Smooth sailing or bumpy ride?

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-06-2019, 07:57 PM)Catmandude123 Wrote: Well the offseason has come and gone as of this Sunday. Marvin is history, old coaches and players have gone, new coaches and players  bring new found hope. The first few games may bring the fans down but with the return of AJ and the others that were injured last season I believe we have a legitimate chance at the playoffs. WHO DEY

With you 100%.  Even with Mediocre Marv the team had a shot when they were healthy.  That is the biggest difference right now...the team is healthy for the most part.  Yes, AJ is out but at least they had all of the preseason to practice life without him (can you imagine being even 2-1 with AJ returning for week 4 at pitt on MNF...is there a salivating emoji?) and Ciordy Glenn missing week 1 will hurt, but I have faith the coaches will help him with TE and backs.  I can see the offense taking a while to get on track but I am really excited to see this defense.   I am almost writing last season's defense off as "The Austin Issue".   They got better when he was axed, without even much time to install new things and a lot of backups on the field.  Their defense should be solid and I am hoping for big things from Dunlap, Atkins, Hubbard, and Lawson to make the back half not have to cover all day and possibly lead to some turnovers.

When a new coaching staff comes in, everyone picks up their game.  They all want to impress, and with the demotion of Price and the promotion of a guy like Damian Willis, the entire team will feel the need to be accountable.  

If they are able to steal one today....wow.  

Who Dey, brothers (and sisters, Bonnie!).  It is a New Dey and this is going to be fun.  

:andy:

[HarleyDog]

(09-08-2019, 08:55 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: With you 100%.  Even with Mediocre Marv the team had a shot when they were healthy.  That is the biggest difference right now...the team is healthy for the most part.  Yes, AJ is out but at least they had all of the preseason to practice life without him (can you imagine being even 2-1 with AJ returning for week 4 at pitt on MNF...is there a salivating emoji?) and Ciordy Glenn missing week 1 will hurt, but I have faith the coaches will help him with TE and backs.  I can see the offense taking a while to get on track but I am really excited to see this defense.   I am almost writing last season's defense off as "The Austin Issue".   They got better when he was axed, without even much time to install new things and a lot of backups on the field.  Their defense should be solid and I am hoping for big things from Dunlap, Atkins, Hubbard, and Lawson to make the back half not have to cover all day and possibly lead to some turnovers.

When a new coaching staff comes in, everyone picks up their game.  They all want to impress, and with the demotion of Price and the promotion of a guy like Damian Willis, the entire team will feel the need to be accountable.  

If they are able to steal one today....wow.  

Who Dey, brothers (and sisters, Bonnie!).  It is a New Dey and this is going to be fun.  

:andy:

Players being held accountable is not what we’re used to seeing. But it is going to be nice to see. Other than OL and LB concerns, I wonder how Dre K is going to do today? We really didn’t get to see much in PS. That’s one player that scares the hell outta me.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-08-2019, 09:07 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Players being held accountable is not what we’re used to seeing. But it is going to be nice to see. Other than OL and LB concerns, I wonder how Dre K is going to do today? We really didn’t get to see much in PS. That’s one player that scares the hell outta me.

Dre will be in perfect position to make a play but never see the ball.  He is maddening in his inconsistency, but he is playing the toughest position (IMHO) in the NFL.  I think now that the DC has settled in on a man scheme and WJII is (finally) going to travel with the opposing team's best WR, Dre ought to be just fine.  

One thing about that stringbean that is kind of funny:  when he gets fired up, he will try to make his presence felt with a really aggressive tackle.  If he goes flying in to DK Metcalf, he is likely to just splat like a bug on the windshield.  

This game is all on the front 4, er, 5?  If they can hold down the rushing attack, get some pressure, and contain Wilson (all no small task) the Bengals will have a really good shot at holding Seattle to 20 points or less.  I just hope (and pray) that we see some real energy out of this team.  And maybe a little attitude.  

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-08-2019, 09:07 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Players being held accountable is not what we’re used to seeing. But it is going to be nice to see. Other than OL and LB concerns, I wonder how Dre K is going to do today? We really didn’t get to see much in PS. That’s one player that scares the hell outta me.

