10-24-2017, 04:00 PM
(10-24-2017, 12:41 PM)CincyWestside Wrote: I am not going to sit here and say Mike Brown is not at fault, but I do not see how these losses can be blamed on him. First, on Mike's offseason decisions:
In regards to Whitworth, I understand the decision. You do not want to be overpaying an aging veteran. You just have to look at some of the decisions the Reds made to understand how that might not be the best idea.
In regards to Zeitler, I also understand the decision. The guy was getting offered to be one of the highest paid guards in the league. We had and will have a lot of other people who need to get paid and a guard is not an optimal position to sink a lot of money into.
It's not like the Bengals did not see this coming either. They spent a 1st and 2nd round draft pick on OL. The picks looked good at the time. Og was a mock draft top 10 pick before tearing his ACL. The fact that both are busts should speak to the bad insights of either the scouts or PA (who am I kidding, it has to be PA).
I think Dre signing was a must last offseason. We didn't know how WJIII would turn out, Dennard looked like a bust last season, and Pacman was aging.
For the draft, I understood the philosophy of the picks. I can't speak for any opportunities to trade down, but given where we were in the draft, I liked the pick. There were no OL prospects worthy of that pick and we needed speed. Obviously, now, I wish we could have found a 1st round talent who could actually get on the field at some point. But for the rest of draft, I think the Bengals did really well this past year. Mixon is our RB of the future and Willis and Lawson have been great additions to an aging, slow defense. I'd like to have some younger OL picks too, but I am not sure who was available and whatnot.
Overall, I think a lot of the Mike Brown decisions this past offseason and other RECENT offseasons have been pretty justified for where we are. The 1st round draft picks in recent years who cannot stay healthy is starting to open holes on the team, but otherwise, I think most decisions are justified.
I believe the best way to improve the team is to change our coaching staff. Marvin is done. Being outcoached every week has cost this team wins, playoff aspirations, and possibly a championship. How many times in this Marvin era have we looked absolutely unprepared in big games? How many times have we stuck to the same gameplan while the other team adjusts after halftime? How many times do we have to see the dumbfounded look on Marvin's face when the other team just rolls us or our players commit a boneheaded play?
I am tired of it. We need a coach who knows how to plan for the big games. We need a coach who can adapt, in-game, to the momentum of the game. We need a coach who can exploit the weaknesses of the other team and roll with the strengths of our own team. My choice for that coach would be Josh McDaniels, but at this point, I'd be willing to bet that any NFL coach would be better at these decisions that Marvin Lewis.
1. The Bengals had the money. They were overpaying Adam Jones who is a nutcase. Cut him and you have 7 million more to spend. Money is irrelevant. They just got cheap. Too cheap. As usual.
2. They offered an embarrassingly low deal to Zeitler knowing he would decline and walk. You know why Zeitler got so much money? Because he was on the market. You know why DeCastro etc got less? Because their teams actually made compelling offers and didn't let their guys hit the market.
Taking these two decisions and trying to explain them away is why Mike Brown does it. Because people will buy the bullshit.
