I went from doom and gloom to optimistic since season end

[Bengalitis]

From Black Jesus to Marvin to Merv? what's going on?

[lone bengal]

(01-11-2018, 02:45 AM)bengalsturntup926 Wrote: See with you guys that obsess over the o line this year like never before. But really it was two guys that were bad on the o line. Two guys emerged westerman and Redmond, the run game improved ,the line just wasn't bad starting the game before the Pittsburgh game. Yet you guys think we got to select 3-4 lineman. FALSE just get rid of Cedric and don't allow him on the line ,and atleast get a tackle somewhere ,Bodine needs replaced but I bet they bring him back.  Next year the o line will be fine.

Now as for #2 receiver I agree with you,lafell needs to go we got to do better then him,Ross is unproven and Boyd's been a slot. Where is the #2 going to come from I do not know . But losing lafell is a positive for us. 

I know fans really have no reason to think optimistic and I'm usually on the negative side like I said. But we know Dalton and pretty good coaches can get to the playoffs atleast. It's been proven. We lost important coaches after 2015 and didn't replace them. So now we are replacing bad coaches. So now we will see what they do the rest of the way after hiring these coaches which sounds like they will be better coaches.

People obsessed over the o-line because it cost us our season.  Way more than just " two guys" were bad on the o-line.  Ogbuehi, Fisher, Bodine, Hopkins, TJ Johnson and pretty much anybody that played right guard were bad. Smith was a somewhat serviceable band-aid solution at right tackle for a year. You also say "just get a tackle somewhere " like there easy to find and grow on trees.  You won't find a good one in free agency because it's a horrible class.  That means you have to draft one probably in the first round and start him as a rookie and you still need another one unless your confident in Fisher or Ogbuehi at the other tackle spot, which I'm not.  That's leaves center , Bodine is awful so you need to either draft a rookie center to start or find one In free agency.  Westerman and Redmond looked ok "in the two games they played I'm still not convinced that their starters.  Maybe one of them can win the right guard spot cause,  I'm leaving Boling at left guard.  So I'm sure how the o-line is just going to be "fine " next year. 

[CornerBlitz]

Geez, that didn't take very long. SMH

[grampahol]

C'mon folks.. Marvins annual "We gotta do better"  speech is a sure sign that the super bowl is right around the corner. 
Anyone who doesn't believe we're gonna win next year's super bowl just isn't a real fan.. Only die hard, true believers who have a million dollar Bungles man cave and a bigger than life sized solid gold statue of Mike Brown in their front yards are REAL FANS! or extraordinarily stupid, but let's not split hairs here and give the poor saps the benefit of the doubt.. 

[Utts]

(01-10-2018, 08:46 PM)leonardfan40 Wrote: Mike Brown was banking on us having short memories when he re-signed Merv....I never woulda guessed he’d be right this fast. Figured it’d take at least until the draft before people started forgetting how bad Merv is and how much this team has regressed these past few years. It doesn’t matter how good this team is, they won’t make it past the first round of the playoffs with you know who coaching

I don't see Mike Brown sitting in his PBS office wringing his hands over fan opinion on keeping Marvin. He wasn't counting on anything. I think he did what he thought was best.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(01-10-2018, 08:35 PM)Beaker Wrote: To the OP....good for you.

Optimism is ALWAYS the better option when navigating the twists in life. These boards could use a little more of that.

The Bengals haven't won a playoff game in 27 years under Mike Brown, and 15 years under Marvin Lewis, and there's still a large contingent of fans who keep thinking they will.

If this board had any more optimism, we would all start spontaneously start pooping rainbows.

The optimism is just relative.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As for the OP... sucker.

You are why Mike Brown gives all the fans a double middle finger and brings back Lewis for his 16th season, because they give a couple "huzzah, huzzah" press conferences, hire a crappy coach or two, and tell you how THIS time everything is going to change.... and you're eating it up.

