We added Burrow, Green, Jonah, Reader, Spain, Vonn Bell, Tee Higgins, Wilson, and...

[THE PISTONS]

We added Burrow, Green, Jonah, Reader, Spain, Vonn Bell, Tee Higgins, Wilson, and Bynes...and didn't improve. We're still bad stopping the run. We're still bad running the ball. Our passing rankings are similar to last year. And yes points are up all across the league this year.

And on the board, I read...we just need to add this guy? Or that guy? Or fix the offensive line. Or fix the defensive line.

Reader was a force with the Texans. Here, he graded out on PFF similar to Billings last year. (Slightly higher, but not the force he was with the Texans.) Has to be scheme/coaching.

This is another reason the coaching staff needs to go. My list includes 8 quality starting caliber players, and we didn't improve! And I'm not including the guys we signed that are injured.

This team is the ultimate example of 2+2 = 1.

IF you add 8 quality starters to basically ANY Team in the NFL, they get better. Except the Bengals.

The Dolphins gutted their roster last year and added some quality players and are 8-4.

[J24]

Yeah Zac isn't good we get it no need for 40,000 threads about it.

[GreenCornBengal]

(12-11-2020, 06:34 PM)J24 Wrote: Yeah Zac isn't good we get it no need for 40,000 threads about it.

You don’t want to cover every single angle of his ineptitude? I’m gonna go make a thread on his lack of fashion sense...

[THE PISTONS]

It dispels the narrative of 'Sign a guard and we're good to go'.

[*ochocincos*]

What do you mean we didn't improve? 0.5 more wins than last year! That's an improvement!

[*psychdoctor*]

Let me surmise the Front Office's view...

"Season was cut short due to pandemic. No Preseason for a young HC. 1-9 in close games that a play here and play there could have easily flipped to 9-1. Injuries, more injuries than most teams to key players like star QB, OL. Team is in process of purging underperforming vets."

It goes much higher than Zac Taylor. I said this before, Taylor was a bold risk taken by Katie et al and I applaud the Front Office for going out of their comfort zone. Spending Record money, again out of their comfort zone. The risk did not work out. Taylor did not acquire the personnel to be successful. It looked like most of the assistants and coordinators were his choice. He made the wrong decisions. It happens. Nevertheless, Taylors youthful naivete and denial led to injuring his QB of the future. He is not the right person for the job.

Another year will be wasted. Another year off of JB contract. So maybe after 2021 season the Bengals make another change. Until they get football smart people in the organization, the cycle will repeat.

[Benton]

Well... Injuries are injuries.weve had some significant ones . But most importantly was JB. If he wasn't out,we likely would've added 4-5 more wins. That's a leap forward from last season.

But, to the OP: it's a testament to how depleted this team has been. We've needed OL, DL, LB and WR for years, either starters or significant depth. We had a lot of misses, exacerbated by the few hits being injured.

I get the zt hate. He's the coach, so the w/l will always fall on him. But he's really only been a part of ONE off-season. And in that one we added more talent than probably the previous three. he's got a crap ton of guys to replace before we get back to winning seasons.

[Tony]

Zack Taylor is complete ***** garbage... Anyone that thinks otherwise is only fooling themselves....Jesus Christ, how much more do you need to see??

[THE PISTONS]

(12-11-2020, 10:06 PM)Benton Wrote: Well... Injuries are injuries.weve had some significant ones . But most importantly was JB. If he wasn't out,we likely would've added 4-5 more wins. That's a leap forward from last season.

But, to the OP: it's a testament to how depleted this team has been. We've needed OL, DL, LB and WR for years, either starters or significant depth. We had a lot of misses, exacerbated by the few hits being injured.

I get the zt hate. He's the coach, so the w/l will always fall on him. But he's really only been a part of ONE off-season. And in that one we added more talent than probably the previous three. he's got a crap ton of guys to replace before we get back to winning seasons.

Burrow missed 6.5 games. You really think we win 4-5 of them?

Lol @ the part about Taylor being part of 1 offseason. Flores coached in the same SB and had to deal with covid too. 8-4 this year!

[WhoDave72]

Need to establish a culture of stopping the run, this takes time. I think ZT needs another 3-4 years to turn it around...

[Benton]

(12-11-2020, 11:22 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Burrow missed 6.5 games. You really think we win 4-5 of them?

Lol @ the part about Taylor being part of 1 offseason. Flores coached in the same SB and had to deal with covid too. 8-4 this year!

To the first:
Washington, W
NYG, W
Dolphins, W
Dallas, W
Steelers, L
Texans, W
Ravens, ?

So... yeah. Yeah, I really think if JB was walking, that's how we would've ended the season. 4-5 wins, and who knows with the Ravens. I mean, hell, we almost beat the Giants and Dolphins without a quarterback. Those games would've been blowouts with Burrow. In our second game with the Ravens, we might've been able to hold our own.



@ the 1 offseason. 

Flores? 

Common, man! Flores can't even lead the AFC East where Belichick was sending players home trying to tank, and the Jets aren't even gassing up the busses any more. The Bills are at the top of that division. The Bills. Why? Because Belichick was sending players home trying to tank, and the Jets aren't even gassing up the busses any more.

Next season the Phins will be back to six wins when Belichick feels like trying and the Jets at least attempt to win a game.

Even if I'm wrong and they're on the way up, they should be. The Phins have been picking inside the top 13 for 4-out-of-5 drafts. So, yeah, Flores should have walked into a solid roster.

Which is the point. Zac (and probably whoever comes in to replace him in a year) is walking into a roster we're just now building because for years Merv tried to limp along with micro rebuilds instead of just saying "you guys suck, this ain't working." 2020 was the best draft we've had in years. But it's going to take 3-4 of those to build a team.

