AMPHAR

I hope for D-Coordinator is someone with Secondary background. It was time for Lou to go. Lou had some great playoff games. But his units always bled yards and the past two seasons started bleeding points. It would have been a gamble in a critical year to give him another 3/4 new starters and hope for better. Grab a new guy, give them 3/4 new guys and give it a shot. Lou's D cost them playoff appearances the past two years. Pollack. That guy played favorites, IMO. Not that Carman was super awesome but he was equally as bad as Volson and Adeniji. He kept running those guys out there and finally Volson got the bench. The 3 sack game became a standard of a good game for the O-line.

Higgins lower body issues are constant over the past two years. They come out of no where too. Bengals can do what they want and I'm in favor of signing all offensive Free Agents. A 4/5 year deal at $20m+ for Tee is a risk for sure. Him being in and out of the line up is already annoying enough, imagine him at $75m guaranteed and coming up a practice before the opener as doubtful or not available for the Chiefs again.

1. Green Bay is very good. Everyone at the game is on a road trip. Town is small but everyone is there to have a good time. Stadium cool. 2. I have toured Vikings stadium its really cool. They had a decent downtown but the riots tore the crap out of it and I'm not sure its recovered. 3. Baltimore/Browns - would not recommend. They get off treating visiting fans like assholes. If they aren't visiting fans? Then they fight each other. 4. Pittsburgh - wasn't bad at all. I'm sure if you are from Pitt or a Steelers fan its the greatest in the world but its good/average from NFL perspective. This is a homer view, but Cincinnati with the banks on full tilt is near the top, IMO. Easy in and out. Easy airport. Decent hotels nearby.

When fans wanted Zac fired after his 2nd year. Mike wrote an open letter basically saying "Well you wanted change". Dead Cat Bounce is not applicable. When that term was defined it was during an era of woeful football. A couple late season wins masking a massive amount of under qualified players/coaches/front office. Keeping Pollack and/or Lou would be exactly like Keeping Marvin/Dalton post 2015. Convenience. Which was confirmed in Mike's open letter. The Bengals have raised expectations because they have accomplished higher results on the field. National/Local/Fans may never give them credit and always revert back to the 90s but that is a bad take. Mike was fine with that and probably would have brought Marvin/Dalton back for a lifetime vs. the risk of going backwards. Lou or Pollack. Keeping either one is a huge gamble. Sure it could work and produce favorable results. But the Bengals really need to get out of the lifetime coach business IF they aren't getting top tier results. Lou/Pollack probably work as NFL coaches again at the same level if not retained by the Bengals. Marvin/Dalton were a certain level of good. Not playoff winners. Bengals currently have a certain level very good but not enough to be champions. I hope they take a chance a bring in new voices in those spots. Then next year you have to put a target on Zac, IMO.

Stupid. There are thousands of QBs that have made NFL rosters. To this point in history there can only be 58 Superbowl winning QBs. The number is much less because there can be repeats, duh. Pointed article? More like lame bullshit. These stats were bantered around last season because Purdy was the lowest "drafted" QB to start in the game if you discount Warner and Delhomme because they were undrafted. There have been 67 different starting QBs in the Superbowl out of 116 possible. 13 have been No. 1 overall draft picks. If you ignore the reality of how hard it is to just start in the game once then there's also: Burrow throws to a WR drafted top 5 that was a National Champion in college and just completed the WR triple Crown. Throws to another WR that they beat in the College National Championship and will be listed as the top Free Agent in March. Bengals defense has the leading sack guy. This narrative has literally gone from Burrow, don't go to Cincinnati demand they trade the pick because they'll ruin your career to well you maybe really good but you won't win a championship. I believe there have been 38 Heisman winning QBs. Only 2 have won the Superbowl. Yeah, its pretty fucking hard to even start a singular superbowl and even harder to win it.

There's once was a time not too long ago the Bengals build rosters that got Andy Dalton to the playoffs multiple years in a row. It was so good, that people actually thought Andy Dalton was on the level of a top 5 QB. Since he has moved on, I assume he made the playoffs as a backup with the Cowboys but that's it. The biggest issue front office wise will be the willingness to fire coaches. I'm not sold on firing Zac just yet. Pollack and Lou should be gone at a min. With Zac I do think you must consider Burrow and Chase performance given the assumed amount of Cap these two will command. Talent? They were 1 game from the playoffs with Jake Browning starting and dog shit defense last year. They'll probably 1 game from the playoffs this year losing a handful of games less than 1 score vs. playoff contenders with a dog shit defense. Call me crazy. They don't need more bodies scouting East Dumptruck U. They need somebody that isn't going to drop linebackers into zone behind the first down maker all game long. I don't think its a stretch a coach like Zimmer could have gotten them the handful of plays they needed on D with the same cast.

