O-Line Cost Us a Championship

[Shake n Blake]

Defense was incredible. Stuffed the run as well as I've ever seen. Limited Stafford.

Our WRs combined for over 200 yards and 2 TDs.

Burrow was good, but limited on what plays we could run.

Mixon rushed for 73 on 4.8 per carry and even threw a TD.

ST was great once again.

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

But.....our "offensive" line gave up 7 sacks and had our offense game planning around it's limitations.

Burrow was sacked 70 times overall this season and it took awhile, but the injury people were worried about might have happened again. To the other knee.

Chase was great. Fix. The. Line.

[TecmoBengals]

(02-14-2022, 12:45 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Defense was incredible. Stuffed the run as well as I've ever seen. Limited Stafford.

Our WRs combined for over 200 yards and 2 TDs.

Burrow was good, but limited on what plays we could run.

Mixon rushed for 73 on 4.8 per carry and even threw a TD.

ST was great once again.

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

But.....our "offensive" line gave up 7 sacks and had our offense game planning around it's limitations.

Burrow was sacked 70 times overall this season and it took awhile, but the injury people were worried about might have happened again. To the other knee.

Chase was great. Fix. The. Line.

Agreed on all accounts. This team had many holes to fix prior to the season and that's why it was equally impressive and surprising we were in the Super Bowl.

Fix the line & I might add, keep looking to add defensive talent. We need another guy that opposing offenses fear whether it be a pass rusher or shut down corner.

[mas_fuerte]

I have full confidence that this team will invest in the O line in the offseason, but I personally hope it's done through Free Agency instead of the draft. Let's bring in some guys who have proven themselves and stop trying to get lucky in the draft.

In my opinion, not a single spot on that line should be safe next year, even Jonah Williams.

[kalibengal]

(02-14-2022, 12:50 PM)mas_fuerte Wrote: I have full confidence that this team will invest in the O line in the offseason, but I personally hope it's done through Free Agency instead of the draft. Let's bring in some guys who have proven themselves and stop trying to get lucky in the draft.

In my opinion, not a single spot on that line should be safe next year, even Jonah Williams.

Agreed...how can we even think we can get back to SB with the D talent all across this line? 

[KillerGoose]

(02-14-2022, 12:45 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Defense was incredible. Stuffed the run as well as I've ever seen. Limited Stafford.

Our WRs combined for over 200 yards and 2 TDs.

Burrow was good, but limited on what plays we could run.

Mixon rushed for 73 on 4.8 per carry and even threw a TD.

ST was great once again.

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

But.....our "offensive" line gave up 7 sacks and had our offense game planning around it's limitations.

Burrow was sacked 70 times overall this season and it took awhile, but the injury people were worried about might have happened again. To the other knee.

Chase was great. Fix. The. Line.

Agreed. Offensive line just collapsed. Allowing seven sacks and quite honestly, you could argue it was eight sacks because Burrow just flung the ball in the air going down on that last play. All else equal, if Burrow is protected then Cincinnati wins. Just really disappointing stuff. Interested to see what Cincinnati does for the OL this off-season. They are firmly in their SB window. 

[Tony]

(02-14-2022, 12:45 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Defense was incredible. Stuffed the run as well as I've ever seen. Limited Stafford.

Our WRs combined for over 200 yards and 2 TDs.

Burrow was good, but limited on what plays we could run.

Mixon rushed for 73 on 4.8 per carry and even threw a TD.

ST was great once again.

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

But.....our "offensive" line gave up 7 sacks and had our offense game planning around it's limitations.

Burrow was sacked 70 times overall this season and it took awhile, but the injury people were worried about might have happened again. To the other knee.

Chase was great. Fix. The. Line.

I can't believe what Joe was able to do behind this line... They won't ever talk about it either. Nick Wright is already on TV calling us trash and we will fall back. Everyone talking about how Great Stafford is even though He would be looked at as a choker of they lost  because of his 2 ints....

[Oasis5055]

If mixon rushed for 4.8 a carry then Zach Taylor’s schme and game calling cost them the Super Bowl.

Play action would have worked. Not one play action pass called

Mixons biggest gain were a designed cutback against the d and a run out of the eye with a handoff from burrow under center. Why didn’t they keep this formation to get the rams line from bull rushing them the whole night?

Taylor game planned for a shotgun run and shoot offense that played right into the rams strength the whole night. It just shows he is not flexible and from a tactical
Level not able to come up with a good game plan

Let’s face it folks look at his record before and without burrow

They got here becuase of burrow and the d. It was inspite of Taylor not because of him

[Frank Booth]

Jackson Carman is a bust until proven otherwise

Bum

[sloSTI]

After fixing the defense last 2 off seasons, I always thought next year would be the year they go all in and fix the O-LINE, and it certainly looks like they have a solid foundation to build on for the next few, as long as they fix the line this off-season

[*Nately120*]

The solution is simple, but it isn't easy. In cases like this you have to trust your GM...so, um...hmm.

[chopperbobby]

(02-14-2022, 12:50 PM)mas_fuerte Wrote: I have full confidence that this team will invest in the O line in the offseason, but I personally hope it's done through Free Agency instead of the draft. Let's bring in some guys who have proven themselves and stop trying to get lucky in the draft.

In my opinion, not a single spot on that line should be safe next year, even Jonah Williams.

This I agree. Out OLine drafting has not gone too well lately.  If we just had a line that could just get in the way of a rusher we would have won.  Also throw in a screen once in a while.  

[Johnny Cupcakes]

They had the worst pass protection win percentage of ANY team in ANY game in the entire season.

Regarding the line, Blow it up, rebuild it, then run it back with something deserving of being put on a football field.