Oh, and Harley, you will appreciate this:

The Bengals have never lost when I take my dog swimming before the game, as long as I get in with him.  We are heading to the pool I help run as soon as I get another coffee in me.  

The pool is closed for the season, but I leave the water level up for a few weeks.

I know some of you are thinking "why the hell don't you take him every time?".  Good question.  Sometimes it was out of town soccer tourneys or coaching for swimming.  Those are both done now.   If it works, I don't care, I will be breaking through the ice at the lake to make a swimming hole in January.  

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-06-2019, 08:02 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I'm pretty stoked as well.

Yeah, me too.

[Hammerstripes]

I expect this year to be rough with the O-line situation.

That being the case, I'm perfectly fine with a reset at the QB spot in next year's draft.

[fredtoast]

(09-08-2019, 09:46 AM)Hammerstripes Wrote: I expect this year to be rough with the O-line situation.  

Same here.  Even after a disappointing free agency I was thrilled with the Williams pick and thought Price would be one of our most improved players.  So I figured we could cobble together a decent line with Glenn, Boling, Price, Willaims, and Hart.  But now that Boling and Jonah are gone and Price and Glenn on the bench it is going to be a long day (season?).

[Socal Bengals fan]

(09-08-2019, 10:25 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Same here.  Even after a disappointing free agency I was thrilled with the Williams pick and thought Price would be one of our most improved players.  So I figured we could cobble together a decent line with Glenn, Boling, Price, Willaims, and Hart.  But now that Boling and Jonah are gone and Price and Glenn on the bench it is going to be a long day (season?).

Same here. I was excited about Williams n Price. Glenn is a joke. He’s been hurt every single year in the league.

[*Nately120*]

(09-08-2019, 05:53 AM)HuDey Wrote: I feel pretty good about what Taylor brings to the table and I see better days  ahead after he has had a couple of seasons to rebuild and deploy a much less Marvinized roster.

That Marvinized roster came out of the gate very well last year and was still looking pretty good before we were down to Driskel throwing to Tate.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-08-2019, 12:08 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I'm not sure I follow your line of thinking, though.  So this year we look excited and the team loves the coaches but last year we looked nothing like that at all, but last year we were 4-1 out of the gate and had a top 5 offense and this year we might start off sloppy and taking some lumps.

For the 10927th time I'm glad Marvin is gone, but if we go from starting 4-1 to starting off with losses but the team looks "way more excited" it's going to be pretty interesting, I guess.  We will see how much love and excitement help this season along.  Maybe I'd be less confused by this if we didn't spend so much time laughing at Mike Tomlin's popularity with players leading them to underachieve.  Ida know.

It's swell fans and players are fired up about ZT, but I think we might be using a lot of hindsight about how we went into 2018.  It's almost like we are saying the team was bored and miserable before the season even started.  It sort of reminds me when a musician sinks his heart and soul into an album that flops and then he looks back at it and he's like "Oh, that album was never good it was stupid and I hate it and never liked it!"


Here is a video prior to the 2018 system where Dalton talks about the fun and excitement of Lazor's new system:
https://www.cincinnati.com/videos/sports/2018/05/21/cincinnati-bengals-andy-dalton-talks-offensive-coordinator-bill-lazor/627640002/

Here are glowing takes on the Dalton/Lazor system:

https://stripehype.com/2018/05/30/andy-dalton-will-thrive-bill-lazor/

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/17/andy-dalton-numbers-full-16-games-bill-lazor-outstanding/

https://local12.com/sports/bengals/how-bill-lazors-offense-has-put-bengals-qb-andy-dalton-back-in-a-comfort-zone



Now I'm sure a lot of this is "Anyone but Zampese" but at the same time I'm just pointing out that us acting like the Bengals were dead in the water and bored and miserable going into 2018 is a bit much.

I don't get your line of thinking, all those games could of went either way early last season.

Once we started losing players and we needed good coaching the season fell apart. Like always under Marv.

Coaching takes time, don't know why you don't understand this. Marv just had way too much time here.

It was stale, the players didn't even want to play the game it seemed. AJ was frustrated as hell, hence the brawl etc.

[*Nately120*]

(09-08-2019, 01:41 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I don't get your line of thinking, all those games could of went either way early last season.

Once we started losing players and we needed good coaching the season fell apart. Like always under Marv.

