So now that the season is over...

[cincygrad]

I don't think it was as difficult as you think. Look at the teams we played and who we beat.

Ravens
Falcons
Titans
Ravens
Jaguars
Saints
Texans
Buccs
Browns
Broncos

So we won a lucky game against the Broncos, beat the Ravens twice early before injuries mounted and no one else.

Ravens had an easier schedule and just barely got in. They needed help.

Steelers had an easier schedule and finished a half game better than us.

Yeah we didn't beat great teams -- But we won the games we needed to and really avoided disaster in games we needed to win. And this year's team was severely limited. Again, I don't like the guy but I think he did a reasonable job.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Ravens had an easier schedule and just barely got in. They needed help.

Steelers had an easier schedule and finished a half game better than us.

Yeah we didn't beat great teams -- But we won the games we needed to and really avoided disaster in games we needed to win. And this year's team was severely limited. Again, I don't like the guy but I think he did a reasonable job.

I think that is exactly right. You can only play the schedule given and on any given Sunday any team can get beat by another. If you make the playoffs in the NFL, you earned it.

 

[Tubbs1518]

I think I saw...84-13...that's what the Bengals have been outscored by in the playoffs in the 2nd half...84-13.

I think Marvin and Dusty are very similar. They are guys you want to bring along a young club that needs the patiences and hand-holding to get them to become better. However, they lack the intesity to get their teams to the next level once they reach it.

Sucks, but it does happen. Some guys are just better suited for certain situations than others. For some, they are better coordinators than head coaches. Some are better head coaches than coordinators. Some do well turning a team around, and others do better with an established team and taking them to the next level.

I think Marvin was exactly what this team needed in 2002, and again when they jetted Palmer and started over. I think he would make a hell of a GM. However, I think his coaching style lacks something that enables this team, or pushes this team, into the next phase.

Would it be a risk? Yeah, it's a risk. Your trading in playoff appearances and hoping for more, but could get less. This list of teams making changes for post-season failure is a long one, and the list of those teams that make changes and then fail to make the playoffs under new management is also a decent one, but it's a chance you have to take if you want to be great instead of just good.

For so long, so many of us just wanted the Bengals to 'just be good' that the first few playoffs and failures were ok...but Marvin is now 0-6 here...5 losses in the past 6 years...It's time to graduate from good. It's time to take that risk to be great. Dare to be great.

Of course...it won't happen. Marvin is here to stay...

This, This and so much this.

 

[alf8478]

That's why if this is the final year with this group, they need to do something big/creative/aggressive for one last attempt to "knock the door down" to steal a horrible quote from Marv. If they do nothing this offseason (which they will), then there really is no defending the team and their desire to achieve anything more than mediocrity

 

[BKBroiler9000]

That's why if this is the final year with this group, they need to do something big/creative/aggressive for one last attempt to "knock the door down" to steal a horrible quote from Marv. If they do nothing this offseason (which they will), then there really is no defending the team and their desire to achieve anything more than mediocrity

Our best hope is to live long enough to wait for Mike Brown to die. Then we will see if things change to join the modern NFL. With the amount of alcohol consumed on Sunday's by fans who watch this team, MB will likely outlive us all.

 

[bphillips4gg]

Go ahead and bury your head in the sand and blame the coaching. Bitch about accountability then take it away from the people who are actually accountable. Dusty got fired by the man who ran the franchise into the ground and hamstrung the organization for the next decade, but who continually gets a pass from fans and ownership alike. Lack of organizational depth was the problem there, just as it is here. Marvin plays a part of a GM role in that he gets to say who he wants to bring in and who to retain, but it's up to Mike to decide if he wants to pay up. This team needed capable replacements, not guys who were serviceable so long as they only played special teams. They didn't have that.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Go ahead and bury your head in the sand and blame the coaching. Bitch about accountability then take it away from the people who are actually accountable. Dusty got fired by the man who ran the franchise into the ground and hamstrung the organization for the next decade, but who continually gets a pass from fans and ownership alike. Lack of organizational depth was the problem there, just as it is here. Marvin plays a part of a GM role in that he gets to say who he wants to bring in and who to retain, but it's up to Mike to decide if he wants to pay up. This team needed capable replacements, not guys who were serviceable so long as they only played special teams. They didn't have that.

I never said Jocketty shouldn't be fired. I'd fire his ass too, but coaches are the leaders of the team and when he can't lead them any farther you find a new coach. Both Marv and Dusty have hit that point.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Marvin's biggest fault is his inability to make adjustments and sticking with mediocre veteran players who flat out can't perform (not even going to address the clock management) That said, he's hardly responsible for the fact that our backups consist of garbage like Brandon Tate, Greg Little, Robert Geathers, Marshall Newhouse, etc etc etc. I think we all know who's to blame for the lack of depth on this roster. Most of these clowns would be digging ditches if they weren't playing for the Bengals. Seriously...watching our offensive personel on Sunday was a throwback to the 90's days.

 

[bphillips4gg]

I never said Jocketty shouldn't be fired. I'd fire his ass too, but coaches are the leaders of the team and when he can't lead them any farther you find a new coach. Both Marv and Dusty have hit that point because their teams weren't talented enough to go any further.

