Good Riddance, 2006

[BZBot]

Another loss at home to the Steelers. Another failed kick at the end, one that would have put us in the playoffs. Another tragicomic tackling display with the game on the line.

Source: http://www.bengalszone.com/article.php?sid=515

[HoosierCat]

To recap—we had a 4,000 yard passer, a 1,300 yard rusher, two thousand yard receivers—and failed to make the playoffs. Didn’t even manage a winning season. We did become a national laughingstock off the field, however, so now, when the casual fan thinks about Cincinnati, he/she conjures not touchdowns but tasers, and guys puking out SUV windows. Nice.

I know I’m wading into choppy waters here, but when does the Marvin backlash begin? The arrests on their own call his performance into question, but then factor in the collapse down the stretch, the same old problems that have forever plagued the team (and that Marvin specifically was brought in to halt), and the criminal waste of an excellent season by a quarterback that many felt wouldn’t even play this year. I know he is lovable, and an enormous upgrade over the previous deadweight that walked the sideline, but that’s 3 8-8’s now out of four seasons, and this one was a serious backslide. Not calling for his ouster here, just putting him notice that the uncritical love-in that marked his first 3 seasons is no more.

A-yup. No matter how you slice 'n' dice things, this season ended up being a big step backwards. Even with all the injuries, and arrests, and suspensions, and Carson having to pull off a miraculous comeback, it was in the end the Bengals' poor play in the last three weeks that sunk their postseason hopes.

I think the bloom is off more than Marvin (and it clearly is off, if sentiments on this board are any indication). I think the offensive core of the team has earned a place under the microscope as well. I'm talking about Carson, Chad and Rudi.

Carson, by his own admission, did not play well this year. I agree. Both early and late in the season, his mechanics regressed. He got into a bad habit of throwing off his back foot, resulting in high throws like the one that was picked in the end zone early in the Denver game. Early in the year, he was saved several times by Chad and Henry, who went up to get those airballs, only to get anhilliated by a DB before their feet ever got back to the ground. That got Chad shaken up for a while, and caused a severe case of alligator arms to strike Henry. Palmer needs to buckle down this offseason and get back into form.

As for Chad and Rudi, neither looked like the '05 versions. Like Palmer, Chad too seemed to backslide. He reminded me of the 2004 Chad Johnson, the one from before the Cleveland game that year, where his poor performance caused him to buckle down and do extra time in practice with Carson to get their timing down. The dropped pass that hit him in the numbers in the Denver game summed it all up for me. And, of course, the whole IV/hydration/McDiet thing was back...again.

I remember a quote from Ray Lewis back in Corey Dillon's last year, when CD and Rudi were sharing time. Ray said he would rather face Corey than Rudi, because Rudi ran with more heart. Well, he may still be running with more heart, but he didn't seem to be running with much authority or decisiveness this season. Injuries likely played a part: the o-line was banged all to hell, and the loss of Chris Perry put even more weight on his shoulders. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't the gamebreaker we needed.

The funny thing is that you can't say any of them really played badly. All three put up gaudy numbers. Palmer went for 4k yards and way more TDs than picks, Chad set another record, Rudi reeled off another thousand-yard-plus season, etc. But when you are talking about three guys whom team management has signed to, what, more than $150 million in contracts, even play that rates very-good-to-excellent isn't good enough.

I guess that's why I'm being tougher on the offense right now, and not so much into the blame-the-D/fire Breshnahan mindset. Yes, the D stinks, and yes, Chuck should probably get the boot, but to expect anything more than mediocre play out of the Bengals D this season was foolish. The Bengals front office has long given the lion's share of money and cap space, as well as the choicest draft picks, to the offensive side of the ball. The D has had to make do with aging vets, other teams' castoffs, and assorted second- and third-tier talent. That finally began to change in 2005, when the Bengals spent two top picks on Pollack and Thurman...but we all know how that turned out. That set the defensive rebuild back at least a year.

