cincyhokie

They have very little depth across the board and a lack of playmakers on defense. What is their plan to make the team better? The draft? The draft will help band aid but that’s it. This was the 31st ranked defense in the NFL. Their offensive line needs to be top 5 to allow Dalton the chance to be decent. Any outsider can clearly see the issues on this team and know they are deficient. I just want to know what the plan is? Because simply drafting is about as much of a crapshoot as FA.

Name something that's going well for the Bengals here: 1. The Bengals won't get an end of the year win this season. They play at Pittsburgh. Any chance of a dead cat bounce will not happen. Others?

Just good enough to finish with 6-8 wins. Not bad enough to take advantage of a top pick in a QB rich draft class in 2020. Again, what's the plan here? Other than spinning around like a turd in a clogged toilet.

I agree at this point I don’t see anything more than a 6-10 season in 2019. Same old, same old. And with the injury excuses for the reason they started 4-1. Remember after Eifert went down, so did the offense dramatically. Where are the Bengals in resigning him?

I think purposefully tank is too strong of a term. More like rebuild. But, anyway, what is the Bengals plan? To go 8-8? There’s no way in hell they’re going to be able to compete in the AFC with that O line and LB corps alone. Then the fact that Dalton isn’t the guy to get them over the top. Oh 2015 was great. But unless the Bengals can create another one year perfect storm anomaly for him, all I see is 6-10 to 9-7. Yaaaaaaawn!

Mo Egger and Tony Pike were talking today about how the Bengals FO approach has the Bengals in no man's land. Not good enough to do anything in the AFC, not bad enough to land a franchise QB. They were promoting tanking. Trade the cornerstone players like Dalton, Green, Atkins, and Dunlap to acquire draft pick ammunition to get Tua or even Trevor Lawrence. Then using that rookie contract and building the team to go on a run. I think that's actually a good move. This team isn't going anywhere ala the 2014-2018 Reds. Do something. Be good or be interesting. Don't be bad and uninteresting. Even with all of this bullshit the past few weeks, I still feel like Zac Taylor gives us the best chance of pushing the Bengals into the 21st century. It may not happen this year. I see another 6-10 season with a mid round pick. But I like Taylor's supposed mindset coming from the Rams and being young. Long term, I'm still more hopeful than I was last season.

#Groundhog Dey

Don’t stop him. He’s on a roll.

Bold move by the Browns. Good for them for stepping up to make their team better. However, long term I don't think this will be a good decision. I could be wrong. But it doesn't seem like OBJ is thrilled about the move. On top of it the Browns lose one of their starting safeties. Peppers is a first round pick. They also lose their first round pick this year and a 3rd rounder. Then they will have to pay OBJ a very nice salary sometime soon. All these moves by the Browns kind of feel like the Eagles attempt at the "dream team" a few years back. We all know how that went. And what usually happens when teams jump the shark.

Fans are losing their shit over this. Why? Did we think that we were a DC away from a championship? Or are they worried about the acumen of Zac Taylor? He already came out and said he would find his guys on his staff and make sure they were a fit. He turned down Del Rio and that guy from LA. That's a good thing! He's not panicking. Comparisons to Dave Shula? Really? Dave Shula would be in a ball in a corner somewhere right now. Sure, you can criticize Zac Taylor for not having a pre-made staff assembled before he was hired. But the guy is 35 years old and he isn't Sean McVay with Wade Phillips in his back pocket heading to Los Angeles. All of this is a non story once a DC is hired and we'll wait and see what happens this season. But what are we going to do? Fire him? Everybody needs to chill. He's making the best of an inconvenient situation. He's not panicking. That's the most important part. This season was going to be so-so at best no matter who was the DC, or OC. And I do have confidence that if the DC he chooses shits the bed, he'll be on a short leash.

Tyler Boyd with a less than enthusiastic endorsement for Marvin as his former HC. And a positive nod towards Zac Taylor.

Didn't Callahan and Del Rio work with each other in Oakland? Del Rio as the HC and Callahan as the QB coach?

Sorry to hear this. He was one of those throwback team-first guys. A fan favorite. Too young. RIP Turk.

I'll admit that I was pulling for Bienemy for the HC hire. But Zac Taylor is a better hire. He might not end up being the better HC or even a good one. But this move is a huge deal. 1. We've been asking for the Bengals to take chances and think out of the box. They've done that in naming Taylor HC. It's a risk for sure. 2. This isn't about nailing it. There's a good chance that Taylor ends up being a failure here at HC. But if there's ANY semblance that the Bengals are moving in the direction we want them to, this is it. 3. He's going to be able to hire his own OC and DC. This is huge. Another set of moves that go along with hiring Taylor is letting go of Lazor and Hue. Old Bengals FO moves would suggest that stability and hurt feelings are more important than moving forward. Not this time. 4. What about free agency? Can the Bengals actually compete for a title without being aggressive in FA? No. Will they? Who knows. But until FA starts, what more can they do in terms of SHOWING they aren't afraid to take a risk in stepping above the Steelers, Ravens, and now the Browns? I doubt this is the end of the kind of aggressive moves they make. Could they stay the same in FA? Maybe. We'll see when it starts. 5. There's no way with Taylor coming from the Rams staff under McVey that he allows player "feelings" and "seniority" to get in the way of player accountability and putting the team first. Bringing in an older HC there'd be much more of a chance we'd see a Marvin-like approach with players. 6. Taylor was sought out during the season as a candidate by the Bengals and the league. I can't imagine that the Brown family woke up on January 1st and randomly were looking at coaches that they wanted to interview. They had their eye on this guy for awhile and I'm sure others in the league were as well. This isn't a random selection. This is the best thing we could have asked for. Even if Taylor falls on his face, which I don't think he will due to the Bengals having a solid player acquisition history, this move shows the Bengals are aware they need to move into the 21st century. And as a fan, that's what I want to see. I'd rather my team take chances and be aggressive than to play it safe and be content with 9-7. Again, even if this doesn't turn out to be perfect, it is the perfect move as we sit right now looking into the 2019 season. Will the Bengals follow this up with more aggressive moves? We'll see.