Fixed.

Quit being a sheep and blaming the coach. This team looked good on paper, even with Dalton. The team looks a lot more shitty with practice squad players playing AJ Green's WR spot. Shocking!

 

[Tubbs1518]

Fixed.

Quit being a sheep and blaming the coach. This team looked good on paper, even with Dalton. The team looks a lot more shitty with practice squad players playing AJ Green's WR spot. Shocking!

So injuries is an excuse this year. Got it. What about the other years? You know every fucking team deals with injuries right? When the coach is part of the problem I'll fucking blame him. Marv is and has been.

 

[Cincyfan78]

So injuries is an excuse this year. Got it. What about the other years? You know every fucking team deals with injuries right? When the coach is part of the problem I'll fucking blame him. Marv is and has been.

I think the two areas that hurt where Jones and Eiffert. Not just because they got hurt, but because everyone believe they were going to return. The team made minimal moves based on this belief. Had they known they were going to be out all year, I would like to THINK that they would have made some more impactful moves.

 

[bphillips4gg]

Injuries aren't the problem, for the third time. The fact that this team didn't have any depth to overcome those injuries was the problem, and not at all the fault of the head coach. There is an organizational issue here where the Brown family refuses to provide the team with what they need and just keep hoping to get lucky. The teams that overcame injuries had players there that were talented. The Bengals didn't. It's not that difficult to understand, they just weren't a very talented team.

Everyone wants to credit teams that overcome injuries, they never consider it a reasonable excuse when there's so many of them that it takes an extreme amount of luck to overcome them. The Bengals were without a lot yesterday, including their to two receivers, top two tight ends, right tackle, two best linebackers. That's a lot, whether it's convenient to your argument or not. It showed, too. Every time Dalton dropped back, every guy in the pattern was covered.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

So injuries is an excuse this year. Got it. What about the other years? You know every fucking team deals with injuries right? When the coach is part of the problem I'll fucking blame him. Marv is and has been.

I agree. But I think your underselling the injuries a little bit. The receiving core yesterday was a joke. Our backups are a joke. Yes, every team has injuries. Most good teams have either young quality depth, or creative coaching schematic to overcome it. Obviously we lack the coaching, therefore we need to improve the backend of the roster. That's a Mike Brown problem, not a Marvin problem. I'd imagine Marv wanted to keep MJ and some of the other FAs that have waltzed out the door with the most salary cap space in the damn league for 5 years.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

I think the two areas that hurt where Jones and Eiffert. Not just because they got hurt, but because everyone believe they were going to return. The team made minimal moves based on this belief. Had they known they were going to be out all year, I would like to THINK that they would have made some more impactful moves.

Whenever this team has TE injuries, I still can't get the image out of my head from the '09 Hard Knocks year. Mike Brown sitting in a meeting and asking the d-line coach if a 4th string, camp fodder DE could play TE. I doubt much has changed in 5 years.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Whenever this team has TE injuries, I still can't get the image out of my head from the '09 Hard Knocks year. Mike Brown sitting in a meeting and asking the d-line coach if a 4th string, camp fodder DE could play TE. I doubt much has changed in 5 years.

and by TE he meant backup fullback.

 

[DanBengalfan]

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Hey look.....Andy Dalton looks happy when he has someone to throw the f'n ball to. Amazing!

 

[JBUCK66]

“At this time of year, your quarterback doesn’t necessarily have to go out and win the ball game every time if you’re on a good team, but he’s got to play well to give you a chance to win,” Beuerlein said. “But the numbers and the lack of any kind of spark in that offense yesterday – and especially in the second half when they had to get it done – it just, to me, spoke volumes. This is a $100-million quarterback you got right there that just didn’t step up and make any plays at any point in that ball game. You can make all the excuses in the world. You can say A.J. Green wasn’t there. You can say Gresham wasn’t there. The bottom line is, you still got to find a way to make plays – and Dalton didn’t do that at all yesterday.”

 

[Cincyfan78]

“At this time of year, your quarterback doesn’t necessarily have to go out and win the ball game every time if you’re on a good team, but he’s got to play well to give you a chance to win,” Beuerlein said. “But the numbers and the lack of any kind of spark in that offense yesterday – and especially in the second half when they had to get it done – it just, to me, spoke volumes. This is a $100-million quarterback you got right there that just didn’t step up and make any plays at any point in that ball game. You can make all the excuses in the world. You can say A.J. Green wasn’t there. You can say Gresham wasn’t there. The bottom line is, you still got to find a way to make plays – and Dalton didn’t do that at all yesterday.”

The only thing that's incorrect...he's a 25MM QB...until the bengals pick up the rest of his contract. Without playoff wins, AFC Championship showing, win, and a S.B. showing, win...his contract is not ever going to see the light of day to 100MM.

The rest of it is 100%

 

[cincygrad]

Barnwell says we missed Michael Johnson.

Picking Up the Wild-Card Pieces «

I guess he doesn't realize that MJ sucked in Tampa and therefore we didn't really miss him.