Week 8 Carlos Dunlap NonParticipation Trophy

[MaximumSam]

This was tough to decide during the game. The offense was actually quite good and even the offensive line wasn't a total failure despite some old favorites like Fred Johnson and Billy Price getting lots of snaps. A.J. Green actually made a move that looked somewhat athletic. The defense, on the other hand, was complete trash. No pressure and no coverage is a bad combination but...who to blame. Darius Phillips is a likely culprit, as the Browns just threw to his guy as the game winning strategy. But he did have a pick, and he's not supposed to be the #1 corner anyway, as both the starting corners are hurt. Vonn Bell was up for consideration for providing no playmaking or coverage of any note, but he did lead the team in tackles. The linebackers were trash, but how to pick one?

Luckily, Carlos Dunlap really rose to the spotlight after the game by burning his jersey, taking pictures in the locker room, and putting his house for sale all on social media. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't fault a guy for calling the Bengals coaching and ownership trash. The problem is in his timing. He (once again) had zero sacks, zero tackles for loss, and zero tackles of any sort. The only time I remember him at all is when he jumped offsides and gave up a first down. So now he is making a big stink and getting lots of attention, but why would you want attention to the fact that you are completely worthless as a player? The time to make a big stink is when you have three sacks, not when you pushed all over the field. He should just count his money and get through the season being thankful he is paid about 8 million dollars a tackle.

Carlos Dunlap can't even do a player mutiny right. Which is on brand as a Bengal. Congrats to him.

 

[DanBengalfan]

This was tough to decide during the game. The offense was actually quite good and even the offensive line wasn't a total failure despite some old favorites like Fred Johnson and Billy Price getting lots of snaps. A.J. Green actually made a move that looked somewhat athletic. The defense, on the other hand, was complete trash. No pressure and no coverage is a bad combination but...who to blame. Darius Phillips is a likely culprit, as the Browns just threw to his guy as the game winning strategy. But he did have a pick, and he's not supposed to be the #1 corner anyway, as both the starting corners are hurt. Vonn Bell was up for consideration for providing no playmaking or coverage of any note, but he did lead the team in tackles. The linebackers were trash, but how to pick one?

Luckily, Carlos Dunlap really rose to the spotlight after the game by burning his jersey, taking pictures in the locker room, and putting his house for sale all on social media. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't fault a guy for calling the Bengals coaching and ownership trash. The problem is in his timing. He (once again) had zero sacks, zero tackles for loss, and zero tackles of any sort. The only time I remember him at all is when he jumped offsides and gave up a first down. So now he is making a big stink and getting lots of attention, but why would you want attention to the fact that you are completely worthless as a player? The time to make a big stink is when you have three sacks, not when you pushed all over the field. He should just count his money and get through the season being thankful he is paid about 8 million dollars a tackle.

Carlos Dunlap can't even do a player mutiny right. Which is on brand as a Bengal. Congrats to him.

He will need to come up with some explanation for his tantrums that fits the political landscape of our time.

then, he might even get his own commercial.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Tackles the last 2 weeks:

Higgins - 2
Boyd - 1

Atkins and Dunlap combined - ZERO

When you produce, you can talk. When you don't, you shut your damn mouth and get back after it to prove everyone wrong.

 

[alf8478]

Tackles the last 2 weeks:

Higgins - 2
Boyd - 1

Atkins and Dunlap combined - ZERO

When you produce, you can talk. When you don't, you shut your damn mouth and get back after it to prove everyone wrong.

They also only had 12 snaps yesterday

 

[Cincyfan78]

They also only had 12 snaps yesterday

How many chances do you think Higgins and Boyd get to make actual tackles? I doubt it's that much more.

Fact is - they haven't had a single tackle in 2 weeks...and it's not like Dunlap has set the world on fire this year, either. I know Atkins missed time, so hard to really go back through the season on him, but Dunlap .... has not played very well considering.

He did amass 9 tackles in the PHI game. Outside of that, he's gone for 3, 3, 1,1,1,0

 

[cincygrad]

It's not clear what is wrong with Atkins. Obviously he was injured coming into the season and the coaches have not played him much.... I don't think our coaches are stupid enough to hold him out just to make a point. I also don't think Gino has lost so much that he can't beat out some of the other guys on the line that are basically practice squad type players.