[HarleyDog]

(01-10-2018, 08:02 PM)bengalsturntup926 Wrote: I was hoping on a good head coach coming and drafting a potential good qb at seasons end. That isn't happening and I thought my dedication is going to go way down. But...its been a snowball getting bigger of being optimistic,and I'm not the optimistic type like alot of people are i consider myself a realist.

Too much too soon. I would go get some relaxing oils or something and chill till we get through preseason at least. Mike and Marvin have ways of destroying the indestructible. 95% of what is being said will not happen. Marvin is still Marvin. I too get a feeling of optimism after reading some of the news, but then quickly shove my arm into a wood chipper to remind myself what it's really going to be like next season. We will see.

[McC]

I'm about halfway in between doom and gloom and optimistic. I'm willing to wait and see but I am pretty far from sold at this point.

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-10-2018, 08:06 PM)GodFather Wrote: Well that didn't take long, by September you will be convinced the new coaches and draft choices will have us at 11-5 and deep in the playoffs....



...well that is until the first week of January.

Although I appreciate "early Marv" for changing the culture, this is why I can't stand "middle to late Marv" as he screams of stupidity like Jeff Fisher.  We FINALLY saw a rushing attack when the offensive line had changes forced by injury.  No one can say THIS Baltimore team didn't care.  We saw flashes from Boyd in the slot that made us wonder what the hell happened to him during the beginning and middle of the season.  Maybe Dalton couldn't see his slot WR with DTs and DEs flying at him, or maybe it was the stupid scheme (Zampeze).  

We had the Eifert injury, indifferent AJ (until he lost his shit and attacked a guy), and the Ross debacle.  I normally won't cry about injuries as they happen to all teams, but this defense showed that other than Burfict, it has absolutely nothing in the middle.  And, yes, I am speaking to you Shawn Williams, most overpaid piece of crap on this team.   Outplayed by a 7th round draft pick and it wasn't even close.  

I like Lazor and I hope he is given true autonomy with his offense and Marv just plays principal.  Lazor's comments about fat ass piano man clearly indicate that there was a great deal of emotion and friction internally regarding the line play and the scheme.  Lazor proved (too late) that he could do better and fat ass was gone.  We can't underestimate just how significant this change may prove to be.  A rushing attack is something that this team hasn't had since 2009 and that was with a 7 man front.  Even then, it was very inconsistent.  Should Lazor be able to push Bodine at Center with Westerman and replace Hopkins (please!) with Redmond, this team could improve overnight.  Will that happen?  Will the best weapons be used?  I doubt it.  But to dismiss the notion that this team could jump to 11-5 overnight because of recent history completely discounts the talent that is assembled.  

I believe in the talent.  I don't believe in Marv.  I don't know what to think of Lazor, and I have some hope for Austin.  

If I was betting?  7-9.  Can I see a season where it all clicks like 2015? Absolutely.  

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-10-2018, 08:20 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: We pay Harold Goodwin and i will have some optimism, this guy is just what we need at O-line coach. He is not one
dimensional like PA was, he can coach up run blocking and pass blocking. This would be huge for this team as PA
could only coach pass blocking and still his guys kept their hands too low and quit at times.

I just hope Marv has demands for FA and we go after a top tier O-lineman to really free up the draft.

We do this and things will be looking pretty good IMHO.

We still won 7 games last year with that shitty O-line, i think we can win enough to maybe win a Playoff game with
a good O-line. I really like our RB's and maybe our new WR coach can get something out of either Ross, Boyd, Malone
or Core.

Our Defense is pretty stacked and young, i still have high hopes for Billings. Have really high hopes for Will Jax,
Lawson, Willis and Dennard.

We need major help at LB and safety (which we won't get because Shawn Williams will continue to be the biggest ripoff on the team because, hey, we drafted him).  WJIII is a star.  Dennard proves he belongs.  Adam Jones is gone (good riddance) and maybe Austin will leave MJ where he actually helped (at DT on passing downs).  

Heading in to next season, the big question (again) will be:  Can this offense score 24 points a game?  If the lack of separation from the WRs isn't addressed (Lafell gone, Ross playing) and they think they can just smoke-and-mirror it with talk of how re-dedicated AJ Green will be, then you can forget anything but another 5-7 win season.  

