Realistic 2020 Expectations

[Fullrock]

I know we're all excited about the season, and rightfully so. We have a new face of the franchise, spent the most money ever in free agency to bring in quality players, and have some talent on both sides of the ball.

The question: What are your realistic expectations this season in terms of wins and losses?

This is going to be far from a normal off-season. No rookie mini-camp, no OTA's, no team mini-camp, and possibly a delayed or abbreviated training camp. I'm not sure that bodes well for a team that will have several new starters on defense, 2 or 3 new starters on the offensive line, and a rookie QB under center. It's hard to replace the physical reps that come with being on the field.

With all that said, I think a realistic goal for this team is
8-8. It's going to be tough in the division. Every team improved themselves, and if Ben returns to form (that's a big if at his age) it'll be a dog fight to win 3 division games for this team. I'll be ecstatic if they can get to 8 wins and build toward a playoff appearance in 2021. Of course, I'll gladly hope to be wrong and wish for double digit wins.

[BonnieBengal]

(04-29-2020, 12:39 PM)Fullrock Wrote: I know we're all excited about the season, and rightfully so. We have a new face of the franchise, spent the most money ever in free agency to bring in quality players, and have some talent on both sides of the ball.

The question: What are your realistic expectations this season in terms of wins and losses?

This is going to be far from a normal off-season. No rookie mini-camp, no OTA's, no team mini-camp, and possibly a delayed or abbreviated training camp. I'm not sure that bodes well for a team that will have several new starters on defense, 2 or 3 new starters on the offensive line, and a rookie QB under center. It's hard to replace the physical reps that come with being on the field.

With all that said, I think a realistic goal for this team is
8-8. It's going to be tough in the division. Every team improved themselves, and if Ben returns to form (that's a big if at his age) it'll be a dog fight to win 3 division games for this team. I'll be ecstatic if they can get to 8 wins and build toward a playoff appearance in 2021. Of course, I'll gladly hope to be wrong and wish for double digit wins.

We need one or two more good drafts to get caught up.  I'll say 7-9 or 8-8, which would be a huge leap forward.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

Realistic? Honest? I think doubling the amount of wins over the next two years is achievable; four wins in 2020 and eight wins in 2021.

[J24]

Anything between 7-9 thru 11-5 to me is realistic.
1.) Having a rookie QB doesn't hold you back
2.) We can run the Ball
3.) D-Line is deep
4.) WR core is deep
The only thing that bothers me is the Offensive Line but the rest of the team seems ready for primetime. Let's see how healthy we can be this season though.

[CKwi88]

I'd be surprised if we make it to .500. Happily surprised, don't get me wrong. But the problems with this team last year were far from just lack of talent. We got a few nice pieces in the draft and FA for sure. But the coaches are largely the same.

[Hoofhearted]

(04-29-2020, 01:39 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Realistic?  Honest?  I think doubling the amount of wins over the next two years is achievable; four wins in 2020 and eight wins in 2021.

Pretty much where I am at to. I'm thinking 4-6 wins next year, then hopefully 8-10 following.

Lots of Vegs odds has us at bottom 3 to, if anyone takes any stock into that kinda stuff. The caveat for next year imo is playing the last place schedule. We may be able to get some wins outside of the AFCN that gets us closer to .500.

[Sled21]

11 regular season wins. First playoff win.

[fredtoast]

(04-29-2020, 01:39 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Realistic?  Honest?  I think doubling the amount of wins over the next two years is achievable; four wins in 2020 and eight wins in 2021.

(04-29-2020, 01:51 PM)Hoofhearted Wrote: Pretty much where I am at to. I'm thinking 4-6 wins next year, then hopefully 8-10 following. 

If handing out $150 million in free agent contract and having the #1 overall pick, plus adding another first round pick from the year before only gets us two more wins then how in the hell will we improve by 4 wins next year?

You think we will switch head coaches that quickly?

[ZWP]

7-9 is what I've been thinking, but feel like that is asking a lot.

I think if we can at least go 6-10 then we should all be very happy with that.

[Bengalholic]

Burrow's thoughts on how to approach this season:

"I think going into the season and thinking our goal is to win a playoff game this year — I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. 

I think you go in to the season, we’re going to work really, really hard and focus on one play and one week at a time, and we’re going to win a lot of football games that way. I think if you go in thinking, ‘Oh this is the year we’re going to the playoffs, this is the year we’re going to win a playoff game,’ it gets too daunting. 

It sounds corny, but you’ve just got to focus on every single step of the process.”

[fredtoast]

(04-29-2020, 02:23 PM)ZWP Wrote: I think if we can at least go 6-10 then we should all be very happy with that.

