A True Assessment...

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-21-2018, 10:17 AM)psychdoctor Wrote: The Franchise is at the point of change.  The Dalton-Green era is on the tail end and the Atkins-Dunlap legacy secured but not enough.  

I know many fans on this forum are sick-and-tired of the same old feeling of the season slipping through the tight grip of hope only to look forward to the next draft, the Reds, or even college football.  

But what I would like from members is a true assessment without the hate of Front Office.  

If this team were of full health, meaning if all the player personnel were not on IR, would this team have competed?  Maybe there is merit in the fact the team should have fired Austin earlier than planned.  So lets say if Marvin Lewis was the DC/HC the entire year, would this team have competed for the AFC North title and actually win  a playoff game?

I would have to say even with a healthy Eifert, Gio, Kroft, Price, Brown, and Dennard, this team is missing essential personnel to win. The O-Line isn't there and the backers simply need over-hauled.  Can this be fixed in a year or two via drafts and free-agents? What say you?  

It's going to have to be done if the organization is serious about winning it all with these guys.

I wasn't too upset with the team until the debacle in Baltimore.  That was on the coaches, IMO.  I knew the oline needed more work, worried about the linebackers going into the season.  I did not anticipate the defense being this bad, but then again, I did not anticipate the hot start the offense got off to either, so it kind of evened out.

As for the personnel, other teams have injuries too, and some of them overcome them, and others don't.  However, that is A LOT of key players to have out at one time.  Even with all of that, they should have won Baltimore.  All you had to do was make Jackson throw the damn ball.