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-11-2018, 06:40 AM)Utts Wrote: I don't see Mike Brown sitting in his PBS office wringing his hands over fan opinion on keeping Marvin. He wasn't counting on anything. I think he did what he thought was best.

Completely agree.  And kudos to him for doing what he honestly thought would help the team the most.  However, it sure as hell won't help season ticket sales.  I can't imagine how empty that stadium will look next year.  I am betting that season ticket holders drops from over 50,000 to below 40,000.  

What does that mean?  Bye-bye home field advantage.  Also, might open the door to the team leaving in 2026.  Which isn't as far away as it sounds.  

[Fan_in_Kettering]

The Bengals will be vastly improved in 2018 for, among other reasons, two big changes:

1. The worst offensive line coach in football isn’t on staff for the first time since 1992. I won’t even say his name but his antiquated pass blocking ideas nearly got Carson Palmer mauled and ran him out of town. If Andy Dalton wasn’t mobile he would be begging Mike Brown for a trade too.

2. The worst second half defensive coordinator isn’t on staff anymore either. Who in the BLEEP calls for a prevent defense in the third quarter?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(01-11-2018, 10:37 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: And, yes, I am speaking to you Shawn Williams, most overpaid piece of crap on this team.   Outplayed by a 7th round draft pick and it wasn't even close.

This is not a post to defend Shawn Williams, but this part of your post makes me have to bring up two very important things.


1. He wasn't outplayed by Fej at all. Fej was bad at defense, good on ST. The Bengals haven't really had any good safeties since they let Nelson leave.

2. Dre Kirkpatrick with his signing bonus, base salary, roster bonus, and workout bonus, made just a hair under $15m in 2017, which was 6th most among CBs. If you look at total value of a contract, Kirkpatrick's is 10th among all CBs. Damn the Bengals FO sucks. Lol

[bengals67]

So far nothing more than Ground Hog Day .

Nothing has happened so far that has not occurred in the past several times which brought us 0-7 in playoffs, 2-14 at home against Steelers, etc.

The fact of the matter is Marv should have been fired and they should have hired an established stud like Gruden or a dynamic young assistant from a winning program with authority to completely clean house.

If they sign at least one high quality free agent in his prime to play center, linebacker , tackle or safety, only then will I be tempted to drink the kool aide again.

[BMK]

I don't understand all this new-found optimism. It's all a big a smoke screen....meaningless. As we all here are smart enough to have figured out by now, the coaching moves etc, mean nothing... because after all:

Our success (or lack thereof) is already pre-scripted by the league
The league hates us and doesn't want us to succeed.
The NFL only wants the bigger markets to succeed (even though we are a bigger market than Buffalo, Jacksonville and New Orleans).
The refs get together before each game and decide how they're going to cheat against us.
Etc. etc. etc.

So I don't understand all the optimism and enthusiasm, since we all know the above to be true.


It IS all true, isn't it?

[grampahol]

It's ok to be optimistic.. Browns fans tossed a parade after the worlds worst season.. If that ain't optimism of sorts tough telling what downright pessimism might look like..and look on the bright side..The Bengals won 700% more games than the Browns and less than 100% less games than pissburg.. 
Choosey mothers chose Jif*

* metaphor still a work in progress  and I know.. I have to do better..

[grampahol]

(01-11-2018, 12:28 PM)BMK Wrote: I don't understand all this new-found optimism.  It's all a big a smoke screen....meaningless.  As we all here are smart enough to have figured out by now, the coaching moves etc, mean nothing... because after all:

Our success (or lack thereof)  is already pre-scripted by the league
The league hates us and doesn't want us to succeed.
The NFL only wants the bigger markets to succeed (even though we are a bigger market than Buffalo, Jacksonville and New Orleans).
The refs get together before each game and decide how they're going to cheat against us.
Etc. etc. etc.

So I don't understand all the optimism and enthusiasm, since we all know the above to be true.  


It IS all true, isn't it?      

