad talk about how Mike pats and treats coaches.. but I also felt some negativity towards our fans.

Thoughts?

[Interceptor]

I think the fans magnify the successes and failures of the team they root for.

[*michaelsean*]

Not even a little. Everything falls on the top man.

[jj22]

Fans aren't apart of the problem. Any one of us on this message board can run the Bengals better than Mike and Co. I'm 100% confident.

No doubt if any one of us were in charge, the Bengals would be sitting pretty during this bye week preparing for the Divisional round of the playoffs with Zimmer as HC.

The family on the other hand, allowed MB to make the same devastating mistake his father made passing on Walsh that set this team back generations and likely has set us back another couple generations.

The fans demand accountability or at least shutting up the Steelers. Which we as fans can't do, neither can the players, and the Front Office doesn't care to do as long as they can keep counting the money provided by the other teams that hold their teams accountable.

[*ochocincos*]

Certain fans are a problem (like those who threw trash on Palmer's lawn), but every fan base has those fans. Some more of less than others.
The real problem, IMO, is there has been a culture change in Cincinnati since before Marvin Lewis became HC.
Back in the early 2000's, the fan base was appreciative of anyone who could bring this franchise to relevance again. Marvin Lewis helped achieve that relevance.
After years of achieving 7-9 or better, fans became accustomed to that new level of success. They now want and expect more. There's a new standard set.

So thank you to Marvin Lewis for helping establish that new standard in Cincinnati, but it's time to try to find someone to go above that standard.
This city and its fan base wants to be like the Patriots and Steelers, and their fans view anything less than the AFC Championship game as a disappointment.
And missing the playoffs completely is an utter failure.

[Pat5775]

No. Fans are not the problem. 99% of us could run the team better than the Brown family. If anything, the fans could be an answer to the problems

[sandwedge]

Don't understand how fans could be the problem? We have nothing to do with running this franchise. ....... We are free to move on if we are not happy with the product

[*bengalfan74*]

Fans the problem ? serious ?

A bunch of Bengal fans have suffered through 26 years of the worst GM in the business and still here including many on this board. Several like me have been die hard fans since well before Mike.

We're now stuck in a 15 year most likely plus of mediocre hell with no end in sight.

Ummmm we're far from the problem !

[thillan]

(01-02-2018, 01:28 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Fans the problem ? serious ?

A bunch of Bengal fans have suffered through 26 years of the worst GM in the business and still here including many on this board. Several like me have been die hard fans since well before Mike.

We're now stuck in a 15 year most likely plus of mediocre hell with no end in sight.

Ummmm we're far from the problem !

Lol, relax. I just said I'm genuinely curious as to what people say, I'm not accusing.

It was more about if people think we deter players or coaches from wanting to come here.

[masonbengals fan]

You lost me....

[Bengalpool]

I don't think we're the problem. Players and coaches will have their outlook on specific fan bases sure, but when it boils down to it, money makes the NFL go round. Not the fans. We buy merchandise, buy tix and bleed orange & black, but us being the problem has nothing to do with anything that is currently wrong with this franchise. We have a scrooge of an owner and it's as simple as that.

[bengals67]

The problem can be explained in two words

Mike Brown.

I hope fans become a problem for him and stop buying tickets if Marv and Alexander are retained.

[Aquapod770]

If only we could drive the head coach away...

[R3stangs]

(01-02-2018, 12:46 PM)jj22 Wrote: Fans aren't apart of the problem. Any one of us on this message board can run the Bengals better than Mike and Co. I'm 100% confident.  

No doubt if any one of us were in charge, the Bengals would be sitting pretty during this bye week preparing for the Divisional round of the playoffs with Zimmer as HC.

The family on the other hand, allowed MB to make the same devastating mistake his father made passing on Walsh that set this team back generations and likely has set us back another couple generations.

The fans demand accountability or at least shutting up the Steelers. Which we as fans can't do, neither can the players, and the Front Office doesn't care to do as long as they can keep counting the money provided by the other teams that hold their teams accountable.

I'm sure as heck smart enough (and humble enough) to know when I'm not smart enough to run something and when to bring in people smarter than me to help.

Arrogance abound in this front office.

[Chezaugie]

Only those delusional fans that actually believe they could run the Bengals organization better than the current ownership. I don't have a lot of confidence in current management, and have disagreed many times, but am absolutely sure it has a much greater skill set than any of the Monday Morning "wannabes" in the Bengals fan base.

[Gohards]

Yes. Us fans are 100% to blame.

We handle ALL the FA signings (or lack there-of), we make sure to draft the best players accordingly, we are the ones who tell Andy to throw into double coverage, and we are the ones who have wanted marvin to stay since 2013!

NOT.

The only mistake we have not made is to not throw trash into ML's yard. That's it. Oh and keep buying tickets/viewing the game on TV

[McC]

I can never blame the fans. We make no decisions. Boycotting this team does not work. Neither do scathing editorials or billboards or anything else.

NFL football, going to games on Sunday or gathering to watch together, all a way of life for lots of people.

[StoneTheCrow]

Probably. To be fair, I, as a fan, have won just as many playoff games as Mike Brown has. Yes, I need to do better.

[*Go Cards*]

Somewhat with things yelled from stands promoting negative atmosphere at times.

But the elephant in the room is certainly MB

[Whatever]

(01-02-2018, 12:22 PM)thillan Wrote: I'm curious as to how you guys honestly view our fan base as opposed to other teams, and if it has any positive or negative impact on the team.

Do you think we drove coaches or players away? Are we at all a part of the reason for our teams lack of success (Lack of success being no playoff wins... going to 5 straight postseasons is success)? Can we help in any way?

I'm not challenging, just genuinely curious. I wonder because when that report came out that Marvin was leaving, there was some bad talk about how Mike pats and treats coaches.. but I also felt some negativity towards our fans.

Thoughts?

The fans aren't the primary factor, but I do think the fanbase has certain negative effects on the players and the team.

Whoever the new coach is, they will automatically walk in with a quarter century of playoff futility dumped at their feet.  The pressure will be increased on them and the team unfairly during every primetime, playoff, and Steelers game due to the failures of previous regimes.

The fanbase has somewhat damaged it's ability to demand excellence from the organization due to lukewarm support of the team during years when there was a good product on the field.  A lot of that stems from previous years of futility.

The fanbase pretty much has a toxic relationship with the organization, a lot of the ill will coming from the current stadium deal, that I'm sure many outsiders would prefer to stay away from.