09-09-2024, 10:00 AM
(09-09-2024, 09:33 AM)ERIC1 Wrote: 1)many good teams don't play their starters in preseason and do well the first games of the year..2) many teams go through the contract drama with players and it has no affect on the team..if you have ever been around a football locker room ..half the players on offense don't really know half the players on defense and visa versa..the majority of players could care less about chase and his contract.....you have one point correct..this is about good coaching or lack thereof
Found this from a year ago before the start of the season. Don't know if it was accurate: "Last year, every team that didn't play starters at all in preseason lost their week 1 game (including SB champion Rams). Do you feel this will effect us?"
Yes, the Rams are one of those teams that don't play their starters, and this is perhaps where Zac Taylor takes his inspiration. They also didn't this year and again lost their first game.
I think the better model for the Bengals is 3-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid (4 if you count one as a assistant coach). He plays his starters, including Mahomes, in at least two preseason games and often considers doing it in a third game. Mahomes generally plays at least half a game in one of the preseason games, with the other starters, and limited snaps in another. Reid does this despite the fact that his teams are playing all the way to February the season before, unlike the Bengals who had a long off-season this year. Andy Reid defends doing so because he feels it is necessary to get ready for the speed and physicality of an actual game.
I think we seen enough of the Bengals poor starts. One win in the first two games and 10 losses. Yesterday the Bengals looked not ready against the Patriots who played their starters in all three preseason games.
