BOTTOM LINE....THE BALL HAS NOT BOUNCED OUR WAY

[schnarfer]

The difference between winning with a good team and losing is as simple as how the ball bounces. Last year we seemed to always be in the right place at the right time to give us more opportunities. This year we just seem to part of bad luck and bad bouces. This yteam is every bit as talented as anyother team in the NFL. We have lost 3 games all by less than a touchdown. We could and should have won thse games if the ball bounces our way on a couple of plays. The NFL is a funny bird. Just a couple of inches can win or lose a game. If we play our game and get those bounces we can win out. Impossible? No. Improbable? We'll se!

Here is to having a positive atitude until we are officially eliminated!!

WHO DEY

[HoosierCat]

It never hurts to have a little (or a lot of) luck when it comes to turnovers, but IMHO that's only a small part of why the Bengals have not lived up to our offseason/preseason hopes.

Remember back. Those hopes were predicated on a few things happening, not all of which have.

On defense, for example, any improvements were built around the following things happening: Odell and Pollack continuing to improve at LB; Dexter being an upgrade over Olahete at SS; and the middle of the line stiffening up with the addition of Big Sam. As it turns out, Odell and Pollack were gone before they could begin, Dexter has missed 3 of 8 games so far, and Sam has been what I feared he would be: another minimally effective aging vet DT like we always sign.

On offense, of course, all our hopes rested on Carson Palmer coming back at something like his 2005 self. He hasn't. He isnt bad, and he certainly remains a better option than any other QB on the roster, but these days he's "merely" good. How much of that is due to the knee and how much is due to the shattered o-line I dunno, but there it is.

On defense, FWIW I like Chick Ludwig's suggestions in the DDN today: put Joseph in as starter in place of Tory James (something that's been called for here a lot) and yank Fat Sam in favor of Peko, which strikes me as falling in the "what the heck, can't hurt" category.