HoosierCat

Thing about All is that there were rumors about the quality of the surgery when the acl was repaired the first time. I didn’t really pay much attention to them, but now that the same acl tore again, on a non contact injury…man, I don’t know. Not a doctor but I’m playing it like he’s done. If he comes back strong, great, not saying he won’t. But right now I’m not counting on anything from him.

Joe wants Gesicki back next year. https://www.cincyjungle.com/2024/12/6/24314407/joe-burrow-love-bring-back-tight-end-mike-gesicki Given that All is hurt and we don’t know what we have in Tanner because they won’t even activate him, seems like it would be a smart move.

CLANK CLANK CLANK I hear the sound of a tank! OBjr doubtful Ford at LT, Volson back at LG Now they just need to sit Joe and let Browning get killed out there...

Good news, fellas: the tank is on. Per Garafolo, Wilson had a knee cleanout done today and will be out the rest of the year.

Wait, are you saying we shouldn’t trade Ja’Marr for more deck chairs? How can you be against such a fantastic idea?!?

McPherson to IR. Yeah, his season’s over.

McPherson out, groin. Could be out a while. Bengals signed Cade York. https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-sign-kicker-evan-mcpherson-181926879.html

It’s not a great class at WR this year, so the handful of good ones like Egbuka will get snapped up probably higher than they should. Another reason to hang onto Tee. Heck it would even be a decent year for the tag-and-trade concept, tho I doubt our FO could pull something like that off.

It’s the bengals so probably that ohio state kid, egbuka.

Figuring out how to stop Chase Brown.

FWIW I’m starting to see the idea of tagging Tee again bubbling up. That works for me, too. Would cost $26 million but they have $64 million in cap space coming and it’s not like they have a better use for it. (And re Chase he’s already set to count $22 million against the cap so there’s plenty of room to fit an extension in too.) (And while we’re on the subject of cap hits, cutting Rankins would save $9.5 million next year, Hubbard 9.6 and Stone 6.5. Cutting Cappa frees up another 8.)

At the risk of injecting a positive note into the current hellscape, Mims had his best game as a bengal, mostly stoning Watt in just his 10th game and 9th start. Also had some monster run blocks, something he’d struggled with up to now.

Sounds like a plan to me, Army. Note from yesterday's story here: https://www.bengals.com/news/orlando-brown-jr-s-gut-check-lou-anarumo-sticking-with-secondary-quick-hits Battle will be starting over Bell the rest of the way. Not that there was much doubt, but clearly Bell's time here is five games from up.

Kenny hosed again. https://atozsports.com/nfl/cincinnati-bengals-news/bengals-ken-anderson-passed-up-by-the-pro-football-hall-of-fame-once-again-by-senior-committee/

One bit of good news from last night: the Cowboys win combined with the Browns loss adjusted the SoS for both us and Nawlins so that the Bengals squeak ahead (.493 to .495) into the 9th pick.

Given their tradition of slow starts, I’ll wake you up when September ends.

No I meant Tee. Pay him and Chase. They won’t of course, but with Burton apparently a turd then they will have to spend money or (more likely, and) a premium pick on the position. So given the choice of picking between poisons (sign Tee or go down the Housh/Bates road again), I vote for retaining a known talent. YMMV.

From da site: Looks like Irwin is on his way out. No real surprise. May as well get a look at Heyward.

Oh, the UFAs are easy. on defense: bye. No one on this d is worth one penny. Only good player is Trey and since he’s 31 and in the last year of his deal, I’m trading him while I can get some value. on offense: sign Tee. Don’t care about anyone else.

I know, I know, quoting myself. But I wanted to follow this line of thought to its logical conclusion (and thanks to Army for the prompt!). That conclusion is that this will be a make or break offseason for the Taylor/Burrow era in Cincinnati. Burrow is 27 (28 in 8 days!). Taylor reportedly has 2 years left on his deal. If they let Zac stay and play out his contract and some miracle turnaround doesn't take place (and that seems unlikely at the moment), then they would be looking for a new head coach in January 2027, just weeks after Burrow turned 30. I am wondering how any new head coach is going to look at a 30 year old QB with (in 2027) a $52 million cap hit versus $28 million in dead money, compared to the chance to start fresh. Especially if you could trade said QB. This is all speculative because we don't know where Joe is at after two more years of getting beaten up behind our excuse for an oline. But it seems to me there's a good chance that 2025 is the last opportunity to change course while Joe is in his prime.

Anyone want some easy money? Bengals are 6.5-point favorites next Monday night. Take the Cowboys and the points.

No, of course not. But I have time to kill between now and death, so... Oh, he'll start. Dunno if he'll be any good, but he'll definitely start. Well, if they stumble into a stud defender, he's here for 4 on his rookie deal, the 5th year option and the tag in year 6 minimum. By then Joe will be 33. If they haven't won a Lombardi by then it's probably time to blow everything up again anyhow.

I keep refreshing bengals.com looking for the announcement that Lou has been canned, and I keep not seeing it. What's the delay? Everyone knows it's coming. Even if you believe (and I do) that he's been screwed over by the FO and doesn't have the horses, what he does have out there is going backward in development, can't tackle and is constantly out of position. Honestly, I think that firing Lou now is about the only possible thing that might wake this pathetic squad up. Send the message that the top guy is out and everyone else is under the microscope. You want to keep playing here, you got five games to show us why. But I guess I shouldn't complain. The more they do nothing, the better the chance of a higher draft pick, at least.

With the loss to Pitt, the Bengals inched up to the 10th pick in the 2025 draft. At 5-7 the boys are hard on their heels at pick 13. But that's not why we can't afford a victory here, or frankly for the rest of the year, imho. At all costs, the front office must not be given a Dead Cat Bounce of any size to wave around in January as an excuse not to make major changes like firing Taylor and a bunch of the staff. Fortunately, a bounce appears unlikely because the D is just that freaking bad. Just lose, baby!

Per pff, our best player on defense today, with a 79.4 grade? Joe Bachie Joe. Fucking. Bachie. Burn it down. Burn it ALL down.