For Dunlap, it's clear.... He's lost a step. Or he stopped trying. Both are in play. The coaches don't trust him to put in an effort in the running game and it was killing us - Particularly early in the season. They feel they are going to get more out of the other guys. I'm with Cincy here -- He can either prove them wrong or keep his mouth shut. The fact is that he was the starter going into the season and he was benched because he was doing a terrible job.

 

[alf8478]

How many chances do you think Higgins and Boyd get to make actual tackles? I doubt it's that much more.

Fact is - they haven't had a single tackle in 2 weeks...and it's not like Dunlap has set the world on fire this year, either. I know Atkins missed time, so hard to really go back through the season on him, but Dunlap .... has not played very well considering.

He did amass 9 tackles in the PHI game. Outside of that, he's gone for 3, 3, 1,1,1,0

Well lets see, if our rookie quarterback throws an interception to the guy who is covering either Boyd or Higgins, then its a good chance they will be the one making the tackle. Unless its AJ Green, who becomes the lead blocker for the returner.

It's funny, all I heard for the first 3 weeks was the D-line will be fine when St. Geno come back

 

[Cincyfan78]

Well lets see, if our rookie quarterback throws an interception to the guy who is covering either Boyd or Higgins, then its a good chance they will be the one making the tackle. Unless its AJ Green, who becomes the lead blocker for the returner.

It's funny, all I heard for the first 3 weeks was the D-line will be fine when St. Geno come back

Well, sure - but then you lost Hubbard, Reader went down, McDonald (I think it is) went down. Atkins isn't playing well by any stretch, but the line has just been a complete MASH unit. That's not to make excuses - they should absolutely be playing better, and I will say that some of that is probably scheme from the DC, and of course having less snaps don't help.

However, that being said - for the tackles on INT's - Burrow has 5 INT's and 1 of those was in the endzone when the TE couldn't hold onto the ball...so there are only 4 INT's in which Higgens and Boyd would have been involved in - and that is assuming that both were on the field at the time of those 4 INT's. So, even assuming they were - they have had 4 "defensive" snaps to make a tackle, and have made 3 tackles to Dunlap and Atkin's 0 in the past 2 weeks. (Disclaimer - I don't see Boyd or Higgins in on ST's so if they are, obviously that changes things a bit but still....the fact remains).

Slice it anyway you want - the play from Dunlap and Atkins is PISS POOR. You and I have the exact same amount of tackles as they do and we are at home sitting on our couches drinking beer and frankly for guys making the money that they do - that is not acceptable on any level. Then to lash out the way Dunlap has....

 

[DanBengalfan]

if there were 30,000+ fans in the stands there would be:
1. boos from the crowd for the apparent lack of defensive effort
2. signs that say "C'mon Man!?"
3. a lot more pressure on the organization to make a change (I mean, look at the panic Dallas is in to find a solution at QB3)

this is the season behind the plexiglass. I mean, what happens this year when someone wins the World Series? do they pop champagne, or do they put on mopp 4 gear and get sprayed down with phenol?

 

[alf8478]

if there were 30,000+ fans in the stands there would be:
1. boos from the crowd for the apparent lack of defensive effort
2. signs that say "C'mon Man!?"
3. a lot more pressure on the organization to make a change (I mean, look at the panic Dallas is in to find a solution at QB3)

this is the season behind the plexiglass. I mean, what happens this year when someone wins the World Series? do they pop champagne, or do they put on mopp 4 gear and get sprayed down with phenol?

I said last week to one of my co-workers that if Dalton had another stinker the Cowboys should call the Dolphins and try and get Fitz.

 

[Cincyfan78]

if there were 30,000+ fans in the stands there would be:
1. boos from the crowd for the apparent lack of defensive effort
2. signs that say "C'mon Man!?"
3. a lot more pressure on the organization to make a change (I mean, look at the panic Dallas is in to find a solution at QB3)

this is the season behind the plexiglass. I mean, what happens this year when someone wins the World Series? do they pop champagne, or do they put on mopp 4 gear and get sprayed down with phenol?

Herein lies the issue - it wouldn't change a thing. Brown rarely cares what the fans think. He thinks he's smarter than all of us - and let's face it, he probably is. I mean, he makes millions off fans who continually think "This year is the year" or "We're almost there, won 3 of those last 6 games, and if we can carry that over into next year, then...."