Jay Glazer on the Taylor hire. "He's a guy the Bengals actually targeted for weeks toward the end of the season as they knew they were moving on from Marvin Lewis. They did a ton of backchannel work on him.When you talk to people on the Rams, you learn he is a football guy non-stop. When he went in and interviewed some places, I was told when he talked about offense -- what he was able to use from Sean McVey's offense plus some twists he put on it -- other teams were blown away. He commanded the room in the interview process. He's a guy who is very family-oriented, and he's one of these 24-7 football guys who can connect with both players and coaches, both old and young. Cincinnati, I thought, was going to be a hard place to get a good hire. If they do make this official, they'll end getting one of the hidden gems in this coaching class." https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/1/16/18185229/significant-praise-for-soon-to-be-bengals-head-coach-zac-taylor

I think it's safe to say that Taylor already has most of his staff lined up. They'll be announced shortly after he is. This isn't like recess and picking players for kickball in elementary school where you end up with the worst players. There's plenty going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

This. Marvin Lewis has been one of the biggest reasons this team has struggled. His tendency to play favorites has to have had an impact on the team. When the players see that the best and most deserving players can't get on the field, it sends the wrong message. Along with the incoming draft class, there is a strong base of talent on this team. Cut the dead weight and let the talent you draft actually play! Next season could be very interesting to say the least.

I'm ok with Taylor and like Shula said it might open up a possible QB move sooner than later. I was hoping for Bienemy as I see him more as a counter to Tomlin. A good motivator with a no nonsense approach. But what do I know?

You're right they didn't. I think it's going to come down to Bienemy or Taylor. My money is on EB.

I believe that the Bengals have their HC candidate selected. And I believe that they cannot announce who it is until that team who this person is still coaching for is out of the playoffs. I think that it's Eric Bienemy of the Chiefs or it's Zack Taylor or Shane Waldron of the Rams. Outside chance for Matt Eberflus of the Colts. We'll find out more this weekend if either the Chiefs or Rams lose. And right now, no news is good news as far as the HC search is concerned.

"If the Denver Broncos part ways with head coach Vance Joseph, he is expected to emerge as a candidate for the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coordinator job and potentially even their head coaching job when Marvin Lewis decides he has had enough of coaching, a league source tells ESPN." https://thebiglead.com/2018/12/23/cincinatti-bengals-marvin-lewis-decide-when-he-wants-to-stop-coaching/

Yep. You nailed it. Bengals fatigue is a real thing. Especially now that people have more choices than ever for entertainment. The Reds are actually trying to win and FC Cincinnati will be a huge draw with alot of energy in the city going to that team. The Bengals can either get on board or choose to get lapped.

The Bengals have backed themselves into a corner. If they keep Melvin they do have to do something to sell this fanbase. I don't care what it looks like from the outside, they care about season tickets. There's marketing all year about selling tickets and in the letter to fans they make note of the reasons you would want to get on board for the next season. Should they keep Melvin, they will HAVE to rebuild the O-line and the LB corps. Period. They need to do that anyway, but they had bette double down on player acquisition if they have any chance of selling this 2019 team. I do think there's a good base of talent to build around. But they need to get at least 3-4 impact players on OL and in the LB slots. They also need to retool the depth on this team. It sucks ass. I don't want to hear about injuries and excuses AGAIN for another year. Maybe even looking at their training staff. Now all of that leads me to Melvin again. Should they keep him, what are the chances that he actually PLAYS the new players they bring on? Can he put the best guys on the field? Can he stop playing favorites? Chances are slim.

I have a feeling the Browns will look elsewhere. But it won't surprise me if they did hire Williams. It would be a Browns-like move to do so. This roll the Browns are on is much of an illusion. Sure they are playing better but their wins lately have been the Bengals twice, the Falcons, and the Broncos. Give teams a full year to prepare for them in 2019 and it won't be a lock for the playoffs like many of their fans are expecting. Baker Mayfield is the QB version of Rex Ryan. While he's a good QB, his hubris will get the best of him and it'll be interesting to see how he reacts to a full season when the Browns aren't catching teams with their pants down. But hey, welcome back to the NFL, Cleveland. You only spent 20 years taking a shit.

Noooo! So sorry to hear this. Does anyone know what happened? He's been around this year and didn't allude to any ailments. So sad. I never got a chance to meet him but could tell he was a great guy. He'll be missed here.