We're screwed

[Cincyfan78]

Predicting every NFL game: No perfect records, but a few surprises - CBSSports.com


5-11 here we come.

 

[NCGhosthunter]

wow!! I think he may be right about one thing. If I read it right, he has every Bengal game this year decided by 7 points or less, wins and losses.... I agree with that, we will be in every game this year I feel...

 

[RobBase]

wow!! I think he may be right about one thing. If I read it right, he has every Bengal game this year decided by 7 points or less, wins and losses.... I agree with that, we will be in every game this year I feel...

That's pretty much every NFL game every year. That's why the spreads are almost never higher than 6.5, rarely do you find a spread of 10 or more.

You guys better win week 1 against the Canadian Bears.

 

[cincygrad]

That's pretty much every NFL game every year. That's why the spreads are almost never higher than 6.5, rarely do you find a spread of 10 or more.

You guys better win week 1 against the Canadian Bears.

I feel like week 1 is a horrible trap.... I can imagine Cutler coming out and throwing 400 yards and every article talking about the amazing Marc Tressman, but then weeks later the league figures it out and the Bears have their annual late season collapse.

 

[JBUCK66]

words are cheap

I wish I had more faith in Dalton. Red should have the weapons though

 

[bengaldoug]

Prisco's track record isn't so good. Didn't he have Arizona winning the NFC West last year?

 

[Cincyfan78]

Prisco's track record isn't so good. Didn't he have Arizona winning the NFC West last year?

He did early on, and then recanted before the season. I'm not sure, but I think he ended up with the 9er's just before the season started.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I feel like week 1 is a horrible trap.... I can imagine Cutler coming out and throwing 400 yards and every article talking about the amazing Marc Tressman, but then weeks later the league figures it out and the Bears have their annual late season collapse.

Or the great downfall of the Tressman hype! It will be a good game to watch! As hard as it is to say for me, I have high hopes for Cincy! They have a lot more talent than the rest of the division at the moment. But translating that into NFL wins is a different story. IMO it all boils down to Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton to make things happen!

 

[bengaldoug]

Or the great downfall of the Tressman hype! It will be a good game to watch! As hard as it is to say for me, I have high hopes for Cincy! They have a lot more talent than the rest of the division at the moment. But translating that into NFL wins is a different story. IMO it all boils down to Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton to make things happen!

Yeah, we're fucked.....

 

[cincygrad]

Or the great downfall of the Tressman hype! It will be a good game to watch! As hard as it is to say for me, I have high hopes for Cincy! They have a lot more talent than the rest of the division at the moment. But translating that into NFL wins is a different story. IMO it all boils down to Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton to make things happen!

 

[CrashDavisSports]

So Dalton had a 62% completion percent last year, 27 TD's and an 83 QBR and made the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season as a young QB who has never done anything but make the playoffs.

Now, I admit, Dalton has flaws and needs to improve, but you have to admit, the offense around him has not been very good either, and he is still putting up pretty good numbers for a young QB. A couple of these recent QB's coming out of college has set the bar just a little too high for the QB position and the time it takes to succeed in that position now.

There are only two QB's in NFL history with more TD passes in their first two years than Dalton. Marino and Manning. Brett Farve and Steve Young didn't even have as many.

No one would have a single issue with Dalton's "numbers" if he had won one of the last two playoff games he participated in. He is not going to be a guy that takes off and runs for a 100 yards in a game like Vick, he is not going to be a yards and TD machine like Brady and Manning. He is going to be an average QB who puts up good numbers, protects the ball pretty well by not compounding mistakes and into worse mistakes. He will be a leader, and he will get his. But he is not going to be that franchise guy you build an entire franchise around either like Brady and Manning are.

Last year we struggled in the running game, the oline had issues, we had no WR's behind Green, and Gresham was a pass dropping machine. I mean, he still put up good numbers regardless of the issues this offense had/still has.

So say Dalton doesn't put up great numbers this year, but he wins his first playoff game. Is he okay at that point because of one victory, or do you need the season stats along with a win to support him more?

What happens if he has a great season, and has a really good playoff game, but the other team just outperforms us and we are one and done again, even though Dalton had a 300 yard game with 3 TD's and no INT's and we still lose?

I mean, someone please define for me, what makes him "okay" as our QB, so I know how to judge him performance this next year?

 

[augustisback003]

Jadeveon Clowney is gonna look nice in that Silver and Black. Lol!

 

[flamingrey]

You can start with the things that do not show up in the stat sheet:

1) Is he going through his progressions?
2) Is his downfield accuracy improving (can partially be measured by stats)?
3) When the system and/or defense doesn't allow him to get the ball out immediately, does he panic like he has in the past? When he begins to scramble, do his eyes stay downfield?
4) Is he still not seeing wide open players?
5) He's done well padding his stats against poorer defenses and has consistently looked bad his first 2 seasons against good defenses. Has this trend started turning around? Is he more confident throwing the ball into tighter windows and has his accuracy in doing so improved?