He's also loyal to a fault. He runs this like a mom and pop shop keeping people around way longer than they should because they are "good people". In the NFL - that's great, but winning should be the ultimate goal - not something that just happens by way of chance. The only real chance this organization has is to hope that once Brown dies and Katie takes over that she'll be willing to do things differently - maybe not now while he's alive, but once he's gone, maybe something can change. That really is the only hope.

 

[cincygrad]

Herein lies the issue - it wouldn't change a thing. Brown rarely cares what the fans think. He thinks he's smarter than all of us - and let's face it, he probably is. I mean, he makes millions off fans who continually think "This year is the year" or "We're almost there, won 3 of those last 6 games, and if we can carry that over into next year, then...."

He's also loyal to a fault. He runs this like a mom and pop shop keeping people around way longer than they should because they are "good people". In the NFL - that's great, but winning should be the ultimate goal - not something that just happens by way of chance. The only real chance this organization has is to hope that once Brown dies and Katie takes over that she'll be willing to do things differently - maybe not now while he's alive, but once he's gone, maybe something can change. That really is the only hope.

We'll see what happens over the next few years. PBS is 20 years old. Current lease expires in 2026. My guess is that the Brown family isn't going to cut the hometown discount that many cincinnati and hamilton county residents will demand.... But I'm also not sure that many cities are really chomping at the bit for football teams anymore (they're more expensive than they are worth). It will be a very interesting pissing match.... On one end you'll have a family that has run a franchise without a single postseason victory in the time they played in a stadium that was publicly financed. On the other side, you'll have those taxpayers that have watched the city and county struggle with finances due to that awful deal. Should make for interesting news.

Oh by the way.... Wayyyyy on the other side will be the Reds. They'll just continue to suck at baseball while everyone in Cincinnati routinely gives them a pass, because of tradition. Or something like that.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I'm sure they will do something silly like extend the lease a few years at a time.

 

[Cincyfan78]

We'll see what happens over the next few years. PBS is 20 years old. Current lease expires in 2026. My guess is that the Brown family isn't going to cut the hometown discount that many cincinnati and hamilton county residents will demand.... But I'm also not sure that many cities are really chomping at the bit for football teams anymore (they're more expensive than they are worth). It will be a very interesting pissing match.... On one end you'll have a family that has run a franchise without a single postseason victory in the time they played in a stadium that was publicly financed. On the other side, you'll have those taxpayers that have watched the city and county struggle with finances due to that awful deal. Should make for interesting news.

Oh by the way.... Wayyyyy on the other side will be the Reds. They'll just continue to suck at baseball while everyone in Cincinnati routinely gives them a pass, because of tradition. Or something like that.

Agreed. The days of city financed stadiums is past - and I don't think there is any way in hell that the county is going to allow another taxpayer funded stadium pass. If you win playoff games, and are a championship caliber team, sure...maybe. Bengals are far from that, and the threat of them leaving really...I mean....eh. Football attendance around the NFL has been dropping for years with the advent of the NFL network, fantasy football, and other things. So much easier to gather at a bar, or someone's house. Beers are cheaper, restrooms are cleaner, and you can watch multiple games at a time if so desired. Plus, you don't have to drive down there park, deal with crowds, crappy prices, bad weather, etc...etc...etc...

I was a season ticket holder for a few years - and by the end - it just wans't worth the hassle anymore. And that was in the 2004/2005 range when they were actually decent. The best part of the day was getting down there, setting up the tailgate and hanging out with friends. Going into the game sucked, and trying to leave the game sucked even worse with traffic. We let the tickets lapse - and they had been in my buddy's family since the Bengals played at Nippert. No one wanted to carry them on, and the main owner didn't feel like trying to sell them seat license - so...they just went away.

I don't regret that decision at all. It was fun for a few years, but after that - eh.

 

[cincygrad]

Agreed. The days of city financed stadiums is past - and I don't think there is any way in hell that the county is going to allow another taxpayer funded stadium pass. If you win playoff games, and are a championship caliber team, sure...maybe. Bengals are far from that, and the threat of them leaving really...I mean....eh. Football attendance around the NFL has been dropping for years with the advent of the NFL network, fantasy football, and other things. So much easier to gather at a bar, or someone's house. Beers are cheaper, restrooms are cleaner, and you can watch multiple games at a time if so desired. Plus, you don't have to drive down there park, deal with crowds, crappy prices, bad weather, etc...etc...etc...