[THE PISTONS]

(12-11-2020, 11:48 PM)Benton Wrote: To the first:
Washington, W
NYG, W
Dolphins, W
Dallas, W
Steelers, L
Texans, W
Ravens, ?

So... yeah. Yeah, I really think if JB was walking, that's how we would've ended the season. 4-5 wins, and who knows with the Ravens. I mean, hell, we almost beat the Giants and Dolphins without a quarterback. Those games would've been blowouts with Burrow. In our second game with the Ravens, we might've been able to hold our own.



@ the 1 offseason. 

Flores? 

Common, man! Flores can't even lead the AFC East where Belichick was sending players home trying to tank, and the Jets aren't even gassing up the busses any more. The Bills are at the top of that division. The Bills. Why? Because Belichick was sending players home trying to tank, and the Jets aren't even gassing up the busses any more.

Next season the Phins will be back to six wins when Belichick feels like trying and the Jets at least attempt to win a game.

Even if I'm wrong and they're on the way up, they should be. The Phins have been picking inside the top 13 for 4-out-of-5 drafts. So, yeah, Flores should have walked into a solid roster.

Which is the point. Zac (and probably whoever comes in to replace him in a year) is walking into a roster we're just now building because for years Merv tried to limp along with micro rebuilds instead of just saying "you guys suck, this ain't working." 2020 was the best draft we've had in years. But it's going to take 3-4 of those to build a team.

We havent scored a point in the 3rd quarter in Week 7. I think with Burrow, we beat maybe Dallas.

I think Wash beats us. They're pass rush was getting home. They likely shut us down in the 2nd half.

Giants beat us.

Dolphins? They're 8-4 and Zac has never won a road game. They beat us.

Texans is a toss up, but I think we have trouble with Watson and lose.

One thing you're not factoring in is when our offense is bad the defense is good and vice versa. So the defense you're seeing without Burrow, would probably be giving up 35 points a game with him.

This team finds ways to lose.

[THE PISTONS]

It's funny you bash Flores...

You realize we're in a division with essentially 2 teams like the Patriots?

[TheBengals]

(12-11-2020, 11:32 PM)WhoDave72 Wrote: Need to establish a culture of stopping the run,  this takes time. I think ZT needs another 3-4 years to turn it around...

3-4 years?

Let's give him 20 more to turn it around!

[THE PISTONS]

(12-12-2020, 10:27 AM)TheBengals Wrote: 3-4 years?

Let's give him 20 more to turn it around!

He could have upwards of 40-50 wins over that span!

[BengalChris]

(12-11-2020, 07:34 PM)psychdoctor Wrote: Let me surmise the Front Office's view...

"Season was cut short due to pandemic.  No Preseason for a young HC.   1-9 in close games that a play here and play there could have easily flipped to 9-1.  Injuries, more injuries than most teams to key players like star QB, OL.  Team is in process of purging underperforming vets."  

It goes much higher than Zac Taylor. I said this before, Taylor was a bold risk taken by Katie et al and I applaud the Front Office for going out of their comfort zone.  Spending Record money, again out of their comfort zone.  The risk did not work out.  Taylor did not acquire the personnel to be successful.  It looked like most of the assistants and coordinators were his choice.  He made the wrong decisions.  It happens.  Nevertheless, Taylors youthful naivete and denial led to injuring his QB of the future.  He is not the right person for the job.

Another year will be wasted.  Another year off of JB contract.  So maybe after 2021 season the Bengals make another change.  Until they get football smart people in the organization, the cycle will repeat.

Just a bunch of excuses. Heard them all, plus others already. Doesn't change the fact that other teams can win this year in spite of all the same reasons you list. Pittsburgh has little issue replacing aging vets, overcoming injuries, having a close loss, etc, etc. Those 9 losses are losses that came about with this coaching staff in charge. Winners find a way to win. Losers don't. The closeness of the score is irrelevant! This isn't horseshoes or hand grenades.

Taylor was a lazy hire! Simple research into his production record would have eliminated him from consideration and possibly from even being interviewed in the first place.

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

Giving Taylor another 3-4 years would be insane. They will have completely wasted Burrow’s rookie contract.

[*bengalfan74*]

(12-12-2020, 08:15 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Giving Taylor another 3-4 years would be insane. They will have completely wasted Burrow’s rookie contract.

I think giving him 3-4 more weeks is insane.

[Benton]

(12-12-2020, 10:20 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: We havent scored a point in the 3rd quarter in Week 7. I think with Burrow, we beat maybe Dallas.

I think Wash beats us. They're pass rush was getting home. They likely shut us down in the 2nd half.

Giants beat us.

Dolphins? They're 8-4 and Zac has never won a road game. They beat us.

Texans is a toss up, but I think we have trouble with Watson and lose.

One thing you're not factoring in is when our offense is bad the defense is good and vice versa. So the defense you're seeing without Burrow, would probably be giving up 35 points a game with him.

This team finds ways to lose.

Maybe. We gave up 35-37 in three of Burrow's 9.5 games.

On the other hand, we gave up 25 or less in five; 27 or less in six. Sooo..... we'd probably by giving up less. Especially given that most of those teams aren't scoring high. The Giants are averaging like 20 ppg, ahead of just the Jets (Yay Flores!) and Denver.  All the teams we would have faced are (outside of BAL and PIT) bottom half of scoring. As bad as our defense is, I don't think it would've been giving up 30+ points. I mean, this would've been about the easiest part of our schedule.

[THE PISTONS]

(12-12-2020, 08:15 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Giving Taylor another 3-4 years would be insane. They will have completely wasted Burrow’s rookie contract.

They have trouble fielding a competitive team now. Imagine when they pay Burrow $45 millions a season. That will put a premium on drafting.