Bad drafts and the current state of Bengals

[wolverine515151]

(11-02-2019, 07:22 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I agree our front office stinks, but what can the NFL say when we have a winning record against other front offices over the last 15 years,

It would be like saying someone robs a bank and gives the money to the homeless. So the means of getting the money was bad, robbing a bank, but the ends was good, giving to the homeless, therefor it was justified.

The ends never justify the means unless in very rare circumstances. 

Another example would be a poker player who plays his hand horribly and is a 10% chance to win on the river and he sucks out and wins. Say he does that 5 times in a row.

He still played the hand badly and in the long run the law of averages will catch up with his bad decision making and he will eventually lose out more than he wins.

The Bengals might have justified the means, horrible front office, because the ends were good for a short amount of time , 5 years of winning ,but it isn't a good way to do it for long term success. In almost 30 years we have had a short run of 5 good years in row, none of which resulted in a playoff win. 

This is why the Bengals had a short run of 5 years of success and eventually fell back to where they have been for the better part of three decades, at the bottom in the NFL. 

Conversely, the Patriots have had sustained excellence because they run the organization the right way; Building a good front office allows for sustained excellence and not short term success.

Furthermore, whose to say that if the Bengals had a better front office, instead of winning 10 games and getting bounced in the first round, they wouldn't have won 12 games a year and had a good shot at a Superbowl. A competent front office could have been the edge that pushed them over the top.

How the NFL handles the players compared to the front office should be taken into account. The NFL has strict rules on how players can conduct themselves on and off the field. They have to abide by very precise rules. Can't commit pass interference, can't hold, can't jump offside. As far as dress code they can't wear  the wrong shoes, cant wear watches, have to tuck shirts in. Off the field very strict on player conduct and a ban on many illegal substances. 

Why can't the NFL set strict rules and guidelines on how NFL front offices are built. Why should owners be allowed to run teams any way they want. Why should they not adhere to the same strict rules as the players. Or at the very least minimum standards like preventing the owner from being gm. Or a team needing at least 10 people running the front office of which 50% cant be family members.