Cool Cat

[blaynero]

It sounds like CP is ready for the season this year. He is definitely going to be one cool cat next year. I don't think that we have to worry about him getting raddled at all. I have no doubt about how good they say he is but I hope he is actually that much better. Let me know what you think about the Bengals Cool Cat.

[Tiger Stripes]

i think CP wil be fine next year! :player:

[Barbarian]

It sounds like CP is ready for the season this year. He is definitely going to be one cool cat next year. I don't think that we have to worry about him getting raddled at all. I have no doubt about how good they say he is but I hope he is actually that much better. Let me know what you think about the Bengals Cool Cat.

Guys, don't allow yourselves to get disappointed next year. Palmer is going to have a rough time for the first several games.

I think he's going to need more time--hopefully, good ole Mikey-boy doesn't call down to Marvin demanding that Carson gets pulled in favor of Kitna. That would be a mistake. Hopefully, Carson doesn't do a "Drew Brees" and gets jerked in 8 games--that would be a big boo-boo. I hope Carson doesn't get Bungle-ized.

Carson needs time to develop. Give him a couple of years--then we'll see.

[BengalsDieHard1]

Note to Barbarian:

optimism:

SYLLABICATION: op·ti·mism

PRONUNCIATION: AUDIO: pt-mzm KEY

NOUN: 1. A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation

Barring an injury I'll bet money that the Bengals, with CP at the helm, will win at least 9 games this year.

[HoosierCat]

No optimism necessary, just realism. You can look at examples from Trent Green to Tom Brady to Chad Pennington and get a feel for how our second-year rook will perform: just fine. His real challenge isn't that, it's matching some of Kitna's exceptional performances, which allowed the team to win despite a p*ss-poor D. Hopefully, the D will step up and relieve the pressure, but if not...

[Bobcat Bengal]

Guys, don't allow yourselves to get disappointed next year. Palmer is going to have a rough time for the first several games.

I think he's going to need more time--hopefully, good ole Mikey-boy doesn't call down to Marvin demanding that Carson gets pulled in favor of Kitna. That would be a mistake. Hopefully, Carson doesn't do a "Drew Brees" and gets jerked in 8 games--that would be a big boo-boo. I hope Carson doesn't get Bungle-ized.

Carson needs time to develop. Give him a couple of years--then we'll see.

yo, if Kitna can go 0-4 to start the season, Im thinking that Carson will get some kind of leeway. I think coach lewis wouldnt put him in, only to yank him out for his first mistake..that wouldnt be fair to carson either.....that would be bungel all the way.....hes in a great situation for ANY QB to be in, much less a rookie......the running game will take precendence so were not relying on Carson to win games for us....I'd be mad if Coach Lewis started yanking him out.....but I also Understand that Coach Lewis is in a bind, we really must win games, and the playoffs are considered realistic, as opposed in the past.....

Anyway, I cant wait for the start of the season....I cant wait until pre season actually....

[Bobcat Bengal]

...that would be bungel all the way....

haha....i cant even spell bungel.....

Barbarian, help me out on this one...

[BengalszoneBilly]

Carson will handle the pressure better than most QB"s starting their first season for this reasons:

His year spent on the sidelines watching how Kitna did or didn't handle pressure at any given time, and how that could translate to his ablilities and what he would have done. And I will say this. Palmer WILL NOT EAT THE BALL AS MUCH AS JON DID! Jon's ability to get rid of the ball and not take a sack was marginal.

The films I've seen of Carson at U.S.C. showed me a QB that was always cognizent of the pressure, where it was coming from, and most of all...how much time he had until he HAD to get rid of the ball, wheather it was to a reciever, or to just throw it out of bounds. The PAC 10 is no wussy college division to play in. Most of the offenses and defense's run setups that closely resemble the pros.

He won't be stepping into a different element, just a better one!

[kevnz]

I don't expect Carson to have a problem to begin with...If he struggles, it will be later in the season when the pressure of competing for the division and a playoff spot start to creep into his head, or if heaven forbid Chad get's hurt...But really, why would he struggle? Could he be worse than Kitna when Kitna was having a bad game?I think the world of Kitna, but when he was bad, he was BAD. Carson is a smart QB, and has the physical and mental tools to suceed. And the ringing endorsement that the last great QB this team had sold me on him even before the team drafted him...Boomer absolutely loves Palmer as a QB, was over the moon when the Bengals drafted him, and that should say something right there.

[Barbarian]

I don't expect Carson to have a problem to begin with...If he struggles, it will be later in the season when the pressure of competing for the division and a playoff spot start to creep into his head, or if heaven forbid Chad get's hurt...But really, why would he struggle? Could he be worse than Kitna when Kitna was having a bad game?I think the world of Kitna, but when he was bad, he was BAD. Carson is a smart QB, and has the physical and mental tools to suceed. And the ringing endorsement that the last great QB this team had sold me on him even before the team drafted him...Boomer absolutely loves Palmer as a QB, was over the moon when the Bengals drafted him, and that should say something right there.

Not expecting problems???

Dude, even Montana, Elway, Marino, and Manning ALL had problems early in their careers.

Quit homering out here, man.

[kevnz]

Not expecting problems???

