Athlon Magazine Picks Bengals 3rd in AFC

[Shake n Blake]

(06-17-2017, 12:01 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I agree 100% the players on the field are who has to "win the game" or lose it. The coaches don't fumble or throw interceptions, or make catches, or block etc.

But another area where our coaching has really let us down, in my opinion, and I'm quite sure I'm not alone ! Is this:

It's easy for good players to overcome coaching early in the season, Sept. Oct. early November. The weather is typically good, the film on what you're doing this season hasn't built up a lot. The injuries haven't mounted, etc.

But come late season, games you must win, crunch time and certainly the playoffs is where the great coaches/play calling/game planning really rises to the top. The weather is worse, the run game becomes increasingly more important, play calling and knowing how to use what you have and exploit the opposition's weakness is critical.

Marvin tries to sit on a one score lead 10 minutes into a game. Tries to run the clock out with three minutes to go at midfield before halftime only up by 3. And this just isn't gonna cut it in todays NFL. He hasn't figured out yet that it's not 1980 anymore ! The 13-10 games, three yards in a cloud of dust and ride the defense doesn't work anymore.

My stance is that if players are fumbling, throwing picks, choking games away, not blocking, etc...then maybe the coaches aren't coaching them up well enough. Either that, or we picked some shitty players, and our coaches seem heavily involved with that as well. I understand blaming players. I do it myself (depending on circumstances), but I never just blame players and let coaches off the hook. When you hand pick players and your job is to get them to perform, them's the breaks. Chain of command and all that jazz. 

As to your point, it got me curious to look at how the Bengals have performed under Marvin down the stretch each year. By my count, we've been in the playoff hunt late in the season 9 times. In 7 of those seasons, we had a disappointing record down the stretch (lost last couple games, lost 3 of last 5, etc). In contrast, we've been out of the playoff chase 5 times, and in all 5 of those seasons, we've had a surprisingly good finish all 5 times. 

Simply put, Marvin's teams just can't handle pressure (news flash, I know). The only time where the Bengals really turned in a clutch run to make the playoffs was in 2012, when they started 3-5, then went 7-1 to finish the season. Outside of that, they tend to fold as pressure mounts, or bounce back (dead-cat bounce) when the pressure is off. Add all this to the terrible record against the Steelers (chief rival) and their record in prime-time and playoffs, and it's easy to see the impact a coach can have on a team.