If they beat the Broncos. The hardest part about the Bengals playoff scenario will be needing to win with Lou's defense vs. the Pitt offense. They've owned him recently with QBs Pickett and Rudolph. I think their only 400 yard games last year were against the Bengals. Then Wilson had a career best 1st half vs. them a few weeks ago. Kenny Pickett has played in 4 games this year with Eagles and has a 68 rating. Rudolph has played in 6 games with Titans and a rating of 79 (Of course that's with 100+ vs the Bengals this year). Lou's has run out of magic. They know what he's running. They know what patterns/passing concepts/formations his zone coverage has problems adjusting to. Fans bought into blaming Dax Hill last year. In reality, his failure probably going to cost them a playoff appearance with Jake Browning and most likely costing them a playoff appearance with a MVP year from Chase and Burrow. Horrible. The Bengals will probably need 35+ points the next two weeks in order to win.

Merry Christmas! Happy Who Dey to all.

I've been in favor of resigning Tee. I guess I still am. But its interesting that the heat/smoke as turned up about an extension when his production has fallen like a rock since the 21 and 22 seasons in which people thought he'd be in the upper tier of contracts. Its hard to say but 581 yards thus far isn't that hard to draft in the top 100. Not guaranteed but still not a stretch to replace. Even the big plays he produced with Jake last year have seem to disappear despite Burrow/Chase playing at league leading levels. He missed the KC,Balt, and Philly games. Two of those games went to the last play and are basically the season right now. I guess you'd have to ask "at what cost". Just about every talking head in the summer was predicting huge season for him and it just hasn't happened.

CeeDee Lambe TD over Hilton is just another installment of Lou getting his ass handed to him. Perfect example of how Lou is constantly beat via formation. What CB in the league would win that matchup vs an elite WR with no bump or safety help? The Cowboys clearly had a good guess of what coverage would be dialed up and put CeeDee in a spot that would beat any elite CB the majority of the time.

Kliff Kingsbury is the only guy I'd go after IF a change was were to be made. I wouldn't fuck around with Vrabel that couldn't get a team he built past the Chiefs/Bills/Bengals. Vrabel is unlikely to get the max out of Burrow/Chase. Screams Marvin Lewis in the playoffs.

Burrow and Chase would be a factor. Assuming that contract gets done. Its all about getting the most out of those two. So I'd automatically strike a line through any name that wasn't offensive focused. If Burrow has Zac's back, IMO you don't even approach the subject until next year.

Last year the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled into Cincinnati and broke some streak of not gaining 400 yards. A few weeks later the Vikings roll into town with some dude and he had a career day. Lou sold a bunch of bullshit that it was ALL Dax Hill's fault. Media bought into it much the same they thought Mixon was an issue. Bunch of clowns. A year later Russell Wilson comes into Cincinnati and set a career mark then the next week looks average at best at home vs. the Browns. Team's know what he is running and what route combos work best against his communications/coverage adjustments. His 2023/2024 level of defense achievement is near his 2019/2020 level. Ass horrible, IMO. 2021/2022 are the outliers and not really great season long defenses. He had a handful of great playoff/key games. Believe what you want. But the question is IF you believe its front office and talent. Why or how can you justify giving Lou another 3/4 new bodies and think something is going to change? Do both. Bring in new bodies AND let someone new coach them. I wouldn't waste another season on hoping Lou can create a defense worthy enough to compliment the offense.

There are multiple games in which the offense had too go for it on 4th and short. For fear the defense couldn't stop the other team. To double down, they had to throw the ball because they simply are not moving people off the ball. These failed plays cost them in two loses. Then they are on the wrong side of officiating this year. Have no idea why but its clear. These issues have cost them. Is it excuses for it all? I'd say it covers a lot of it. Its certainly not a stretch to make a case for being 7-3 or 8-2. The biggest blunder from front office is letting Mixon go which oddly enough was a popular move among Bengal fans. But yeah the front office failed the team? Some fans want to relive the 90s so bad.

What are you talking about? Half his starters were drafted by other teams. All have played better under him and other teams than they have this year. Lou's defenses ranked poorly with Jessie Bates. He just simply isn't getting it done. Rankin, Hill, Hendrickson, Hilton, Bell, Stone. Somehow adding these guys is football roster malpractice. WTF? Lou was going to be run out of town IF not for 2021 and 2022 that were average ranked defenses that included some great individual games. Thanks for that but its time to move on. You can't keep a defensive coordinator that scape goated safeties, give him safeties he loved the next year and still suffer the same fundamental break downs this team has. When you have a bad coach somehow they'll never have enough talent to succeed. Your handing him proven NFL starters and he fails with them and the conclusion he just needs more. Get his ass out of here, period end of story.

