I'm just tired of Bengals football, man

[NUGDUKWE]

Football comes at you fast. The say NFL stands for "not for long" in terms of players careers but it's amazing how things change so quickly for a franchise. In 2019 when we were getting to close for comfort of going winless I thought how just 4 years earlier we were the last undeafeted team. Then two years later in 2021 we are in the superbowl. Now 2 years later again we have a lot of holes on the team and a gigantic question mark with our franchise QB. It's a ride for sure. Highs and lows and alot of in between. Now it appears it is time to focus on the draft and offseason. Glad for this community to share the highs and lows with ( even if your opinions are wrong alot ).

[Timanky12]

The Bengals gave Pittsburgh an early Xmas present. If Pitt had played anyone else, they score like 20 points, maybe. No way, Pittsburgh wins their last 2 games, their offense is a mirage and only looks good against teams that suck on defense, like the Bengals. We have given Pittsburgh their 2 largest offensive outputs this year.

The problem with the Bengals is their defense. Defense wins championships and offense is only eye candy. Until the bengals get a decent defense, they will never win a Super Bowl. Last year they were middle of the pack on defense, this year they will finish last.

They can’t stop the run, or the pass. At 91 explosive plays given up on defense, no team can win against those odds. With Baltimore and Cleveland ranked 1st and 2nd in team defense and Pittsburgh ranked around 16th, we have no chance to win these games. We are given up over 120 yards more per game than Cleveland. Unless our defense gets a hell of a lot better next year, be prepared for another no win in the AFC north division.

[Timanky12]

(12-24-2023, 11:46 AM)Bengal Billy Wrote: 2021 was indeed a killer. Rams targeted Eli Apple and Mike Hilton in coverage on their last drive which they should have and it paid off for them. Killer "phantom" penalty on Wilson near the end zone as well.  Bengals oh so close and needed a stop but couldn't get it done. 

2022 IMO was the true SB year for the Bengals though. Man, they were really good and on a tear through the league the entire second half of last season.
What took it down was the critical O-line injuries at the end of last season and first week of the playoffs. 
Losing Collins, Cappa, Williams just before the playoff run was a killer blow. Before that, the O-line had begun to gel and they were really good in the second half of the season. 
Even with that, Cincy still came oh-so-close to winning another AFC championship game in Arrowhead.

2023 just isn't the year. Too many young/development guys in the secondary due to losing Bates/Bell/Apple. CTB going down, Burrow only healthy/available for 5 games this year. Just isn't in the cards.

I gotta believe the secondary will be better next year and moving forward. Gotta believe in that.  Even Jonathan Joseph/Leon Hall weren't super studs in their first year IMO. 

We'll see though. 

[Timanky12]

Secondary will not be better next year, unless we get different people or a different defensive coach. 15 games in and they are no better than game 1. How many games does it take to figure it out. Secondary is consistently out of position, and with this so called speed we have, we are getting left in the dust by the receivers.

[*Nately120*]

(12-24-2023, 01:33 PM)Timanky12 Wrote: The Bengals gave Pittsburgh an early Xmas present. If Pitt had played anyone else, they score like 20 points, maybe. No way, Pittsburgh wins their last 2 games, their offense is a mirage and only looks good against teams that suck on defense, like the Bengals. We have given Pittsburgh their 2 largest offensive outputs this year.

On the plus side, the Steelers fans and the hotline (I'm in that area) are full of agony watching the Rudolph and Tomlin look like long-term guys, and Tomlin getting raked over the coals for not committing to starting Rudolph next week even though he threw more TD passes in 1 game than Pickett has thrown in 2+ months.

Side note, I talk to my Steeler fan pals about how I can't wrap my head around Kenny Pickett.  He's started 12 games this year and has thrown 6 TDs and 4 INTs.  How can a QB in the modern NFL have so little impact upon the game?  He's just not there, man...it's like 1943 football or something.  Since October 1st Pickett has thrown 2 TDs and 1 INT in 9 starts.

