Zim is doing a good job against AZ

[Shake n Blake]

(12-11-2015, 11:47 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I don't think Guenther is any better. He just finally benched Hall in favor of Jones, got back Burfict (the defense was awful without him) and Atkins.

I think the difference is..
Guenther can manage to not mess up a defense that has Atkins/Burfict/Dunlap/Iloka/Nelson/Jones.
Zimmer made a top 5 defense with Dhani Jones/Robert Geathers/Keith Rivers/Tank Johnson/Chris Crocker/Nedu Ndukwe.

Zimmer did a LOT with much much less than Guenther has to work with this year. Last year when Guenther didn't have Burfict or a 100% Atkins? 22nd overall, 12th scoring. The Bengals have the least blitzes in the NFL this year and they're still 9th in sacks and 4th in INTs. They're winning with talent more than scheme.

Plus that 1st scoring defense ranking is sure helped by the fact that 4 of the last 5 games have been played against McCown/Hoyer/Foles/Davis.. damn sad lineup of QBs right there. We quickly forget how AWFUL the Bengals looked against the run before Burfict came back. He had no answer for it until he simply had more talent on defense than the other teams had on offense. I don't trust his ability to scheme a win against a superior cast of talent. I did with Zimmer.

You didn't mention that he also had the best CB tandem in the NFL (Hall + Joseph), Peko, Maualuga (at SLB, where he thrived) Sims and Rucker (who is still playing well for the Cards). Geathers was actually pretty solid back then and Crock was a good player for us. 

We're clearly more talented now, but I don't think that '09 defense was the collection of scrubs it's often painted to be.