1st and goal at the 1 yard line...

[DanBengalfan]

Brandon Allen said "hold my beer"

 

[BKBroiler9000]

I thought it was cute that folks thought they might win this game.

 

[cincygrad]

They're really going all out today, huh.... Really leaving a good taste in the fans' mouths when they declare they are firing the line coaches and no other changes.

 

[cincygrad]

On the plus side, if they give up a historical amount of rushing yards, then they HAVE to fire Lou. Right?

 

[BKBroiler9000]

I’d imagine Lou will be gone. Problem is nobody will want the job. They couldn’t find any takers last time. And I doubt it’ll be more enticing now than it was 2 years ago..

 

[alf8478]

I’d imagine Lou will be gone. Problem is nobody will want the job. They couldn’t find any takers last time. And I doubt it’ll be more enticing now than it was 2 years ago..

To be fair, they had to wait for Taylor until after the super bowl to fill out the staff

 

[BKBroiler9000]

To be fair, they had to wait for Taylor until after the super bowl to fill out the staff

True. But even then, they went through about 7 candidates for DC including two guys in college. Before eventually Lou said yes.

I find it hard to believe they’ll have an easier time this go around finding someone worth a shit that is willing to get paid less than Zac Taylor..

 

[alf8478]

True. But even then, they went through about 7 candidates for DC including two guys in college. Before eventually Lou said yes.

I find it hard to believe they’ll have an easier time this go around finding someone worth a shit that is willing to get paid less than Zac Taylor..

There are only so many coaching jobs in the league. If a young coach wants to advance, you have to take an opportunity if it’s offered.

 

[Be Weary of Query]

And this team did not have Joe Burrow as the QB when they were trying to get a D Coordinator to say yes.

 

[Cincyfan78]

And this team did not have Joe Burrow as the QB when they were trying to get a D Coordinator to say yes.

More importantly - when you look around the D you see some pieces.

Bates. Bell. Both CB's should be back next year healthy, Reader, Lawson (He's getting tagged if he doesn't sign, IMO) and Hubbard along with a decent, young, LB core.

They still need more from the pass rush and another DT to replace Adkins and maybe another CB - but as much as I would love to see Lou go, the injury bug was real this year for the defense. I don't think Lou is a great DC, and I would still look outside for a change, but it is really hard to not mention the amount of games/snaps missed by guys who were expected to be key contributors this year.

Should the Bengals decide to move on from Lou - I don't think they'll have as much of an issue as they did last year. Have Joe on offense will help - as you know they are going to work to score and put up points to help any defense out - but the pieces on defense aren't terrible. They need more, for sure, but there's some stuff there to work with.

 

[cincygrad]

The injury thing is tough.... Hobs writes the same article every year - The Bengals were a good team until they had injuries. They definitely made that argument in 2018 when they were seconds away from being 5-1 and were sitting 5-3 at the halfway point only to lose 7 of their last 8. We've also made similar arguments every time our first rounders sit out the season. Some of it is bad luck. Look at DJ Reader a pretty durable guy. But all teams have injuries - I think it speaks to the lack of quality in the overall roster that they continue to be impacted so deeply by injuries.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

The injury thing is tough.... Hobs writes the same article every year - The Bengals were a good team until they had injuries. They definitely made that argument in 2018 when they were seconds away from being 5-1 and were sitting 5-3 at the halfway point only to lose 7 of their last 8. We've also made similar arguments every time our first rounders sit out the season. Some of it is bad luck. Look at DJ Reader a pretty durable guy. But all teams have injuries - I think it speaks to the lack of quality in the overall roster that they continue to be impacted so deeply by injuries.

I don't think it is a lack of depth as much as it is coaching to get the most out of the guys they do have. Some other teams go through a massive injury list and still compete and win, why? Because the coaches know the strengths and weaknesses of their players versus the other team and know how to scheme to get the biggest impact of those players on the game. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Cincyfan78]

The injury thing is tough.... Hobs writes the same article every year - The Bengals were a good team until they had injuries. They definitely made that argument in 2018 when they were seconds away from being 5-1 and were sitting 5-3 at the halfway point only to lose 7 of their last 8. We've also made similar arguments every time our first rounders sit out the season. Some of it is bad luck. Look at DJ Reader a pretty durable guy. But all teams have injuries - I think it speaks to the lack of quality in the overall roster that they continue to be impacted so deeply by injuries.

I agree. I hate to use that as an excuse, but at some point things stop being excuses and start being reality.

When you lose Hubbard for a stretch, Atkins for a stretch, and really all year, Reader for a stretch and then all year. Then the backup DT for the year. Then the starting CB you signed in F/A. Then the other CB you signed in FA misses a stretch. At some point, even good teams with depth, reach their point. You can lose a guy here or there, but the Bengals lost 3 of their 4 starting DT's, and the backup DT and then lost 2 of their starting CB's for long stretches, including 1 for the year.

Who knows if this defense would have been any good. I don't like a lot of the schemes I saw, but some of them were out of neccesity because you can't have 4th and 5th string CB's playing man coverage 2-3 yards off #1 and #2 WR's. You also can't get pressure when you only have 1 pass rusher for most of the season, and the other misses time, and then 3 of the top rotational DT's go down, including Atkins who has always been a good rusher from the DT spot.

Bright spots: Safety play. Bell came on late, Bates was good all season outside of 1-2 games. I thought the young LB's played well, and Bynes was a solid addition to add veteran leadership to that group. They need more, for sure. They need to stock up at DT, more CB's and probably another safety, or two, just for depth - but the top 2 CB's return, the LB's (as I said) return and look good going forward. You get Lawson, Hubbard and Reader back for a full year and add another DT next to Reader and some depth - maybe this defense could get to the middle of the pack. Add in an offense that, hopefully, can sustain a few drives and put up a few points, and suddenly the defense gets a few breathers and isn't on the field the majority of every game. Could be something.

I hate to state all that because we've seen this movie before - but in this case - I think the injury front is legit on defense. When you lose 5 or 6 guys out of your starting defense for long stretches, or for the year, it's going to be really hard to overcome. Depth is needed, but I don't think the defense is dysfunctional at this point. Not like the OL is. Maybe more like the WR. Some good options (Boyd, Higgins) but still need more from some guys (tate) and need depth for sure.