[casear2727]

(12-24-2023, 01:40 PM)Timanky12 Wrote: Secondary will not be better next year, unless we get different people or a different defensive coach.  15 games in and they are no better than game 1.  How many games does it take to figure it out.  Secondary is consistently out of position, and with this so called speed we have, we are getting left in the dust by the receivers.

This is silly.  CTB was much improved this year, he and Awuzie being hurt forced Turner into tons of action that will help him.  We have a rookie and 1st year starter at safety.

Saying they will not improve is an overreaction.  We will need to another CB to replace Awuzie but I think they will be fine next season.

[casear2727]

(12-24-2023, 11:34 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: The OL will be intact in ‘24. 

You have said this a couple of times.  Did they extend Jonah without telling anyone?

[Soonerpeace]

(12-24-2023, 02:07 PM)casear2727 Wrote: You have said this a couple of times.  Did they extend Jonah without telling anyone?

Ha ha you’re right. I missed on that. He’s always been here guess I took him for granted.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(12-24-2023, 11:12 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: This season has absolutely sucked for so many reasons.

The Burrow calf injury. Sucking to start the year. Then Joe getting and healthy and the Bengals being good. Then Burrow getting injured and out for the year. Then sucking again. Then being good again with Browning. And then finally sucking again and riding the Jake Browning roller coaster a long the way.

Not to mention three of our best players getting severely injured a long the way.

I'm just tired. This has been an awful, awful season and I'm just ready for it to be over. I can't even say it's been fun.

This was supposed to be a Super Bowl year and it's been one of my least favorite seasons in recent memory.

I'm tired of being tormented. Just put me down.

Eh, I am not as down as you Weezy. This was the one game I didn't want to lose because i despise that team so much, but we shown 
fight once Burrow went down, found a good backup QB even if he was bad yesterday with the turnovers. The Defense will be better next
year and I hope Zac has learned that going into the shotgun all the time is stupid, same with Burrow learning this.

I heard before the game Zac was saying he laughs at how teams try to run the ball on pitt. I laugh at teams that play predictable against
that Defense and let them attack you like that. I know we aren't mathematically out of it so I won't say the season is over until it is over 
and I always like watching my team and rooting for guys. I like our rookies this year and they got a lot of experience good and bad.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(12-24-2023, 02:13 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Ha ha you’re right. I missed on that. He’s always been here guess I took him for granted.

Let him go after yesterday, pathetic by Jonah, Twatt made him his *****.

[Clark W Griswold]

(12-24-2023, 02:04 PM)casear2727 Wrote: This is silly.  CTB was much improved this year, he and Awuzie being hurt forced Turner into tons of action that will help him.  We have a rookie and 1st year starter at safety.

Saying they will not improve is an overreaction.  We will need to another CB to replace Awuzie but I think they will be fine next season.

They better improve with all the draft capital they have spent on DBs over the past couple of drafts. Last night was bad.
I will say that the lack of a consistent pass rush doesn’t help either. If the opponent keeps Hendrickson away from the QB then they know that hey will have all day to throw. They need to find a way to get more pressure on the QB and that will help the DBs look a lot better. We all love Hubbard but he seems to have fallen off this year. I don’t remember him making too many impact plays this season.
I just can’t get over how bad Wilson/Pratt have looked. Making tackles vs the run 8 yards down field and Wilson looks like he lost a step in coverage. They have been so disappointing after they both got paid in the offseason. Looks like wasted $ at this point.

[*Nately120*]

(12-24-2023, 02:15 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Let him go after yesterday, pathetic by Jonah, Twatt made him his *****.

I'd like to point out again how we are obsessed with TJ Watt owning us at the same time where we are lamenting that we won games sans Burrow and "ruined" our draft pick when we used our valuable top 10 pick in 2017 to snag John Ross while the Steelers used their ultra-crappy-why-did-we-bother-winning-to-get-this-low-ass-pick #30 overall pick to take Watt.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(12-24-2023, 02:30 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I'd like to point out again how we are obsessed with TJ Watt owning us at the same time where we are lamenting that we won games sans Burrow and "ruined" our draft pick when we used our valuable top 10 pick in 2017 to snag John Ross while the Steelers used their ultra-crappy-why-did-we-bother-winning-to-get-this-low-ass-pick #30 overall pick to take Watt.

