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Quote:7) Andy Dalton enjoys the best year of his career.
Jonah Williams was a steal at No. 11, an excellent first-round pick to solidify Cincinnati's offensive line. A.J. Green will be healthy again -- and there's depth and youth around him at receiver. Joe Mixon is a star, having led the AFC with 1,168 rushing yards last season while averaging a healthy 4.9 yards per carry. And count me in the "Zac Taylor can coach" camp. In fact, call me camp counselor! The Bengalsneeded a major lift post-Marvin Lewis, and I think they got it. Taylor will maximize Dalton. Cincy's offense is going to surprise some people.
But wait a second: In the Steelers blurb above, I essentially intimated that the Bengals would finish fourth in the AFC North. So, what gives? How does this add up: Dalton enjoying the best season of his career and Cincinnati staying in the cellar? Well, while I believe Taylor's offense will put points on the board, I don't think Lou Anarumo's defense will stop other teams from following suit. The 2018 Bengals ranked 30th in scoring defense and 32nd in total D. What did the organization do to shore up that unit this offseason? Acquired Preston Brown and B.W. Webb in free agency, while adding some mid-round talents in the draft. Yeah, that's not gonna cut it. Cincy will give up points in bunches, which will actually serve as a statistical boon to Dalton. Weekly shootouts for the Red Rifle!
Adam Schein's 9 bold predictions for 2019.
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"What did the organization do to shore up that unit this offseason? Acquired Preston Brown and B.W. Webb in free agency, while adding some mid-round talents in the draft."
Adam Schein is clearly a hater.
To OP, I do think Andy has all he needs for a career year, assuming Zac Taylor and those line pieces work out.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
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TBH I do think there's at least a chance the defense turns it around (at least to an extent) even with the same personnel as last season. It's not like they don't have talent on that side of the ball. Not saying they'll be great and they will definitely have weaknesses that good teams will be able to take advantage of, but I'd honestly be surprised if they finished in the 30s again. It's not like they have a prolonged streak of being that bad going on over the last few years, and they were mostly respectable once Austin was gone.
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Last in the AFCN isn't going to cut it for Taylor and staff. The defense is going to have to show up some and improve.
It would be a waste of sorts if Dalton had a career year only to finish last because the team forgot it didn't have any good LBers on its roster. Someone in the LBing corp needs to step up, cover in the passing game and start making tackles on first contact in the running game.
This Adam Schein dude clearly doesn't know much about the Bengals though since they didn't acquire Preston Brown this off season, he was part of last year's epic back year.
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(05-08-2019, 10:09 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: "What did the organization do to shore up that unit this offseason? Acquired Preston Brown and B.W. Webb in free agency, while adding some mid-round talents in the draft."
Adam Schein is clearly a hater.
To OP, I do think Andy has all he needs for a career year, assuming Zac Taylor and those line pieces work out.
To be fair, I don't take National media too seriously. It's difficult to cover 32 teams, there's obviously things about this team that he'll never know that is standard knowledge to us about our favorite team. He has to give detailed analysis on the Bills, the Cardinals, the Jaguars . . . I have no problem with this team sliding by under the radar. It's when the spotlights hit this team . . . you can see the piss running down their legs during the National anthem.
Only users lose drugs.
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I think a lot of the issues with the defense last year was due to Teryl Austin. The defense did improve as the year went on without him. Of course, it couldn't have gotten much worse.
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His prediction on the defense may be accurate, but he makes no mention of just how putrid Teryl Austin seemed to be as a DC. He also makes no mention of who I believe this team's wildcard is this season: Carl Lawson.
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(05-09-2019, 01:27 AM)Bilbo Saggins Wrote: His prediction on the defense may be accurate, but he makes no mention of just how putrid Teryl Austin seemed to be as a DC. He also makes no mention of who I believe this team's wildcard is this season: Carl Lawson.
Yeah a lot of people are forgetting the impact an elite Edge player will have on a defense. According to PFF he was 2nd amongst edge players in pass rush win rate.
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These idiots see last years last place for the defense, and automatically think our defense can't play. They don't take the time to research that last years defense was injury riddled, and suffered from Austin. Even with backup players, Marvin had them looking better once he took over. And, with all that, the Defensive Backfield still ranked 7th. They'll be fine.
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If, and that's a big if, Dalton has a career year, that would mean he would put up MVP like numbers given what he did in 2015 prior to the injury. That's a bold statement.
I really don't think the defense will be nearly as bad as last year. Glasgow should be back in the tackle rotation. Lawson back on the edge. Hubbard came into his own. Burfict was a liability. Brown played hurt all season. The secondary will be solid as long as they can generate some sort of consistent pass rush. I think they can with Dunlap, Geno, Hubbard, Lawson.
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Well really...you look at the skill positions: Green and Boyd are a Top 5-7 WR tandem. Then Mixon behind a good offensive line is a Top 3-5 back in the league. Behind our offensive line he still led the AFC in rushing so he might still be a Top 5 back behind our bad line.
Ross...well not much production in 2 years, but he's fast and was a high pick. Then Bernard is a good #2 back that can catch. Pretty ideal guy to backup Mixon.
