Season expectations

[cincygrad]

Well, the NFL season is finally here.... And judging by the activity on this message board and the huge crowds at the Paul for preseason, I can tell Bengal fans are truly excited. The enthusiasm is palpable.

Most of the NFL media has ignored the Bengals this preseason. They're not interesting enough to be the worst team (Dolphins are setting a pretty high bar), but I haven't seen anyone predict more than 5 or 6 wins for this team. Going into training camp, I figured they should at least win 6 games given that Marvin was able to get 6 wins out of this bunch without even trying. Then AJ got hurt, Cordy Glenn got a head injury that isn't clearing up, Boling retired, and I remembered that we're not currently employing any NFL quality linebackers.

My expectations are low. I think we go 5-11 and draft a qb in the first round next April.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

My expectations with no real meaningful games played yet is 8-8 after watching this team.

However, I will reserve judgement until I see us play Pittsburgh in prime time in Pittsburgh. That is my measuring stick. Same old team, or team on the rise? Can't believe our opening day roster has 4 LB's on it. I guess we are playing more nickle packages and using our safeties as make shift line backers?

I know they are going to want to get Lawson on the field more often, so I imagine we will see him lined up as a rush linebacker, or considered 5 down linemen, with Lawson coming off the edge.

I think Lawson is the reason our LB core is so small.

 

[cincygrad]

My expectations with no real meaningful games played yet is 8-8 after watching this team.

However, I will reserve judgement until I see us play Pittsburgh in prime time in Pittsburgh. That is my measuring stick. Same old team, or team on the rise? Can't believe our opening day roster has 4 LB's on it. I guess we are playing more nickle packages and using our safeties as make shift line backers?

I know they are going to want to get Lawson on the field more often, so I imagine we will see him lined up as a rush linebacker, or considered 5 down linemen, with Lawson coming off the edge.

I think Lawson is the reason our LB core is so small.

It's always an awesome plan to base your roster on the availability of a guy that spent most of his college career and half his pro career on the sideline with an injury.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

It's always an awesome plan to base your roster on the availability of a guy that spent most of his college career and half his pro career on the sideline with an injury.

Well, you have practice squad and free agents, which isn't any worse than the back end roster LB'ers we already had. I can see this point. If the guys available on the street are as good as the back end guys on your roster, why store a guy on the depth chart just to have more depth if you can get anyone to play their position, maybe even a safety, who may be better at that position. Wasted roster spot. Fill it with more talent at a different roster position like DE or S who can transition into a hybrid backer in a pinch.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think I mentioned it previously....Annual steak dinner bet. Usually, I am the one betting on the most wins. This year, I predicted 5 wins. He took 7, split at 6.

I just don't see it. The OL is a mess, with little to no depth. The defense still remains an enigma and with no AJ for at least the first few games...and this swiss cheese OL, how long before this team is without Dalton?

This team is a long, long way off from contending. Using Pitt as the measuring stick is folly. They are far, and away, vastly superior to anything the Bengals will roll out there this year. If you go position by position, there isn't one position where you can definitively say that Cin is better than Pitt. Maybe equal to, in some areas (like RB), but certainly not better.

 

[cincygrad]

Well, you have practice squad and free agents, which isn't any worse than the back end roster LB'ers we already had. I can see this point. If the guys available on the street are as good as the back end guys on your roster, why store a guy on the depth chart just to have more depth if you can get anyone to play their position, maybe even a safety, who may be better at that position. Wasted roster spot. Fill it with more talent at a different roster position like DE or S who can transition into a hybrid backer in a pinch.

Yeah.... I'm not upset about the cuts. They didn't have good linebackers in camp. I actually think it's probably smart to not keep a guy just because he plays a certain position. It's just disappointing that we didn't do more for depth at the position in the offseason.

 

[cincygrad]

I think I mentioned it previously....Annual steak dinner bet. Usually, I am the one betting on the most wins. This year, I predicted 5 wins. He took 7, split at 6.

I just don't see it. The OL is a mess, with little to no depth. The defense still remains an enigma and with no AJ for at least the first few games...and this swiss cheese OL, how long before this team is without Dalton?

This team is a long, long way off from contending. Using Pitt as the measuring stick is folly. They are far, and away, vastly superior to anything the Bengals will roll out there this year. If you go position by position, there isn't one position where you can definitively say that Cin is better than Pitt. Maybe equal to, in some areas (like RB), but certainly not better.

I think you're right. It's hard to imagine a team with Dalton, Green, Boyd, Eifert, Mixon, and Bernard not being a good offense. But then you remember the line and realize that half these guys won't make it to the quarter pole in the season. The defense confuses me. In the hands of a talented coordinator I think we'd see big improvement. But I'm not confident that our current DC is the guy to lead the charge here.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I think you're right. It's hard to imagine a team with Dalton, Green, Boyd, Eifert, Mixon, and Bernard not being a good offense. But then you remember the line and realize that half these guys won't make it to the quarter pole in the season. The defense confuses me. In the hands of a talented coordinator I think we'd see big improvement. But I'm not confident that our current DC is the guy to lead the charge here.

I agree with this. However, we saw next to none of our starters on offense or defense in the preseason. I honestly don't know what to expect. I think Taylor was so scared of seeing another starter go down, like he did AJ and Williams, that he said screw it. We will just not play any starters the whole preseason to help prevent injury.

May not be ready to play 4 quarters. I bet Seattle will be much more conditioned and ready for that game in week 1.

 

[cincygrad]

I agree with this. However, we saw next to none of our starters on offense or defense in the preseason. I honestly don't know what to expect. I think Taylor was so scared of seeing another starter go down, like he did AJ and Williams, that he said screw it. We will just not play any starters the whole preseason to help prevent injury.

May not be ready to play 4 quarters. I bet Seattle will be much more conditioned and ready for that game in week 1.

I think it was by design. Sean McVeigh barely plays anyone of consequence in preseason. Taylor has clearly taken a lot from his years with the Rams.

 

[cincygrad]

If you want to be optimistic about this team, I think you have to start your argument with the idea that the old coaching staff was doing an awful job out of the talent on this roster. That very well could be the case.... But, as bad a game coach as Marvin Lewis was, I do think he got reasonable production out of his players. It seemed like he played favorites at times and played 'his' guys over promising younger players, but otherwise I think he did okay with some of the players he developed.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I mean, Taylor hasn't even showed loyalty to guys he drafted. He cut two guys he drafted this year, Davis and Brown. Granted, they were 6th and 7th rounders, but still. That is two players he said we whiffed on. I have never seen a roster constructed like this either. When was the last time we kept 3 active QB's, especially with one being a rookie draft pick, and the other a college free agent rookie? Both showed promise in the preseason, but we have zero depth at a ton of positions, and even the ones we have way more depth than we are used to, QB, we are so young with no experience is it really considered depth?

We will see how things go. I was more excited before the preseason, but less excited now. That was very little of the starters, but it seemed depressing to watch. Seems like same issues. Lack of tackling, missed coverages, poor run blocking, dropped balls, etc.

 

[DanBengalfan]

too busy watching the soccer team lose to have expectations for the Americanized Rugby team that markets itself as a Football team, even though they never use their feet.