So by all means, blow up the defense. It can't get much worse, right? But no matter what's done, it isn't likely this team is going to field a top 10 defense in 2007. Once again, it will come down to overpowering the other guy with offense while hoping the D can manage a stop here or turnover there. Strange as it may seem, what we need most is for the offense to elevate its play. They're still very good, but we are paying them to be something special. Yes, there's a lot under the microscope this offseason.

[walshfan]

palmer did throw off the back foot... Instead of stepping into his throws and risking a hit with his leg a position to take the impact uponn his knee... he babied the knee somewhat and rightfully so since it wasnt 100% no matter who says it was..

Next year should see him back to old form ...

[HoosierCat]

palmer did throw off the back foot... Instead of stepping into his throws and risking a hit with his leg a position to take the impact uponn his knee... he babied the knee somewhat and rightfully so since it wasnt 100% no matter who says it was..

Next year should see him back to old form ...

I expect that, too. The only thing that worries me a bit is that, after looking mechanically poor early in the year, Carson seemed to correct the problem, and looked much better through midseason. Then he got beat to crap in the Indy game (to the point of all the talk about a possible shoulder injury) and after that slipped back into bad form again. That suggests to me that he may have been spooked by the hits he took against Indy, that the knee injury got back into his head again. Or at least that he lost confidence in the o-line again. But he got pretty good protection against Pitt...I dunno. My bet is he works his way through it eventually. No surprise it still haunts him, I suppose. If I had my leg basically ripped off I'd remember it, too.

[membengal]

Dunno, Hoosier, I simply cannot get behind a thesis that puts blame on an offense that was 4th in the NFL. If you had told me back in August, that Carson would play all year and the Bengals would come in 4th in the NFL in offense, I would not have been alone in dancing with glee.

31st ranked defense. If they are merely, say, 20th or so, I bet they win a few more games. It's still on the defense. It's eternally on the defense. Someday the defense around here has to be good enough that the offense doesn't have to be perfect to win. Twice the offense handed the defense a 4th quarter lead on Sunday at home with the playoffs on the line, twice the defense choked it away. The SD game...etc., etc., etc. For me, this team is in neutral until that is fixed.

I would expect the mechanical stuff that people are fixating on for our Pro Bowl quarterback will go away when he has, I dunno, an actual off-season to focus on that stuff again instead of the executing one of the more remarkable rehabs anyone has ever seen. Make no mistake, none, until the defense finds guys with talent and drive to match what Palmer has (and CJ for that matter), I can never ever see spending a moments time blaming them for the shortcomings of this team.

It remains the defense. And that's on Marvin.

[HoosierCat]

31st ranked defense. If they are merely, say, 20th or so, I bet they win a few more games.

I bet they do, too. But if you want a 20th-ranked D, you have to put more into it than an over-the-hill vet here or a fourth-round pick there. They finallly began trying to do so in '05 with the Pollack and Thurman selections, only to have both picks fizzle. To complain now that Breshnahan couldn't build a near-average defense with the detrius that was left is, to my mind, like complaining about how your driver lost the Indy 500 after you put him out there on a riding mower.

FWIW, Hobson noticed the same thing in his year in review piece today. Among his six most disappointing things is the offense, but not the D...

4. The Offense: Except for a midseason stretch, it never looked close to last year and you can blame injuries starting with Palmer, the offensive line, and wide receiver but that didn’t stop them from flexing their muscles in mid-November in a big five-game stretch.

Yet to come out and score 13 points each against New England and Tampa Bay, go one for 10 on third down in Baltimore, get only 112 yards rushing against the Colts and their NFL-worst run defense, and manage just 17 points against the Steelers a week after Baltimore piled it up on them, well, this offense is supposed to be much better than that.

[Spor_tees]

31st ranked defense. If they are merely, say, 20th or so, I bet they win a few more games.