Fans that want to be stuck in the 90s will always be stuck there. Can't help them. However, its amazing the mental gymnastics that are done to convince themselves its 1999. Lol. 1st, yes there is plenty of evidence to justify moving on from Lou. He has legit NFL players on his unit. Is it enough to be ranked top 5? No. To carry a team? No. There's plenty of evidence to justify moving on from Pollack. He has legit NFL players on his unit. He probably actually has enough talent to have a top 10 line. However, its clear the offensive play calling has to be done with an assumption the D isn't stopping anyone in critical times and the line can't gain short yardage. I don't even know what the debate about is on message boards. Lou's defense SUCKED before the playoff runs. It has SUCKED after. To think he wasn't happy about the players they brought in is pure HINDSIGHT bullshit. Geno Stone was celebrated in some spots as the FA best move. Lou is a secondary coach and can't get 1st/2nd rounders to play better. These guys were all drafted in the range most thought or even considered steals. The days of giving Dick Lebeau Artrell Hawkins as your No. 1 CB for years are long gone.

Lou is a big problem. He's a secondary guy and he's had talent in that secondary from the start. He's always given up yards since being here. All that's happening now is he isn't getting the stops he got during his run that had media folks fawning over him as the next HC. He's not a Dick Lebeau. While all those dudes are gone they are replaced with high draft picks and Free Agents he favored. Lou is a huge problem.

Off topic: LSU gets to have a live Tiger on the sidelines. Must be nice to be a tiger.

Its hard for me to understand the Mike Brown crying. Sounds very Clevelandish with these very real situations. You can choose to believe Pat Mahomes could get hit in the head twice IN the same drive and not get one called. But I'd say the refs missed a bad face mask in a Vikings game resulting a loss. They clearly missed a Crosby late hit on Burrow and missed another in the latest Ravens game. Bengals are not getting these calls. Of course they choose to throw the flag on 4th and 16 in KC and somehow keep them in their pocket when a TE gets mugged at the LOS on a 2 point conversion. This was predictable and you can read as much in the KC post game thread. Sure you can be that fan that assumes it all evens out AND I don't blame officiating. OK, whatever. The law of averages have been against the Bengals so far this season IF you want to go that route. Does anyone really debate the chances of victory in key games this year have not been influenced by bad officiating? Anyone? Point being they could have 2 wins vs. the AFC top with a simple flip of ref calls. That's not a talent issue. That's typical NFL shit because they have SHIT officiating with a shit rule book. Which is nothing new at all. Its a decade long problem. Then a 3rd win was lost because a missed FG by a playoff MVP. Should they have not drafted Money Mac? Would he be unemployed if not for the Bengals? Same with Chase Brown. Bad fumble. Are the Bengals the only team that would roster and play him? Same theme, Lou has shit the bed with his ability to get these guys playing even. 2 halves you can hang with the Ravens. 2 2nd halves they can't. Lou used to be the opposite. There's some moves that haven't worked out so the front office isn't free and clear but its normal NFL error rate. I think its a talented team that choke in some points and others flat out got screwed by the refs. The 1999 team was not a few plays or bad calls away from being in contention for No. 1 seed. Fans are letting their emotions get the best of them and in part allowing the NFL to get away with a bad product.

1999? LOL. Nah, not buying any of that fan crying bullshit. There's plenty of changes for the better with this organization. This team is talented had some on field breakdowns from coaches and proven players. Refs have hurt them more this year. Injuries seem to be normal. IF you want to cry in your beer and wallow in your misery over something YOU CHOOSE to be a fan of.....at least choose a better year. I'd go with 1987. Talented team in 1987. Just a bunch of stuff going wrong at the wrong time turning a close win into a close loss. 1999 couldn't come close to anything post Marvin, sorry. That's a bad take.

Good luck to both the Anderson's on the ballot. Both are deserving and it would be a great summer to get both in the HOF the same year.

Not a whole lot of complaints from me. They have 3 solid road wins. `1 was taken away from them in KC, IMO. Need to notch that first home win this week. Really only concern is the Defense has given the offense at least 1 short field (sometimes multiple) in the last 4 games and I don't think they've scored a point from it. I'd have to check the Panthers game. But Ravens game cost them a win. Giants/Browns cost them more comfortable wins. 2 were FG misses. 1 Moss put the ball on the ground. I think a couple were sacks taken.

I will also say its amazing how many PIs the Bengals don't get. By the letter of the law the ones called on the Bengals secondary can be defended. However there a now a handful of instances of that same degree of officiating has not gone the other way. The picking up the flag vs. Browns is mind numbing. A the closest ref didn't throw a flag with a clear attempt to impeded the receiver because he was beat. The far side ref makes the call. Then I assume the closest ref over ruled. Criminal, IMO.

The biggest issue from the last 3 weeks is multiple times the Defense has handed the offense short fields either via TO or 4th down stop and they seemingly have come away with 0 points. Either missed FGs, TOs or whatever. Other than that it was a solid win, IMO.

Modell Law isn't an issue. The reality is any new ownership group to get approved will have to have a stadium plan. So if that is some Public entity they will need that money which is half a billion to 3 billion. Then they will need probably 6 or 7 billion to buy the team. That's before any legal issues. The bigger issue and fight will be the sin tax money. City already saying its theirs. But I'm sure county will fight that.