The above (and I'm sure there are more) are all issues Dalton has had his first 2 seasons. Can we expect him to get dramatically better with all of them? No. But he needs to show steady improvement in each and vast improvement in at least 1 or 2. The list above screams a bottom third QB. He's in a great situation right now. You put him on the Bills, Jags, or any of the other inept teams lacking in offensive talent, many people would probably be yelling bust right now because his weaknesses would show more dramatically.

And it's not difficult to find articles where analysts are now saying the same things that some of us have been saying since year 1.

ChatRewind: Projecting Pittsburgh Steelers RBs - ESPN

 

[CrashDavisSports]

You can start with the things that do not show up in the stat sheet:

1) Is he going through his progressions?
2) Is his downfield accuracy improving (can partially be measured by stats)?
3) When the system and/or defense doesn't allow him to get the ball out immediately, does he panic like he has in the past? When he begins to scramble, do his eyes stay downfield?
4) Is he still not seeing wide open players?
5) He's done well padding his stats against poorer defenses and has consistently looked bad his first 2 seasons against good defenses. Has this trend started turning around? Is he more confident throwing the ball into tighter windows and has his accuracy in doing so improved?

The above (and I'm sure there are more) are all issues Dalton has had his first 2 seasons. Can we expect him to get dramatically better with all of them? No. But he needs to show steady improvement in each and vast improvement in at least 1 or 2. The list above screams a bottom third QB. He's in a great situation right now. You put him on the Bills, Jags, or any of the other inept teams lacking in offensive talent, many people would probably be yelling bust right now because his weaknesses would show more dramatically.

And it's not difficult to find articles where analysts are now saying the same things that some of us have been saying since year 1.

ChatRewind: Projecting Pittsburgh Steelers RBs - ESPN

I think if Andy had a RB like Maurice Jones Drew, he would be setup to succeed even more. I honestly do not think the Jags were that much worse of an offense last year than the Bengals were. You put Dalton on the Jags and move that cream puff Gabbert to the Bengals and I bet the rankings flip flop.

There was a whole lot wrong with the Bengals offense last year, it wasn't just Dalton. Offensive line was weak in both running and pass protection, more so in run. The RB's didn't do a very good job. We had no one behind Green for most the season. Gresham was crap.

I think the simple additoons of Eifert and Bernard, along with a new two TE formation setup, pressure on Gresham to be better, Sanu is back, guys are healthy...we could have a top 12 offense if Andy just does what he does. The one area he really needs to improve on, is not the deep ball as much as it is 3rd down conversions. We were one of the worst there last year. If we can move into the top 15 in converting 3rd downs, this offense could be deadly in the red zone with Green, Bernard, Gresham, Eifert, Sanu.

There are not many check downs to be had when your QB is getting rid of the ball faster than anyone else in the league. 2.4 seconds is not much time for check downs. I don't know if that is predicated on the system Gruden runs, or if Dalton is just too antsy and getting rid of the ball way before he should. I don't know the answer to that question.

Just to think, the people over on the Bengals.com mesage board think I am a Bengals hater for how harshly I speak about the Bengals and Dalton, and over here I am the biggest homer. Talk about a tale of two sites.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Are cincygrad and bengaldoug the eternal pessimistic type? Gotta love those types! How do you guys not feel good about your chances this year? If Marvin fails this year then I wouldn't expect to see him around much longer. The Bungals have everything in place (questionable!). Make or break year IMO!

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Are cincygrad and bengaldoug the eternal pessimistic type? Gotta love those types! How do you guys not feel good about your chances this year? If Marvin fails this year then I wouldn't expect to see him around much longer. The Bungals have everything in place (questionable!). Make or break year IMO!

Its pretty much the entire board. You think they are bad, you should read more of Kramer's posts. If you talk to him, you think the Bengals now are the same Bengal team from the mid 90's.

There are lots of things to be excited about, but when you have been jaded as often as Bengal fans, you don't hold your breath for something good to happen, otherwise you run out of oxygen.

Good things on the horizon, but with a rich understanding of our history.

 

[futballiscool]

I'd be shocked if any team in the division goes 12-4. The Browns beat us last yr, and they look like they'll be improved..

The division itself is just too competitive.

 

[kramer1]

I got us at 8-8.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I got us at 8-8.

Why such optimism?

 

[flamingrey]

I think if Andy had a RB like Maurice Jones Drew, he would be setup to succeed even more. I honestly do not think the Jags were that much worse of an offense last year than the Bengals were. You put Dalton on the Jags and move that cream puff Gabbert to the Bengals and I bet the rankings flip flop.

There was a whole lot wrong with the Bengals offense last year, it wasn't just Dalton. Offensive line was weak in both running and pass protection, more so in run. The RB's didn't do a very good job. We had no one behind Green for most the season. Gresham was crap.

You just don't stop making stuff up. It's been discussed ad nauseum how the o-line was ranked #2 (?) in pass protection.

By saying the rankings flip flop swapping Gabbert and Dalton, you're giving Dalton all the credit for our "success". You are a disgusting Dalton homer.