This is crazy talk.

Here is what we are adding that we did not have last year

#1  overall draft pick at QB
#11 overall draft pick at LT
$18 million a year WR
$14 million a year CB
$13 million a year DT
$6  million a year SS

If all that just gets us 4 more wins then we need to fire the coaching staff.


Have none of you all noticed how every year there are NFL teams that go from the bottom of their division to the playoffs?  Wre none of you Bengals fans in 2011?  With all of the moves the Bengals have made this offseason we need to see at least 9-10 wins.

[spazz70]

(04-29-2020, 02:51 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This is crazy talk.

Here is what we are adding that we did not have last year

#1 overall draft pick at QB
#9 overall draft pick at LT
$18 million a year WR
$14 million a year CB
$13 million a year DT
$6  million a year SS

If all that just gets us 4 more wins then we need to fire the coaching staff.


Have none of you all noticed how every year there are NFL teams that go from the bottom of their division to the playoffs?  Wre none of you Bengals fans in 2011?  With all of the moves the Bengals have made this offseason we need to see at least 9-10 wins.

SanFran last 2 years, right?  last in division to SB?

[sandwedge]

I'm not placing any expectations on wins/loses this year. What I want to see is the Bengals grinding out in games and start winning them. I want to see players getting better and better as the season goes on.

[sandwedge]

(04-29-2020, 02:41 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Burrow's thoughts on how to approach this season:

"I think going into the season and thinking our goal is to win a playoff game this year — I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. 

I think you go in to the season, we’re going to work really, really hard and focus on one play and one week at a time, and we’re going to win a lot of football games that way. I think if you go in thinking, ‘Oh this is the year we’re going to the playoffs, this is the year we’re going to win a playoff game,’ it gets too daunting. 

It sounds corny, but you’ve just got to focus on every single step of the process.”

Really like this young man's thinking process!

[*jason*]

Anything under 8-8 is a disappointment this season.

[hollodero]

(04-29-2020, 02:51 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This is crazy talk.

Here is what we are adding that we did not have last year

#1 overall draft pick at QB
#9 overall draft pick at LT
$18 million a year WR
$14 million a year CB
$13 million a year DT
$6  million a year SS

If all that just gets us 4 more wins then we need to fire the coaching staff.


Have none of you all noticed how every year there are NFL teams that go from the bottom of their division to the playoffs?  Wre none of you Bengals fans in 2011?  With all of the moves the Bengals have made this offseason we need to see at least 9-10 wins.

I had thought you'd be the first person to acknowledge that money spent in free agency does not directly translate into success.

Also, the numbers are a bit misleading, aren't they? Each team will spend around the cap, it's not like this is different this year, and any team could put up their salaries and claim this is proof of future success. It also is misleading for we also lost some folks and will lose some more. Would you count Dalton's salary against those you listed when he gets released?

Not that I'm saying the team won't improve, but how big this leap is can not be determined in certainty and you cannot call people crazy who are not just as optimistic. And sure, one reason could be the coaching staff and it's perfectly fair to remain somewhat sceptical about them too.

Oh and also, haven't you noticed how many bottom teams are not on top the next season?

[*jason*]

(04-29-2020, 01:45 PM)CKwi88 Wrote: I'd be surprised if we make it to .500. Happily surprised, don't get me wrong. But the problems with this team last year were far from just lack of talent. We got a few nice pieces in the draft and FA for sure. But the coaches are largely the same.

Then some of those coaches need to be shown the door. There is too much talent on this team to not be able to hover around 500, and be competitive week in and week out.

[impactplaya]

San Fran went from 4 12 to a Super Bowl
2nd year head coach with offensive background
Invested serious $$$$ in defensive upgrades
Sound familiar
11 5 for the Tiger Cats

[fredtoast]

(04-29-2020, 03:26 PM)hollodero Wrote: Also, the numbers are a bit misleading, aren't they? Each team will spend around the cap, it's not like this is different this year, and any team could put up their salaries and claim this is proof of future success. It also is misleading for we also lost some folks and will lose some more. Would you count Dalton's salary against those you listed when he gets released?

I don't understand what you are saying.  I never said we increased our payroll this much.  All I did was list the NEW players we added to the team.

The most expensive player we lost in free agency was Darquez Dennard who got $4.5 million a year.  That is much less than any of the guys I listed.

And if it turns out cutting Kirkpatrick and replacing him with Waynes was a bad move then that is another reason the coaching staff should be fired.

[*ochocincos*]

My expectation is 6-8 wins.

While I'm happy about all the additions, we saw last year that things took half the season to get rolling.
I expect this year, especially with a likely shortened offseason, things will take some time for the new guys to get acclimated.