I was a season ticket holder for a few years - and by the end - it just wans't worth the hassle anymore. And that was in the 2004/2005 range when they were actually decent. The best part of the day was getting down there, setting up the tailgate and hanging out with friends. Going into the game sucked, and trying to leave the game sucked even worse with traffic. We let the tickets lapse - and they had been in my buddy's family since the Bengals played at Nippert. No one wanted to carry them on, and the main owner didn't feel like trying to sell them seat license - so...they just went away.

I don't regret that decision at all. It was fun for a few years, but after that - eh.

I agree. Aside from all the specific issues with the Bengals organization, the NFL product just isn't really worth the price of admission. One thing I noticed over the years was how sterile the production became. Everything is basically built around the television product without much thought to what would happen for those in the seats. The experience of sitting in the seats is one of paying lots of cash, and spending a lot of downtime waiting for tv timeouts to be completed. Hell, even the players and coaches spend a large amount of time doing nothing. Now that we are all (mostly) forced to watch from home with COVID, I'll be surprised if the NFL doesn't see a huge reduction in ticket sales. Once people stop going, they often have stories just like yours.

As for taxpayer dollars for stadiums.... Maybe if this was Pittsburgh. I can see it gaining support in a city where the team is seen as a community partner and the owner seen as someone that will do whatever they can to bring a winner to the city. I think there are only about 10-15 franchises where I could definitively say that was true.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I agree. Aside from all the specific issues with the Bengals organization, the NFL product just isn't really worth the price of admission. One thing I noticed over the years was how sterile the production became. Everything is basically built around the television product without much thought to what would happen for those in the seats. The experience of sitting in the seats is one of paying lots of cash, and spending a lot of downtime waiting for tv timeouts to be completed. Hell, even the players and coaches spend a large amount of time doing nothing. Now that we are all (mostly) forced to watch from home with COVID, I'll be surprised if the NFL doesn't see a huge reduction in ticket sales. Once people stop going, they often have stories just like yours.

As for taxpayer dollars for stadiums.... Maybe if this was Pittsburgh. I can see it gaining support in a city where the team is seen as a community partner and the owner seen as someone that will do whatever they can to bring a winner to the city. I think there are only about 10-15 franchises where I could definitively say that was true.

bengals ticket sales are going to be fine, there's always a new hope (like Joe Burrow) or some reasonable amount of success. I remember when it was blasphemy to criticize Marvin Lewis or Andy Dalton in some facebook groups and other forums online. We've seen some things over the years, so our expectations are metered.

Also, at least a few games a year fans from other teams fill the stands, if our fans do not.

Last, but not least, the main reason people go to the stadium, their spouses would rather they get drunk and boisterous somewhere other than home.

 

[MaximumSam]

Sounds like Dunlap getting traded to the Seahawks for OL BJ Finney and a 7th round pick. That's way more than I thought they'd get.

 

[cincygrad]

Sounds like Dunlap getting traded to the Seahawks for OL BJ Finney and a 7th round pick. That's way more than I thought they'd get.

Yeah... I figured they'd get a pound of Starbucks and wishes for a happy 2021.

 

[DanBengalfan]

The Seahawks should trade B.J. Finney back to Steelers

The Seahawks signed BJ Finney anticipating him to be Justin Britt replacement. However, the move has been a flop. A trade would be best for all parties.

12thmanrising.com

article on BJ, sounds like he's had a rough year, but we're so thin on OL depth I think anyone who wants to play for us is a plus right now.

 

[Cincyfan78]

The Seahawks should trade B.J. Finney back to Steelers

The Seahawks signed BJ Finney anticipating him to be Justin Britt replacement. However, the move has been a flop. A trade would be best for all parties.

12thmanrising.com

article on BJ, sounds like he's had a rough year, but we're so thin on OL depth I think anyone who wants to play for us is a plus right now.

A few of the steeler fans on the main board were high on him and were disappointed he got traded to Seattle - not sure why it hasn't worked for him there, but it's worth a look.

With Hart and Williams likely out - a good time to see if Fred is just better at LT or RT than guard (he's had almost no experience there prior to this year) and we'll see what this kid can do - and at least that gives the Bengals a look at options the rest of this year for next year.