ESPN. Bengals on the Rise

[HarleyDog]

(04-11-2020, 04:53 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: But we weren’t “fine” teams ran it down our throats at will last season.

That was embarrassing. 

[McC]

(04-11-2020, 04:40 PM)J24 Wrote: 1.) I have never said that infact I have routinely said the the three technique is the second most important position in football besides QB.
2.)  You mean 50 million on a nose tackle? If you're going to argue about positional value than why brag about signing a Nose Tackle? Next to the Sam LB the NT position is also going the way of the dinosaurs.
2b.) My argument has never been against Reader it was  against signing an average CB like Wayne's to 15 million dollars over signing a pro Bowl LB like Littleton to 13 million dollars a year.
3.) Wouldn't mind Brooks but not a big fan of Weaver.

The NT position will never go away.  It can't possibly.  It's a critical part of any good defense.  You always have to be able to shut down the run.  Especially in our division.

If Billings was as good as you claim, teams would not have been running all over our defense his entire time here.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(04-11-2020, 05:08 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: That was embarrassing. 

Yep. You could have Ray Lewis back there but when our DL couldn’t stop the run to save their lives it wouldn’t have mattered. DL is always going to be more important than LB. Always. Ofc ideally you want good players at both levels, but I think it was smart to start where we did.

[J24]

(04-11-2020, 05:09 PM)McC Wrote: The NT position will never go away.  It can't possibly.  It's a critical part of any good defense.  You always have to be able to shut down the run.  Especially in our division.

If Billings was as good as you claim, teams would not have been running all over our defense his entire time here.

Lol it's a position that's going away because of the spread offense this isn't breaking news.
So Geno, Carlos, and Hubbard are not good players either? Or are you singling out Billings because he is the only guy that left the team?

Also PFF must be lying as well right even though there Data shows that both him and Topu are actually good players?

[J24]

(04-11-2020, 04:53 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: But we weren’t “fine” teams ran it down our throats at will last season.

Teams were actually running sideline to sideline against us not up the middle.

[HarleyDog]

(04-11-2020, 06:56 PM)J24 Wrote: Teams were actually running sideline to sideline against us not up the middle.

Not true. Anytime, every time, teams needed to move, they went pass middle with ease. We were horrible in the middle.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(04-11-2020, 06:56 PM)J24 Wrote: Teams were actually running sideline to sideline against us not up the middle.

There was plenty of it going right up the middle. This was from The Athletic:

There were five qualifying defensive tackles last year who ranked in the Top 25 in both pass-rush grades and run-stop grades. One of them is a member of the Bengals, and his name isn’t Geno Atkins. Newly signed D.J. Reader graded fifth as a run stopper and 15th in pass rush while playing for the Texans.

So no, even Geno was not particularly good stopping the run.

[*jason*]

(04-11-2020, 07:00 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Not true. Anytime, every time, teams needed to move, they went pass middle with ease. We were horrible in the middle.

For like 5 years now...

[J24]

(04-11-2020, 07:08 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: There was plenty of it going right up the middle. This was from The Athletic:

There were five qualifying defensive tackles last year who ranked in the Top 25 in both pass-rush grades and run-stop grades. One of them is a member of the Bengals, and his name isn’t Geno Atkins. Newly signed D.J. Reader graded fifth as a run stopper and 15th in pass rush while playing for the Texans.

So no, even Geno was not particularly good stopping the run.

That stat doesn't mean he wasn't good against the run it means he wasn't too 25 in stopping the run.

[J24]

(04-11-2020, 07:00 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Not true. Anytime, every time, teams needed to move, they went pass middle with ease. We were horrible in the middle.

 this isn't remotely true

[Joelist]

We got run all over because we have been atrocious at tackling. If you look at the runs we were not getting consistently blown off the line allowing easy inside runs - we got killed on runs where our first guy (and frequently more than one) were there but blew the tackle. This is also how we got plundered on outside runs.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(04-11-2020, 07:39 PM)J24 Wrote: That stat doesn't mean he wasn't good against the run it means he wasn't too 25 in stopping the run.

