HoosierCat

PFWA names Jordan Battle to their 2023 all-rookie team. https://sports.yahoo.com/2023-pfwa-rookie-team-rookies-050933735.html

Official announcement: https://www.bengals.com/news/dan-pitcher-offensive-coordinator-quarterbacks-coach-promotion

Not sure where you’re getting the “again.” They didn’t suck last year, much to everyone’s surprise. Been pretty busy in the offseason. We’ll see if it pays off. https://www.mlb.com/news/david-bell-on-reds-offseason-additions-for-2024

Status quo hire. Just have to see if he brings anything else.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39380148/sources-jim-harbaugh-accepts-head-coaching-job-chargers

Bengals interview former Seattle OL coach Andy Dickerson for OC. https://www.cincyjungle.com/2024/1/23/24048387/andy-dickerson-seahawks-ol-coach-bengals-offensive-coordinator-oc Not sure if serious or just done to satisfy the requirement to interview a minority candidate.

I think unless you are one of the teams selected to coach the game there’s a limit on how many people a team can send. Tobin and the scouting staff going would be at least five people, so that may fill up their card. But yeah, good catch. I’ve always championed the idea of having coaches coach and scouts scout.

It’s official. https://www.bengals.com/news/brian-callahan-titans-head-coach-bengals-offensive-coordinator Notable:

The one question I never seem to hear in the Higgins conversation is, ok, why can't you pay two good wide receivers? You never hear pundits say that a team can't pay for two good defensive ends, or two good offensive tackles or two good defensive backs, etc., but pay two good wide receivers? Why, that's crazy talk! Reality is, if they want to keep Higgins and Chase, they can. It's not going to wreck the cap, it's not going impoverish the Brown family, it's not going to force them to cut everyone else and field a team full of people picked out the stands, yadda yadda yadda. It does mean the front office would have to do business a little bit differently, meaning a little bit more like just about everyone else, but it can be done. It's just a matter of them wanting to. Do they want to? That's the real question.

So to continue an off-topic topic from December, Oscar nominations are out and Godzilla Minus One has been nominated in the visual effects category. It’s the first time in the 70-year, 38-film history of the Godzilla franchise that a Godzilla film has been nominated for an Academy Award. Interestingly, director Takashi Yamazaki, who started as an effects guy, led the effects team in addition to directing the movie, so he is the first director to be nominated for the vfx Oscar since Stanley Kubrick in 1968 for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Pretty good company imho. The film is set to end its U.S. run Feb. 1. For its last hurrah starting this Friday, a new black and white version, Godzilla Minus One Minus Color, is rolling out. If you haven’t caught it yet, grab a ticket!

Newton hive assemble!

In case you ever wondered why networks pay so much for NFL games... https://deadline.com/2024/01/chiefs-bills-nfl-divisional-playoff-ratings-1235802215/

Mel goes with Latham in his first mock. https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2024/01/23/bengals-mel-kiper-first-2024-nfl-mock-draft/ I think I lean toward Newton in that scenario.

Oh not your fault. Like I said the players are fine and I’d be happy with those first three. The rest of the draft is just messed up because they forgot comp picks.

Well, I mean they had a healthy Burrow for like 6 games all season and one of worst defenses in the league and still ended up missing the playoffs about as barely as you can. That’s gonna get a guy looks.

That draft would totally piss me off because somehow they failed to make 2 picks, 174 and 251. Also note that the pick numbers are wrong after the third round. Should be 115, 147, 195 and 234. This is all because they forgot comp picks exist. Players they did take are fine tho.

Big enough news for its own thread. Also, congrats to Callahan and best of luck in Tennessee, except against the Bengals of course!

By all accounts they love Pitcher, gave him extra money last year to stay on, so I’d say it’s when not if. I’m optimistic but I doubt his elevation changes the multi headed OC hydra approach they have so we will see if it’s an upgrade. On the other hand at worst I think it’s same old same old, so…

Yeah, they shot down the trade idea pretty strongly last offseason. In 20/20 hindsight, that was clearly an error. I don’t blame them of course, no one knows the future, but it’s still a kick in the pants.

Just to be clear, I don't actually expect a tag & trade for Tee. If they tag him, it will either lead to a long-term deal (I'd give that maybe a 20% chance) or, like Army said, he walks next year. If they did trade him, I am pretty sure it would not be for multiple top 150 picks, though I agree with Amphar that the Bengals would want that. They just aren't going to get it. Jarvis Landry's numbers through his first four years in Miami are on par with Tee's, and all the Fins got when they tagged him and shipped him to Cleveland was a fourth and seventh.

Yeah, it feels like it’s Baltimore’s year. Not only did they win 13 games but they did it against the third toughest schedule in the league. (The second toughest was Arizona, and the toughest schedule was, of fucking course, the Bengals.) They looked dominant against Houston and the Chiefs are on these road again after a knock down, drag out fight. Right now my money is on a Niners-Ravens Super Bowl. Ick.

Wide. Right. I feel for Bills fans.

Watching the Bills Chiefs, all I can think is, damn, it’s nice to be able to run the ball.

Lions punch their ticket to the NFC championship game.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over for Houston.