On criticizing NFL coaches

[BengalChris]

(10-12-2021, 11:16 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I get a kick out of a lot of people here who are constantly criticizing NFL coaches play calling and schemes.  95% of these fans could not tell you what type of scheme the opponent was running or how many different ways the Bengals have to block a running play or how many different route combinations the Bengals have in their playbook.

However, at the same time I may not be an engineer, but when I see a bridge falling apart I know something is wrong.

And that is kind of the way I feel about our offense right now.  I am not going to list the things I think the Bengals should change because I don't feel I am qualified.  But we have too much talent and things just never seem to run smoothly.  Our O-line is not great, but it is good enough to get better production than we are.

In another thread I started a while back I discussed how difficult it is to decide how much blame goes to the players and how much to the coaches.  One of the things I mentioned was third-down and red-zone possessions.  So far the Bengals have great in the red zone. Scoring a TD 80% of the time is third best in the league, but a very small sample size (8 of 10).  They are 23rd in third down conversion percentage (37.3), and 31st in third and short (1-2 yds)

Our offense is 28th in "drive success rate" (drive with at least one first down or td).  Way too many "three-and-outs".

Our O-line has not been real good, but pass protection has been decent. If we can't get push on third-and-short then we should just start passing on all those situations.  You don't need pass blocking to complete a 3-4 yard pass.  So far the Bengals have thrown on 43% of their third-and-short plays which is about exactly the same as the league average (41%).  The Steelers currently lead the league by throwing on 75% of their third-and-short plays and they have the league's third highest conversion percentage (83.3).  The Falcons throw on 64% of their third-and-short plays and have the 9th best conversion percentage (71.4).

I may not be able to see the fine details that need fixing, but our offense is underperforming for the talent we have.

Hum, yeah, well, the coach is in charge of the team's play. It is his job to get the most out of his guys and design the O and D to get the most out of their skills to give the team the best chance of winning!

It all rides right there.

It's not about the players are too old, or their Marvin's guys and not Zac guys, or they're all so young now, or the NFL average is X, or any of that BS. It comes down to getting what you have (players) to do the best they can some way or other and that may not be with the plays and scheme you thought it would be at the start of the season.

I've pointed out before that last year's Bucs who had lost 3 of 4 games going into the bye and they looked at what they were doing that worked well and what didn't work well and the changed what they focused on. They didn't lose another game after that and bingo - SB!

But that takes a coach who isn't so vested in his own little world of plays and scheme that his plays and scheme are more important than winning games.

Taylor couldn't win with Dalton, but two different coaches have taken Dalton to two wins over Taylor. LMAO