Coaching takes time, don't know why you don't understand this. Marv just had way too much time here.

It was stale, the players didn't even want to play the game it seemed. AJ was frustrated as hell, hence the brawl etc.

Like i said, no one wanted to play for Marvin last year and we started 4-1 but now everyone is fired up and excited.  I think we are going a little overboard with how DOA this team was last year.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-08-2019, 08:55 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: With you 100%.  Even with Mediocre Marv the team had a shot when they were healthy.  That is the biggest difference right now...the team is healthy for the most part.  Yes, AJ is out but at least they had all of the preseason to practice life without him (can you imagine being even 2-1 with AJ returning for week 4 at pitt on MNF...is there a salivating emoji?) and Ciordy Glenn missing week 1 will hurt, but I have faith the coaches will help him with TE and backs.  I can see the offense taking a while to get on track but I am really excited to see this defense.   I am almost writing last season's defense off as "The Austin Issue".   They got better when he was axed, without even much time to install new things and a lot of backups on the field.  Their defense should be solid and I am hoping for big things from Dunlap, Atkins, Hubbard, and Lawson to make the back half not have to cover all day and possibly lead to some turnovers.

When a new coaching staff comes in, everyone picks up their game.  They all want to impress, and with the demotion of Price and the promotion of a guy like Damian Willis, the entire team will feel the need to be accountable.  

If they are able to steal one today....wow.  

Who Dey, brothers (and sisters, Bonnie!).  It is a New Dey and this is going to be fun.  

:andy:

We will see if Andre is as good in pass protection as Glenn at LT but pretty sure he will be better than Glenn in the run 
blocking department where Cordy is soft as hell. I think it also was a "Haslett issue" too last season. The LB's were the 
biggest problem last season and we replaced the shitty coach with Tem who has a good resume and got my second 
favorite LB in the entire Draft in Germaine Pratt.

I am excited. Who Dey!!! 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-08-2019, 01:48 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Like i said, no one wanted to play for Marvin last year and we started 4-1 but now everyone is fired up and excited.  I think we are going a little overboard with how DOA this team was last year.

I knew even if we made the Playoffs we wouldn't win under Marv.

Love football but last season was not exciting at all as this year under a new entourage.

Anything can happen for once. We all knew we would lose if we got to the Playoffs under the last guy. 0-7.

No point in even hoping last season, why even be excited? The players sure weren't.

[THE PISTONS]

(09-08-2019, 10:25 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Same here.  Even after a disappointing free agency I was thrilled with the Williams pick and thought Price would be one of our most improved players.  So I figured we could cobble together a decent line with Glenn, Boling, Price, Willaims, and Hart.  But now that Boling and Jonah are gone and Price and Glenn on the bench it is going to be a long day (season?).

That is interesting.

In the offseason, people were talking about how a line with Hart/Boling/Price/Glenn/Williams would be.

4 of those guys aren't starters. What are the odds that we had 9 good offensive lineman on this roster?

[masonbengals fan]

It's just been an ongoing nightmare at O-line for a couple of years now. And painfully have invested several picks trying to improve the situation.

[740Bengal]

Smooth as this Natural Ice combined with Little Caesars.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(09-07-2019, 08:39 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Agree, and I'm anxious to see how it plays out in real football. I don't expect a well oiled machine right outta the gate, rather some insights and flashes into it. 

How long will it take for them to start putting it all together ?

My guess is it might take the first half of the season. We got spoiled in 2003-2006 with Marvin Lewis’ almost instant success. I don’t necessarily expect a huge turnaround at first.

[THE PISTONS]

(09-08-2019, 02:25 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: My guess is it might take the first half of the season.  We got spoiled in 2003-2006 with Marvin Lewis’ almost instant success.  I don’t necessarily expect a huge turnaround at first.

I think that's fans way of hedging their bets on Taylor.

Essentially: 'He's an upgrade on Marvin, but might start slow.'

The Bengals changed coaches last year and people still had high expectations for them.

[Socal Bengals fan]

QB Lamar Jackson will never make it in this league. Bumpy road ahead of the Bengals playing in the AFC north this year.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-08-2019, 02:24 PM)740Bengal Wrote: Smooth as this Natural Ice combined with Little Caesars.