[Hammerstripes]

We all knew that this team would only go as far as the line would take them. I was very vocal about not signing a Vet OG in the offseason to plug in at RG. Didn't need to be a superstar, just a a solid, steady vet.

That being said, we HAVE to fix the holes. The window is open and we need to build the line. It shouldn't be that hard to do.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(02-14-2022, 12:45 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Burrow was sacked 70 times overall this season and it took awhile, but the injury people were worried about might have happened again. To the other knee.

Chase was great. Fix. The. Line.

70? Make that 74. Brandon Allen was sacked four times by the Turds in Week 17.

[reuben.ahmed]

The story of the NFL season is not like an RPG, this game just wants me to crawl back into a hole and play video games. Like, OK, I need to stock up on phoenix downs and antidotes. When the boss does this, I am going to do this.

The boss is also human and not an NPC now, they also have a brain. It's very tough to maneuver our way back to this same "final boss" position.

The story is Burrow dragged the worst line in the league to the superbowl and almost won it, fans who didn't see the Bengals play before saw that clearly. If only it was as easy as "give him a line and he'll win" because of all of the other unknowns. For example, could Burrow win with a bunch of scrubs but a great o-line? Is that the mark of a champion, getting the best out of everybody? I think he did get the best out of everyone, but some of our players are amazing (WR core).

Burrow had an elite team in college, he was also part of the reason they were elite. He can't win them all, he plays a lot of chess, I think he will keep maneuvering until we win a ring. Before this happened I thought Burrow might win us multiple, and he still might, but after this loss - I realize I'm happy with just 1 if possible.

When the Cavs won 1, it was enough, I don't need to go to my death bed without a ring. lol.

That game was confusing because we basically did the best we could with what we have, some questionable penalties (logan's is going to be stuck in my head). The same story kept getting written over and over these playoffs, seemed like the offense got us to the playoffs and the defense was supposed to win it. I wonder if other superbowl loss teams have these same "destiny" stories in their head.

It seems like with Burrow you have a chance to win, a great chance to win, and that's what every team wants. There are no guarantees, people just want higher probability.

[ajshoe]

lots of good things happened this year compared to the last 30.

What still needs improvement is the Offensive line and the Offensive play calling - its pathetic.  Either Zac has to change big time or this team needs another leader.  Absolutely pathetic play calling throughout this super bowl game.  This game was not the only bad game that had bad play calling either even though they won games to get here. The defense was superb and got them here.
For over 30 years the offensive unit has been weak in more than one way. This is most likely due to the BROWN family. 
Bengals have always had the most VANILLA play calling, wrong play calling at crucial times in a game, weak asst coaches that lack football incite, no timeouts in the last 5 minutes of a game,  inferior sport trainers, and an owner that thinks he knows football.  
Theres's no question this year was special - had me excited after 30 years of Bengals never really being a caliber NFL team but
for all the young Bengal followers - the next 30 years won't be any different. I truly wish it'll be different but the core of this franchise is not going to change in my lifetime.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(02-14-2022, 01:05 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: They had the worst pass protection win percentage of ANY team in ANY game in the entire season.

Regarding the line, Blow it up, rebuild it, then run it back with something deserving of being put on a football field.

Joe Burrow and Joe Mixon deserve better than being set up to fail behind those five gooey turnstiles. Mixon encountered more butts than a proctologist and Joe Burrow dinged his other knee. I’m starting to see Carson Palmer’s point.

[reuben.ahmed]

(02-14-2022, 12:56 PM)Oasis5055 Wrote: If mixon rushed for 4.8 a carry then Zach Taylor’s schme and game calling cost them the Super Bowl.

Play action would have worked. Not one play action pass called

Mixons biggest gain were a designed cutback against the d and a run out of the eye with a handoff from burrow under center. Why didn’t they keep this formation to get the rams line from bull rushing them the whole night?

Taylor game planned for a shotgun run and shoot offense that played right into the rams strength the whole night. It just shows he is not flexible and from a tactical
Level not able to come up with a good game plan

Let’s face it folks look at his record before and without burrow

They got here becuase of burrow and the d. It was inspite of  Taylor not because of him

Actually, I vividly remember 1 play action pass. The bomb TD to Tee was playaction. Also Burrow moved beautifully in the pocket on that play.

Even Zac is young, the combination of Zac and Burrow worked this year. No coach is perfect, Andy Reid makes boneheaded decisions. Everything has to fall in line, and things have to occur to cover up weaknesses (like somehow burrow dragging this line to a superbowl win). 

I think only josh allen, mahomes, and burrow could have taken the bengals to where they were this year with the team as constructed, but it seems like Joe is a lot more than just talent on the field - so it might have been just burrow to take them there. Time will tell.

Remember, the "other" Mike Brown (cavs coach) won coach of the yaer when Lebron was playing. Everyone knew that was a joke. From the outside viewpoint, I think Zac does a lot of what Burrow asks. It's the same with LeBron, the coach does what LeBron says, it's how the relationship works. Zac mentioned this during the season (late) that he's letting Burrow do what Burrow does, whatever that finally means.

[Pezmerga]

Obviously our O-Line was not up to snuff, but when we fix it this offseason, we will be dangerous.

I think this team is resilient enough to learn and grow from this experience. I am excited for the future. It is a whole lot more fun to compete than not.

[Oasis5055]

My only hope
If I’m a bengals fan is Taylor is smart enough to learn from his mistakes play calling and doesn’t have a massive ego to make changes.

This is one thing I respect about rams head coach. After the loss tot be patriots he admitted to the media he was out coached and took the blame

It will be interesting what Taylor says