Which means he wasn’t very good. If one of our best players is not even top 25 at something that is bad. Surprised this is even something to argue about...

[Nicomo Cosca]

(04-11-2020, 07:40 PM)J24 Wrote:  this isn't remotely true

Yes it is. It’s literally what started the “worthless tub of goo” bs about Peko. It’s been a problem for years.

[McC]

(04-11-2020, 06:54 PM)J24 Wrote:
Lol it's a position that's going away because of the spread offense this isn't breaking news.
So Geno, Carlos, and Hubbard are not good players either? Or are you singling out Billings because he is the only guy that left the team?

Also PFF must be lying as well right even though there Data shows that both him and Topu are actually good players?

What the hell are you laughing at?  The position will NEVER go away.  It isn't breaking news because it isn't even remotely true.  I would like to see you share where you're getting this from.  And cuz I said so doesn't count.  Provide one source, please.  If it's the fact you say its, there should be mountains of proof that the NT is being phased out of professional football.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(04-10-2020, 09:37 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Shocking, ESPN is saying we are on rise with our FA class and drafting a franchise QB in Burrow.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29001772/five-nfl-teams-trending-where-upgraded-most-offseason

Say we are one year away from playoffs

Really surprising seeing ESPN say things I agree with...  

But so was this FA, this is what needed to happen for this team to free up the Draft and be able to improve the Offense with Burrow.

Hard to not like how this is all playing out if you have been even following this team a bit.

That is, unless you are a Steeler fan. This is not fun for them lol

They clearly have had pundits in the media hoping against all hope we trade the Burrow pick away.

Having the Steelers as a team on the rise brings this all back to the reality of ESPN though.

The Pig is getting old and Rudolph nor the duck are anything special.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(04-12-2020, 05:12 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Really surprising seeing ESPN say things I agree with...  

But so was this FA, this is what needed to happen for this team to free up the Draft and be able to improve the Offense with Burrow.

Hard to not like how this is all playing out if you have been even following this team a bit.

That is, unless you are a Steeler fan. This is not fun for them lol

They clearly have had pundits in the media hoping against all hope we trade the Burrow pick away.

Having the Steelers as a team on the rise brings this all back to the reality of ESPN though.

The Pig is getting old and Rudolph nor the duck are anything special.

Apparently the Steelers defense are the 2000 Ravens or something...

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(04-12-2020, 05:34 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Apparently the Steelers defense are the 2000 Ravens or something...

As always I will not count out the Steelers till I see it happening but to have them as a team on the rise is just hope from a fan.

Typical ESPN.

[JSR18]

(04-11-2020, 10:31 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Chargers made big moves to improve an already very good defense. They are a team to watch if they strike out on atop 3 or QB in the draft. Their defense is playoff ready. Their offense under Taylor is far off, Taylor was a starting QB or back up for a Bills team that had a good defense, yet could not win consistently.

No way they trust him, it is all a smoke screen. I am shocked they have not signed Cam.

OR Andy Dalton.

He'll either be involved in a draft day trade or traded after the draft to somebody who thought they'd get their QB via the draft and didn't...

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(04-12-2020, 09:01 PM)JSR18 Wrote: OR Andy Dalton.

He'll either be involved in a draft day trade or traded after the draft to somebody who thought they'd get their QB via the draft and didn't...

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

I would take Dalton over Tyrod Taylor no doubt. I agree, there will be a trade involved with Dalton.

There is a reason he hasn't already been cut.

[TJHoushmandzadeh's Shiny Shoes]

I'm not without some sympathy for the idea that our free agency was over-rated.

I think they were generally good moves but I'm not sure how much, Reader aside, they moved the needle.

That's not necessarily a criticism, more ranking it as good rather than great. I'll be happy to revise that upwards if Waynes is a pro bowler or they turn the defense into a top 10 unit etc. For now we're appearing to be moving in the right direction.