12-28-2023, 01:34 PM
(12-28-2023, 11:59 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Solid remarks. Especially about Bates was not Bates straight out of Wake Forest. Not so sure Lou didn’t contribute a lot to his progression. What this team really needs is to have some draft picks pan out or elevate. It’d be great if Yoshi and Charlie Jones could replace Tee and Tyler. It’d be great if Chase Brown would replace Joe Mixon and find a bigger back for power running and third down blocking. It’d be great if Zach Carter came through for Reader ( boy that’s a dream). If we had all that salary cap room we could get a great OT for Jonah. We could get a great DT & safety in FA.
They'll have to do more with fewer resources, no doubt. I feel like Tee is getting tagged and Ja'marr is getting an extension. A lot of the money is going to evaporate quickly. Even though the extensions don't kick in immediately, the big deals will still make it really tough to sign fa's long term. They will fill a hole or two, but it probably won't be with premium talent as in the past.
I feel like the offense also plays a role in the defense's downfall. They have practically zero ability to play ball control when needed. This team has, under both qbs, and under Burrow both when obviously injured and relatively healthy, gone through consistent dormant periods on offense. Like from after the opening scripted plays to the beginning of the 4th quarter sinkholes. That's a hell of a lot to ask of any defense no matter how talented. There were games where the offense could barely manage a first down for 2 quarters. They time of possession got skewed horribly and the defense got gassed in the 2nd quarter. Browning has moved the ball fairly consistently, he just gives it away too much.
You just get the feel watching these games that the bengals were getting physically handled on both sides of the football. Houston and Tennessee both stick out here. The division games go without saying. The team has become the stereotypical finesse, quick strike dependent group that just doesn't hold up over 4 quarters in the trenches.
The Houston game was stomach-churning. Terrible rush offense. Like among the worst in the league. Then they ran it directly down the Bengals' throat all afternoon. If you watch a lot of football, you get a really bad feeling watching a team execute that plan. It feels like no matter who your qb is or who has the best skill talent, that you're going to lose and get dog-walked for 60 minutes.
