ESPN projections. Good news. Bad News.

[*jason*]

(05-08-2019, 04:48 PM)NKURyan Wrote: ...because ESPN did so well last May: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23591971/2018-nfl-season-stat-record-playoffs-predictions-football-power-index-projections

Or in any May for that matter.

[*jason*]

(05-08-2019, 08:39 PM)CardCounterChris Wrote: I mean, this isn't close to the best Bengal team we've had in the past few years, but how good were the Bengals last year before all the injuries? Too many people are sleeping on Cincy. 6 wins? GTFO. I'd say the over under would be more accurate at 8 to 9.

This...

6 wins?... Fugeddaboudit!!!

[lone bengal]

I personally love the Bengals being underdogs this season and always being underdogs in general. I'm 30 years old and live in New England and I've never seen my team win a single playoff game,while my friends take winning six superbowls for granted. I think that's what the silver lining of being a Bengals fan for me is, that one day all the pain and suffering the team has put us through will be worth it one day when they win the superbowl and shock the world as the ultimate underdog. Imagine being a Cubs fan and winning the world series for the first time in over 100 years the feeling must have been incredible. I think embracing the underdog as a team and fan base can be a good thing. I loved the Philadelphia Eagles the year they won the superbowl and when the Giants knocked of the undefeated Patriots. Embrace the underdog !

[THE PISTONS]

(05-09-2019, 12:14 AM)lone bengal Wrote: I personally love the Bengals being underdogs this season and always being underdogs in general. I'm 30 years old and live in New England and I've never seen my team win a single playoff game,while my friends take winning six superbowls for granted.  I think that's what the silver lining of being a Bengals fan for me is, that one day all the pain and suffering the team has put us through will be worth it one day when they win the superbowl and shock the world as the ultimate underdog. Imagine being a Cubs fan and winning the world series for the first time in over 100 years the feeling must have been incredible. I think embracing the underdog as a team and fan base can be a good thing. I loved the Philadelphia Eagles the year they won the superbowl and when the Giants knocked of the undefeated Patriots. Embrace the underdog !

Well, you definitely appreciate the good times better when you do win...BUT, I'd take the 6 Super Bowls over 0 playoff wins any day!

I do want to point out that A LOT of Cubs fans probably died without seeing their team win a World Series.

The Bengals are an underdog mainly due to poor management and an unwillingness to partake in certain activities like free agency like most of the league. They use the small market excuse as one of the reasons, but with revenue sharing and a salary cap it shouldn't be. Teams like the Packers are small market and they win SB's.

[THE PISTONS]

(05-08-2019, 05:15 PM)depthchart Wrote: There are 4 fairly young linebackers that were all taken in the 3rd round of drafts.


Preston Brown - age 26

Nick Vigil - age 25

Malik Jefferson - age 22

Germaine Pratt - age 21


While the Bengals could sure use a Devin White or Devin Bush or a solid veteran; the New Coaching Staff does have these 4 fairly young guys each drafted in round 3 to work with plus the other LB's on the roster.

It would be great if the New Coaches could tap into what they do have on the roster and develop these young guys into their system effectively.

The Coaches & the young guys will likely have to step up and perform for 2019 to go well.

Hope isn't a strategy. We have to hope that 3 of these guys with little evidence will develop into a solid LB unit. And IF they don't, we'll likely have a really bad defense. And that's best case - no injuries.

Could Pratt or Jefferson turn into DROY? Sure. It happens sometimes.

But, this is the definition of risk.

Jefferson supposedly wasn't able to learn special teams. I don't think that bodes well for him being able to learn a defense as it's infinitely more complex.

I'd still like to see them go out and sign a Jamie Collins or preferably another veteran that gets released.

[NKURyan]

(05-09-2019, 09:32 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: They use the small market excuse as one of the reasons, but with revenue sharing and a salary cap it shouldn't be. Teams like the Packers are small market and they win SB's.

Having hall of fame level QBs will do that - Rogers and Favre did more to make them contenders/winners than any free agent moves they made ever did, and let's not pretend otherwise.

In fact, without looking it up I'd say most of their success they had came through the draft. The only really big free agent signing that pops into my mind was Reggie White which - while admittedly a big one - was decades ago. I may be wrong, but they definitely developed the Cobbs, Jennings, Rajis, Lacys, Nelsons, etc themselves.