Yes the draft is crazy like that. I forgot Twatt was taken at 30. Crazy.

[*Nately120*]

(12-24-2023, 02:41 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Yes the draft is crazy like that. I forgot Twatt was taken at 30. Crazy.

I bet Marvin Lewis wanted yet another linebacker like Watt while Mike Brown was channeling his inner Al Davis and drafting the WR who can run and play like greased goose shit.

[bjf123]

Ignoring Burrow’s first season when he had his knee destroyed, I’m afraid we might be looking at the second coming of Dan Marino. Made it to the Super Bowl his first year and never got back. I can see the same thing happening to Burrow and the Bengals. Joe got there his first full season. I hope I’m wrong, but I can absolutely see that happening here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-24-2023, 11:46 AM)Bengal Billy Wrote: 2021 was indeed a killer. Rams targeted Eli Apple and Mike Hilton in coverage on their last drive which they should have and it paid off for them. Killer "phantom" penalty on Wilson near the end zone as well.  Bengals oh so close and needed a stop but couldn't get it done. 

2022 IMO was the true SB year for the Bengals though. Man, they were really good and on a tear through the league the entire second half of last season.
What took it down was the critical O-line injuries at the end of last season and first week of the playoffs. 
Losing Collins, Cappa, Williams just before the playoff run was a killer blow. Before that, the O-line had begun to gel and they were really good in the second half of the season. 
Even with that, Cincy still came oh-so-close to winning another AFC championship game in Arrowhead.

2023 just isn't the year. Too many young/development guys in the secondary due to losing Bates/Bell/Apple. CTB going down, Burrow only healthy/available for 5 games this year. Just isn't in the cards.

I gotta believe the secondary will be better next year and moving forward. Gotta believe in that.  Even Jonathan Joseph/Leon Hall weren't super studs in their first year IMO. 

We'll see though. 

Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. This season had bad vibes from the jump. Agree with all of the rest too, good post.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-24-2023, 12:28 PM)kalibengal Wrote: Ill be 90 in 32 yrs, yes we missed the window by a pubic hair in that SB. Rams D and pass rush was too much and it came down to AD making that play that fittingly ended it .
After watching that beat down yesterday its astounding to me that Zack has yet to figure out how to build a effective team to compete in AFCN. Trenches are the key and he cant evaluate talent for those positions to save his life, so he relies on FAs. He needs to poach some scouts off Browns, Ravens and Steelers to show them how you evaluate talent to compete in AFC N.  

Is it really all on Zac though? Our line has struggled since 2016. We opened the year with 7 sacks against the Jets and it's mediocre to bad ever since. Who's the last good lineman this team drafted, Whitworth? Jonah has been serviceable, and better at RT, but he's definitely not what I'd consider close to elite. I'm beginning to agree with some others, the offensive line is looking like a Duke Tobin problem. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-24-2023, 02:15 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Let him go after yesterday, pathetic by Jonah, Twatt made him his *****.

The post game crew specifically called out him and Orlando Brown. They both were turrible yesterday. You know it's bad when two offensive linemen get called out by name on a post game show. 

[Nepa]

I thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected win over Jacksonville and the subsequent wins over Indy and Vikings. Those made the season for me so far.

But the 0-5 record in the division and Burrow's injury history hasn't left me a lot of optimism for the future. As another poster said, 8-2 against the rest of the NFL, but not a single win in the division, and the AFCN looks to be strong for years to come.

And Burrow's injury history? Mahomes has played 6 years and in that time has only missed 2 games. Josh Allen has played all but 4 games in his career. Burrow has had a rash of injuries, including a non-contact calf-injury, appendicitis, and then a torn ligament in what looked to be a relatively mild tackle. He stated the window is open as long as he's playing, but a lot of times he's not playing.

[Essex Johnson]

(12-24-2023, 11:58 AM)Science Friction Wrote: True, no doubt. But ONE STOP and she's ours!!!  Defense failed in that one very specific task. ONE STOP!

Actually, both sides of the ball failed