Darrin Simmons

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

While all the focus seems to be on Zac and the preseason or Burrow and his huge contract, I thought someone should point out a seat that should be starting to get warm...

Simmons made sure we had pretty good ST for many years, but last year the ST were pretty bad. I was hoping that it was just a hiccup and we'd be right back to normal quality ST, but Week 1 didn't seem that way.

Unlike the offense, our ST gets to play plenty in preseason so there's no reason you should expect it to just be Week 1 rust. They should have been ready to go.

-We had a kick returner come out of the endzone to the 18 that never had a chance of getting further.
-We had a punt returner run about 30 yards side-to-side (plus an earlier one where he ran side to side merely 10 yards).
-We had a missed FG.
-We had I believe 2 penalties on ST.
-Probably most importantly our punter (who we can only assume Darrin Simmons chose in the draft and then chose in roster cuts) is absolutely terrible. He barely broke 40 yards per punt with punts of 22, 35, 37, and 38 yards and two of 41.

Darrin Simmons has been a good ST coach for many years for this team, but 2 years in a row of terrible ST is 2 years too many. They really need to turn it around big time this season or his seat needs to be getting redhot.

[WhoDeyK]

Agreed. Special Teams was disappointing yesterday to say the least. Especially the draft picks, Chuck Sizzle has no sizzle at all. The return where he ran towards the sideline showed just how slow he really is. My hopes for him have dwindled significantly since we drafted him. I guess at least he has reliable hands.

Robbins, I just don’t get. He’s getting this specialist label but I just done see it. He lacks power but his hang time (his specialty) looked average at best. Hopefully he turns it around.

[*bengalfan74*]

(09-11-2023, 12:08 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: While all the focus seems to be on Zac and the preseason or Burrow and his huge contract, I thought someone should point out a seat that should be starting to get warm...

Simmons made sure we had pretty good ST for many years, but last year the ST were pretty bad. I was hoping that it was just a hiccup and we'd be right back to normal quality ST, but Week 1 didn't seem that way.

Unlike the offense, our ST gets to play plenty in preseason so there's no reason you should expect it to just be Week 1 rust. They should have been ready to go.

-We had a kick returner come out of the endzone to the 18 that never had a chance of getting further.
-We had a punt returner run about 30 yards side-to-side (plus an earlier one where he ran side to side merely 10 yards).
-We had a missed FG.
-We had I believe 2 penalties on ST.
-Probably most importantly our punter (who we can only assume Darrin Simmons chose in the draft and then chose in roster cuts) is absolutely terrible. He barely broke 40 yards per punt with punts of 22, 35, 37, and 38 yards and two of 41.

Darrin Simmons has been a good ST coach for many years for this team, but 2 years in a row of terrible ST is 2 years too many. They really need to turn it around big time this season or his seat needs to be getting redhot.

My H.S. coach hated that!! He'd preach run N and S and just take what you can get. Running sideways works like 1 out of 40 times. He'd rip your face off if you did it in game.

And I still hate it today, haha.

And I sure hope the weather was hurting our punter. Our first game yips or something? Because no matter if you can kick it 100 yards up in the air. You also have to get it downfield as well.

[THE PISTONS]

Agreed. Punting was bad. Kick and punt returning was bad too.

[*ochocincos*]

(09-11-2023, 12:23 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: My H.S. coach hated that!! He'd preach run N and S and just take what you can get. Running sideways works like 1 out of 40 times. He'd rip your face off if you did it in game.

And I still hate it today, haha.

And I sure hope the weather was hurting our punter. Our first game yips or something? Because no matter if you can kick it 100 yards up in the air. You also have to get it downfield as well.

Unless your name is Reggie Bush or Barry Sanders

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

They were about as bad as the offense. Good call.

[Bengal Dude]

Agreed on all fronts. ST was atrocious as well yesterday. Usually when we have a bad ST season, Simmons gets the unit fixed the following season, but yesterday definitely gave us cause for concern.

[QueenCity]

Weather was a factor... I'm not going to rush to judgement.

I wish we had a kicker with a cannon, but it is what it is.... hang time is viable if you can get past the 35 which the Bengals failed to do majority of the game.

[C0de_M0nkey]

(09-11-2023, 12:08 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: -We had a kick returner come out of the endzone to the 18 that never had a chance of getting further.
-We had a punt returner run about 30 yards side-to-side (plus an earlier one where he ran side to side merely 10 yards).
-We had a missed FG.
-We had I believe 2 penalties on ST.
-Probably most importantly our punter (who we can only assume Darrin Simmons chose in the draft and then chose in roster cuts) is absolutely terrible. He barely broke 40 yards per punt with punts of 22, 35, 37, and 38 yards and two of 41.

Darrin Simmons has been a good ST coach for many years for this team, but 2 years in a row of terrible ST is 2 years too many. They really need to turn it around big time this season or his seat needs to be getting redhot.

Actually there was a chance for the kick return to go all the way to the end zone, it just didn’t work out. We took a chance and lost 2 yards in the process. Those 2 yards were inconsequential.

One of the penalties was complete BS. Everything else is on the players. Charlie Jones ran sideways because he hasn’t adjusted to NFL speed yet. Evan McPherson missed a FG because he choked. Our punter sucked but so did the other options. If he continues to suck we can replace him mid-season.

[*ochocincos*]

(09-11-2023, 01:12 PM)QueenCity Wrote: Weather was a factor... I'm not going to rush to judgement.

I wish we had a kicker with a cannon, but it is what it is.... hang time is viable if you can get past the 35 which the Bengals failed to do majority of the game.

Do you mean punter?
McPherson does have a cannon.
He can kick it out of the EZ every time. Any time he's not, it's because he's being directed not to.

[QueenCity]

(09-11-2023, 01:46 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Do you mean punter?
McPherson does have a cannon.
He can kick it out of the EZ every time. Any time he's not, it's because he's being directed not to.

Yes punter... I don't care about McPherson hang time lol

[*ochocincos*]

(09-11-2023, 02:09 PM)QueenCity Wrote: Yes punter... I don't care about McPherson hang time lol

We seem to have had two opposite ends of the spectrum in Chrisman and Robbins.
Chrisman was all distance, no placement hangtime.
Robbins opposite (from the limited time we've seen him)

Gonna need to be more of a balance for a good punter.

Or maybe Bengals should carry two punters - one for distance, one for pinning 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(09-11-2023, 02:14 PM)ochocincos Wrote: We seem to have had two opposite ends of the spectrum in Chrisman and Robbins.
Chrisman was all distance, no placement
Robbins opposite (from the limited time we've seen him)

Gonna need to be more of a balance for a good punter.

Or maybe Bengals should carry two punters - one for distance, one for pinning 

Chrisman's placement was perfectly fine last year, especially on a few he coffin-cornered: his hang time was the only real weakness.

But Robbins' hangtime yesterday was crap, as it was all throughout the PS too.

[*ochocincos*]

(09-11-2023, 02:28 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Chrisman's placement was perfectly fine last year, especially on a few he coffin-cornered: his hang time was the only real weakness.

But Robbins' hangtime yesterday was crap, as it was all throughout the PS too.

Fair. I said placement, but I probably should have said hangtime. I'll update.

[RunKijanaRun]

I have been banging this drum for over 2 years. Passionately. He’s crap.