[*Nately120*]

(05-09-2019, 12:14 AM)lone bengal Wrote: I personally love the Bengals being underdogs this season and always being underdogs in general. I'm 30 years old and live in New England and I've never seen my team win a single playoff game,while my friends take winning six superbowls for granted.  I think that's what the silver lining of being a Bengals fan for me is, that one day all the pain and suffering the team has put us through will be worth it one day when they win the superbowl and shock the world as the ultimate underdog. Imagine being a Cubs fan and winning the world series for the first time in over 100 years the feeling must have been incredible. I think embracing the underdog as a team and fan base can be a good thing. I loved the Philadelphia Eagles the year they won the superbowl and when the Giants knocked of the undefeated Patriots. Embrace the underdog !

The thing with the Cubs is before winning the WS they went out and got both the top GM and the top manager in baseball and then broke the bank bringing in high-priced talent to bolster years of in-house development.

The Cubs weren't the underdogs when they won, they were more akin the the Browns this year because people were convinced that no amount of GM/manager/talent could turn that cursed franchise around.  I was standing in the upper deck at Wrigley in the winter of 2011 telling prospective season ticket buyers that there was a good chance Theo was going to do what it takes to up the value of any tickets they buy and that it was a reasonable investment.  Hey, I was right for a change! 

The underdogs of baseball are the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Lordy, they're the underdoggiest team there is and they ain't so popular and they don't do much winning.

[grampahol]

(05-08-2019, 04:43 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I was going to state that when expectations are low, generally the team overachieves. When they are high, they underperform.

Who knows though? A new staff kind of presses the reset button on that.

Amazing how easy it is to forget that Marvin Lewis is no longer our HC, huh? 
It almost feels as if every prediction is still predicated on Lewis..
Hey! Your 1931 team was lousy so you will be too.. That sort of made sense in 1932, but in 2019 it sort of doesn't.. lol 

[*Nately120*]

(05-09-2019, 12:18 PM)grampahol Wrote: Amazing how easy it is to forget that Marvin Lewis is no longer our HC, huh? 
It almost feels as if every prediction is still predicated on Lewis..
Hey! Your 1931 team was lousy so you will be too.. That sort of made sense in 1932, but in 2019 it sort of doesn't.. lol 

You mean like assuming the Browns will be awful this year because they stunk for decades?

[fredtoast]

(05-09-2019, 01:24 PM)Nately120 Wrote: You mean like assuming the Browns will be awful this year because they stunk for decades?

No.  He is talking ab out "distant past".

It was just last year that the Browns had a losing record and the 30th ranked defense.

[lone bengal]

(05-09-2019, 09:32 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Well, you definitely appreciate the good times better when you do win...BUT, I'd take the 6 Super Bowls over 0 playoff wins any day!

I do want to point out that A LOT of Cubs fans probably died without seeing their team win a World Series.

The Bengals are an underdog mainly due to poor management and an unwillingness to partake in certain activities like free agency like most of the league. They use the small market excuse as one of the reasons, but with revenue sharing and a salary cap it shouldn't be. Teams like the Packers are small market and they win SB's.

Obviously I would take the winning lol. My main point was it’s doesn’t matter what the media or power rankings say. Mentally tough teams use the negativity as motivation to prove people wrong. I agree the management has been poor but moving on from Marvin is a huge step. I think coaching is a huge part of of football hopefully Taylor can be the guy. They need to sign more impactful B level type free agents versus bottom of the barrel free agents. They tried with Glenn last year it just hasn’t worked out so far. The best way to build a team is through the draft and some of our best teams like 2015 have been built that way. Hopefully a new coach and good draft can turn things around.

[rezolve11]

I know we’re The Bengals so the media has to think of us as trash, but I’ve found the rankings to be rather ridiculous. As Fred said, we haven’t lost a single significant player. Our team was ravaged with injuries last year. Our defense was atrocious. How can we be worse than last year? I’m feeling pretty optimistic about this upcoming season. My only question mark is how the coaching staff will do. I feel like we have a completely unproven staff and I hope they aren’t in over their heads.