I bet they do, too. But if you want a 20th-ranked D, you have to put more into it than an over-the-hill vet here or a fourth-round pick there. They finallly began trying to do so in '05 with the Pollack and Thurman selections, only to have both picks fizzle. To complain now that Breshnahan couldn't build a near-average defense with the detrius that was left is, to my mind, like complaining about how your driver lost the Indy 500 after you put him out there on a riding mower.

FWIW, Hobson noticed the same thing in his year in review piece today. Among his six most disappointing things is the offense, but not the D...

4. The Offense: Except for a midseason stretch, it never looked close to last year and you can blame injuries starting with Palmer, the offensive line, and wide receiver but that didn’t stop them from flexing their muscles in mid-November in a big five-game stretch.

Yet to come out and score 13 points each against New England and Tampa Bay, go one for 10 on third down in Baltimore, get only 112 yards rushing against the Colts and their NFL-worst run defense, and manage just 17 points against the Steelers a week after Baltimore piled it up on them, well, this offense is supposed to be much better than that.

You say that Bresh has had nothing but debris to work with...but tell me the draft places of all the guys on defense...and the guys that weren't drafted high, how many have gone to Pro-Bowls? From what I have seen, the lowest draft pick of a starter is the 4th round in Peko. The rest of the guys like Miller, Geathers and Landon (Thirds), Justin Smith, Simmons, and Joseph (Firsts), Madieu (Second), and the rest were free agents Sam Adams (former first and Pro Bowler), Deltha (Pro Bowler), Dexter(Super Bowl MVP).

So how is that debris to work with?

[HoosierCat]

You say that Bresh has had nothing but debris to work with...but tell me the draft places of all the guys on defense...and the guys that weren't drafted high, how many have gone to Pro-Bowls? From what I have seen, the lowest draft pick of a starter is the 4th round in Peko. The rest of the guys like Miller, Geathers and Landon (Thirds), Justin Smith, Simmons, and Joseph (Firsts), Madieu (Second), and the rest were free agents Sam Adams (former first and Pro Bowler), Deltha (Pro Bowler), Dexter(Super Bowl MVP).

So how is that debris to work with?

Oh,please. Have you been paying attention?

Miller and Landon are not starting-caliber NFL linebackers. Solid depth and special team types, but that's all.

Geathers flopped as a starter in '05. He came on when they let him slim down and go back to rushing the passer, and will likely get another crack at starting DE in '07. He's one of the few potential winners on the roster.

Justin Smith? That ground has been well-plowed. Solid starter but another non-impact guy.

Simmons? Running out of gas. Missed the better part of 7 games with injuries.

Adams? Benched and cut by the Bills. O'Neal? Benched and traded by the Broncos.

Dexter? Cut by multiple teams, routinely injured throughout his career, just like this season.

Peko? 4th round rook. Another promising youngster but if you were expecting pro bowl caliber play in year 1 you're nuts.

Madieu? Year 3 performance didn't approach his year 1 numbers, missed year 2 with injury. Jury remains out.

I notice you don't mention B-rob or Tory, two more creaky seniors who wouldn't be starting anyplace else.

Garbage in, garbage out.

[HairOnFire]

Put me in the camp that was far more disappointed by the Bengals offense. Argue all you want about if the defense has the talent to compete, but this team is built around the offensive side of the ball, and when it came time to step up most the Bengals offensive stars choked, the special teams collapsed, and the defense was in no position to win games when those units were faltering. There's no sweet talking that fact.

My head tells me that there are plenty of factors that reduced this years offensive production, and the optimist in me wants to embrace the idea that the laundry list of 2006 negatives aren't likely to be repeated. So I've got that going for me. But it's the way the Bengals continue to show a lack of maturity that rankles me the most, and I've got plenty of doubts that things will change very much.

After all, the players who disappointed us the most have plenty of offensive stats to point to whenever their heart is questioned.