At TE, Eifert is considered one of the best although it's mainly theoretical as he's never healthy enough to put up big numbers.
IF you put those weapons out there for a Mahommes or a Roethlisberger...you'd have a GREAT offense.
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(05-09-2019, 09:26 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: IF you put those weapons out there for a Mahommes or a Roethlisberger...you'd have a GREAT offense.
Put those weapons out there for Andy Dalton and you'll have a great offense. They were averaging 31 points a game before Eifert went out last year.
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(05-09-2019, 10:00 AM)NKURyan Wrote: Put those weapons out there for Andy Dalton and you'll have a great offense. They were averaging 31 points a game before Eifert went out last year.
I do worry about that though. Eifert has played well under half of the games in his career. IF losing him derails the offense in a major way...that's bad.
Our offensive line COULD be improved too. You'd have to think Price will improve. Then Glenn is capable of being better. Miller is slightly better than Redmond. And Williams should be a big upgrade to Hart.
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In the big picture I've never been of the opinion that AD is to blame for this teams lack of success. AD having a career season isn't that big a stretch to me. I also feel the D will improve enough to keep us in most games. If the ball bounces their way a couple times I can see this team being in the mix.
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defense will be better on simplifing the verbage alone.
Instead of trying to get the most out of his players
Austin wanted prove how smart his was termonology
etc
too many of these "experts" forget ZT is going to lean on
Mixon Bernard and maybe those 2 youngsters
with heavy doses of the run.
aka the defense will be fresher come the 2nd half.
Hubbard and Bates should be that much better year 2.
I think WJ2 will return to his rookie form.
no more of this Austin paddy cake zone coverage.
such a stupid hire he was
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I think one thing is unquestioned. Austin did this team zero favors. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING just went straight to hell under him then began to improve slowly without him.
Lou has a lot to prove as a DC and as of yet hasn't really proven much so it'll going to be an uphill slog for him to get known as a good DC. The players are going to have to step it up just to help Lou get a name for himself. If they don't Lou won't be around much longer.
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(05-08-2019, 10:09 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: "What did the organization do to shore up that unit this offseason? Acquired Preston Brown and B.W. Webb in free agency, while adding some mid-round talents in the draft."
Adam Schein is clearly a hater.
To OP, I do think Andy has all he needs for a career year, assuming Zac Taylor and those line pieces work out.
Why is Schein a hater for that statement?
He stated Williams was a steal at 11. Aside from that, the other picks were mid-round talents. Sample, Pratt, Jordan all fairly considered mid-round prospects.
Preston Brown and BW Webb are not going to magically turn the 30th ranked defense into a Top 10 defense. It's basically the same defense as last year personnel-wise.
The likely only defensive player added that could make a significant impact is Pratt. Wren is a project and may actually go to the PS as a rookie. Davis likely backs up Brown if he makes the roster. Brown, if he makes the roster, likely is the last CB. I wouldn't expect Davis or Brown to play more than ST this upcoming season.
Zac Taylor 2019-2020: 6 total wins
Zac Taylor 2021-2022: Double-digit wins each season, plus 5 postseason wins
Zac Taylor 2023: 9 wins despite losing Burrow half the season
Zac Taylor 2024: Started 1-4. If he can turn this into a playoff appearance, it will be impressive.
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(05-09-2019, 11:15 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: In the big picture I've never been of the opinion that AD is to blame for this teams lack of success. AD having a career season isn't that big a stretch to me. I also feel the D will improve enough to keep us in most games. If the ball bounces their way a couple times I can see this team being in the mix.
Dalton gets blame but he also gets some aggressive excuses, too. I recall people saying that Tom Brady himself couldn't succeed with out 2018 coaching staff and o-line. Were people extending that same excuse to Driskell or are we just sure he's total garbage?
At any rate, fanbases are very good at convincing themselves that the people who aren't here anymore are the specific culprits in wrecking prior seasons. Sure, Andy's career year was with Hue as OC, but at the same time Andy is going to be way better now that that loser Hue isn't here...or something. Just seems a little too convenient, sometimes.
1
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(05-08-2019, 10:09 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: "What did the organization do to shore up that unit this offseason? Acquired Preston Brown and B.W. Webb in free agency, while adding some mid-round talents in the draft."
Adam Schein is clearly a hater.
To OP, I do think Andy has all he needs for a career year, assuming Zac Taylor and those line pieces work out.
well if the defense is like last year andy will have to have a career year just to keep games close
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(05-09-2019, 11:21 AM)impactplaya Wrote: defense will be better on simplifing the verbage alone.
Instead of trying to get the most out of his players
Austin wanted prove how smart his was termonology
etc
too many of these "experts" forget ZT is going to lean on
Mixon Bernard and maybe those 2 youngsters
with heavy doses of the run.
aka the defense will be fresher come the 2nd half.
Hubbard and Bates should be that much better year 2.
I think WJ2 will return to his rookie form.
no more of this Austin paddy cake zone coverage.
such a stupid hire he was
Honestly...I think that says more about the players than Austin and I think it's a bit of an excuse. Our LB's were really bad. No 2 ways about it. Nickerson and Evans should not be starting. Bottom line.
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