YOU are a conspiracy theorist! There's no possible way that professional sports could EVER be fixed..It's permanently broken. 

[*PhilHos*]

(01-10-2018, 08:02 PM)bengalsturntup926 Wrote: I was hoping on a good head coach coming and drafting a potential good qb at seasons end. That isn't happening and I thought my dedication is going to go way down. But...its been a snowball getting bigger of being optimistic,and I'm not the optimistic type like alot of people are i consider myself a realist.

First with the firing of Alexander, that guy couldn't pick good lineman for a long time ,and just isn't a good O line coach. You can just look at him and he looks like a turd of a coach. Next Pauly G. Even though he was not bad ,he wasn't great . He was definitely no Zimmer.  I believe Austin and his assistants have the potential to make us a better defense.

I like the rumors of all the coaches I am hearing . And I think we atleast know a good coaching staff can get us to the playoffs . NOW ... the determining factor will be other things I think if we make the next step to playoff wins. And that's going to take time to see if it happens. I'm talking about Free Agency , The draft and will we actually play the guys who deserve to play I think is a big key. I'm not thrilled with Andy I think you need a better QB to win the Superbowl. But he might atleast get us some playoff wins with a great team around him. Id like to draft a good potential guy but I don't think we have the extra picks to do it,and I know Marvin will not draft a 1st round QB.

The next thing in line to win a playoff game will be , our bad luck and injury problems. It's the Bengals way for someone to get hurt in a promising year. That's why I hope we have the depth at all positions. But I'm optimistic on a fun winning season this year. I alsok think Gruden, the pats ,Steelers will still be in the playoffs next year,it's a shame franchises always do better then us,we deserve a ring here.

I'm not there, though I could see convincing myself to be optimistic again. That said, let's be real: with Merv as HC, we're practically guaranteed 8 wins. He's only had less than 8 wins five times since being here and only 2 of those times were 4 win seasons. 

[grampahol]

(01-11-2018, 02:27 PM)PhilHos Wrote: I'm not there, though I could see convincing myself to be optimistic again. That said, let's be real: with Merv as HC, we're practically guaranteed 8 wins. He's only had less than 8 wins five times since being here and only 2 of those times were 4 win seasons. 

I see you're buying into the Oprah Winfree approach to healing or at least open to the possibility that just thinking good thoughts will make it so. 
 Just what the nation needs..two consecutive celebrity presidents with enough baggage each to start their own global freight conglomerates on day one..  What could possibly go wrong with this scenario? 
At the very least it could make the Bengals look downright sensible in comparison.. 
Sorry about tossing in political commentary..I couldn't help myself..

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(01-11-2018, 01:07 AM)lone bengal Wrote: I'm not drinking the cool aid. We won two games at the end of the year, got some new position coaches and everybody goes crazy. Marvin is still the coach so nothing will change far as him getting us over the hump. Just on the line alone we need a left tackle, center, right guard and right tackle  Everybody says address the line in free agency. This years o-line free agent class is terrible the only good player worth signing is Norwell the guard from the Panthers which some people on here have already mentioned. I doubt the Bengals will pay big money for a free agent period and doubt they will pay big money for a free agent guard. So that leaves the draft we need to draft at least two lineman in the first two rounds and they both will probably have to start and be good right away.  Whatever line coach you bring in won't be able to save Ogbuehi or Fisher unless he runs a system that requires lineman to let defenders run by untouched.  So your probably going to have to add 3 new lineman that have never played together, more than likely two will be rookies that have to be good right away so that right there is a huge task. Also who else can get open besides Green ? I don't know if Ross is even good or that he can stay healthy. Tyler Boyd was 'MIA' all season long , a healthy scratch for 2 games just because he had two good games at the end of the year i'm not buying into the fact that he can do it on a consistent basis.  I have hope for the defense because we have some good talent but we still need two linebackers and a safety that can make a ball on the ball.

Like i said, FA is where we will tell something. If we just go the normal route and get an aging LB i will be right with you.

But i like to stay a little positive so atleast there is something interesting to talk about on here.