What could Mike, Marv and Dalton do to sway your opinion of them?

[Luvnit2]

(08-09-2015, 07:15 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Obviously the Bengals have enjoyed unprecedented regular season success over the last 4 years. They've also set NFL records for playoff ineptitude during the same span. Pretty much everyone places the most blame for that on either the Owner, Head Coach and QB for the failures. Or some combination of the three.

So what are 3 things that each one could do that would sway your opinion of them and make you feel close to 100% positive about them going forward? I'll start this off. Hopefully it gets some good discussion going.

Mike Brown

1. Build a practice facility. Marv wants one. The players want one. This alone should be enough to make fans want one as well.

2. Hire a GM. This might be something that should wait until Marv moves on, but a GM would help this franchise maintain continuity through coaching changes. It'd also fill Marv's void as a voice of reason to tell Mike Brown that trying a TE at Center may not be a good idea. I'd like to see Marv in this role if he decides to step down at some point, although I'm not sure he'd be interested.

3. Hold sub-par coaches and players accountable. Don't reward mediocrity with loyalty. Restructure a contract every now and then if warranted. Great franchises do this all the time.

Marvin Lewis

1. Be more aggressive in playoff games. I'm not one of those that always says Marv needs to be more aggressive. He actually has been much more aggressive lately, going for it on 4th down a lot, mixing in trick plays, etc. In the playoffs this seems to disappear though. It just feels like we've never had a creative game plan in a playoff game.

2. Find some natural leaders, and don't discourage them when they show this trait. This team is lacking in that category.

3. Find a way to get this team hot going into the playoffs. Easier said then done I guess.

Andy Dalton

1. Cut down the INT's. Pretty simple. 17-20 is just too many. 12-14 would be better.

2. Play better against the Browns. Dalton was fine against the Ravens and Steelers last year. Against the Browns, saying he's tough to watch is putting it nicely. It just seems like he sails every throw. It's tough to figure out why Dalton can look good one week, then look like this against the Browns (or occasionally other teams).

3. Find a target not named AJ Green that he relies on regularly. MLJ and Eifert are obvious candidates. Dalton pretty much ignored Sanu when AJ was healthy last year. It makes our offense extremely predictable when opposing defenses only have to worry about stopping AJ Green.

MB - I have no issues with him. He is loyal to his employees. He has proven he can change as he has helped change the culture of the franchise. The only thing lacking is post season success which I think is coming.

ML - ML reshaped a troubled franchise. My knock on ML is his ability to adapt a game plan after halftime. It has been an issue his entire career.

AD - I also have no major issues with Andy. He needs to secure  the ball better (so did Brett Favre and the QB darling a  year ago Bridgewater only had 14 TD's with 12 picks) as do a lot of NFL QB's. He lost one playoff game he was favored in and one playoff game had college talent (Colts) due to injury. He has 4 short years of NFL experience and was a 2nd round draft pick. Only one QB picked ahead of him in the 2011 draft (#1 overall Cam has come close to his NFL success) is still around starting.

I know I will get called a homer for being optimistic and not trashing all 3, but I am not going to pile on when I disagree and in many cases am at the other end of the spectrum. The reality is fans are upset for not winning playoff games, I am too, but I won't give those 3 100% of the blame. I have watched way too many grown men who make a lot of money tank in playoff games, thus I have a long list of players/reasons why we got there, but did not win a playoff game.