How much if it is personnel and how much is coaching?

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2021, 05:30 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: I didn't want to do a poll and have set answers.  It gets a little tricky with coaching, because do you include Tobin in that group and blame him for the personnel?

To simplify, I am going to leave the front office out of the equation.  You could make another thread about that if you wish, but there are plenty of those and all they do is point at the ineptitude.  I get it, as it is like Groundhog Day around here again after a nice run with Dalton and Green early on and Palmer and Chad before that.  

How much of THIS team's failures do you put on the players and how much do you put on the coaches?

I am split almost 50/50.  I think the roster has huge holes and injuries sure didn't help with a lack of quality depth.  Those holes are much more evident now than coming in to the 2020 season when we had high hopes for guys like Green, Atkins, and Dunlap.  Now all three need replaced.  I even had high hopes for Ross with Burrow.  Go ahead, let me have it for that one.  

I see big needs on both the inside and outside of the offensive line.  The defensive line needs help both inside and outside.  The WR group is talented but limited.  They need a couple burners that can generate quick separation and take the proverbial top off the defense. There are very few position groups I would refer to as "strengths".  That is not to say a good offseason can't make a huge difference, but then we have the coaches.

The same coaches that seemed to take 6 weeks to discover a screen pass that works on blitzing defenses.  The same coaches that seemingly reversed the progress of every offensive linemen but one (Hart).  The same coaching staff that had play after play of Burrow taking shots from free rushers.  

As much as I am disappointed with the coaching staff, I still put half of the blame on the roster.  The offensive line and defensive line play was really poor.  That led to so many problems across the board.  I never really saw improvement except for some personnel changes that came way too late (Margus Hunt, Spain).  Could a great coaching staff win with the team that was on the field this year?  I really don't think so.  

It's 50% players and 50% coaches in my book.  They are going to make a lot of changes (I would imagine) to the roster, but not so much in the coaching ranks.  Will that get the Bengals in to the playoffs?  With Burrow, I think almost anything is possible.  However, the biggest achilles heel to me moving forward will not be the roster, but the coaches.

I'm with you, it's a combination of both. Depth is a big problem on this team, and the starters in the trenches leave a lot to be desired.