Dude, even Montana, Elway, Marino, and Manning ALL had problems early in their careers.

Quit homering out here, man.

Oh, I expect Carson to have problems, just not his first few games...didn't you read my whole post? Also, I expect Coach Lewis to make sure that Brat and Zampese ease Palmer into the offensive plays...But you comparison is slightly flawed look at Tom Brady...Did he struggle when he was put into the Patriots lineup a few years ago? He wishes he had the tools that Carson has, or for that matter the WR's, or RB's that Carson has....none of those QB's you mentioned had the privlage of starting out throwing to a gamebreaking WR, and an excellent possession WR, plus the running game that Carson is gonna have....The key thing with Palmer is to make sure they don't put him in a situation to stumble early on....

[Arizona]

this isn't trash talk, but your running game isn't going to be that good. Rudi is an above average back, but it isn't the same as having a preist holmes, LT, or Jamal Lewis in the backfield.

Although, I must admit I am envious of the receiver talent. Poor Boller.

[kevnz]

this isn't trash talk, but your running game isn't going to be that good. Rudi is an above average back, but it isn't the same as having a preist holmes, LT, or Jamal Lewis in the backfield.

Although, I must admit I am envious of the receiver talent. Poor Boller.

Rudi is an above average back, you add in the fact we have a recieving corp that can stretch the field, and a QB to take advantage of that, teams will not be able to focus heavily on shutting down Rudi, and he'll get his numbers. our offense doesn't need one running back to put up the kinda numbers of Holmes, LT or Jamal Lewis...And really, if you look at the teams those guys play for, none of them hoisted up the Lombardi this past season, so what does it matter?

You do need a good running attack to win in this league, but you don't need a great back any longer.

Poor Boeller? You can say that again....The worst thing for him though, is the fact that as soon as there are problems, I wouldn't be surprised to see his team mutiny against him in favor of Wright ( you know a good portion of the fans will), cause I don't see Wright trying to stop it. But if Palmer is in that situation, Kit would do everything in his power to stop it...And that really sucks for him.

[Barbarian]

this isn't trash talk, but your running game isn't going to be that good.  Rudi is an above average back, but it isn't the same as having a preist holmes, LT, or Jamal Lewis in the backfield.

Although, I must admit I am envious of the receiver talent.  Poor Boller.

Rudi is an above average back, you add in the fact we have a recieving corp that can stretch the field, and a QB to take advantage of that, teams will not be able to focus heavily on shutting down Rudi, and he'll get his numbers. our offense doesn't need one running back to put up the kinda numbers of Holmes, LT or Jamal Lewis...And really, if you look at the teams those guys play for, none of them hoisted up the Lombardi this past season, so what does it matter?

You do need a good running attack to win in this league, but you don't need a great back any longer.

Poor Boeller? You can say that again....The worst thing for him though, is the fact that as soon as there are problems, I wouldn't be surprised to see his team mutiny against him in favor of Wright ( you know a good portion of the fans will), cause I don't see Wright trying to stop it. But if Palmer is in that situation, Kit would do everything in his power to stop it...And that really sucks for him.

I don't know, Kev. I think you're putting too much faith in Rudi.

I've got to agree with Arizona (for once).

Other than 3 good games against terrible run defenses, Rudi is still unproven. Isn't that why Marvin Lewis kept on trying to sneak Corey Dillon back in the lineup???

I would think so. Lewis knew that Dillon was that more talented than Rudi.

[halp]

YO BARB.............are you the consumate contrarian? the only way for you to go is UP. and quite frankly sometimes that's not bad because you don't get LET DOWN. think i understand you better now, even though i don't agree w/ you most of the time. smile, be thankful we're still breathing and keep it coming.

[Arizona]

I would agree with the assessment that your passing game will open up your running game, if you were starting a qb with any experience. Palmer's inexperience means that the passing game will not be as good as it was with Kitna, therefore other teams will have to spend less energy worrying about the pass.

[Bobcat Bengal]

I would agree with the assessment that your passing game will open up your running game, if you were starting a qb with any experience. Palmer's inexperience means that the passing game will not be as good as it was with Kitna, therefore other teams will have to spend less energy worrying about the pass.

at least not right away....

And as Coach Lewis said, it stretches the field more, and makes the defenses more wary of the ability to throw the long ball....

[Tiger Stripes]

Rudi rushed for 957 or so yards and shared the rock with corey this year rudi has sole posession and he'll break 1000 yards so i dont see how anybody can call the running game not that good? and rudi is still a kid at like what 24 years old?

[jjakq27]

I would agree with the assessment that your passing game will open up your running game, if you were starting a qb with any experience. Palmer's inexperience means that the passing game will not be as good as it was with Kitna, therefore other teams will have to spend less energy worrying about the pass.

With Kitna's limited arm strength, anything beyond 40 was not in the D's gameplan anyway, so I call it a wash. Kitna's brains vs. Palmer's potential and talent.

Just remember the first few weeks of the season when many of us wanted Kitna gone. It's not like we are replacing Steve McNair or something.

[redsfan2]

Just remember the first few weeks of the season when many of us wanted Kitna gone. It's not like we are replacing Steve McNair or something.

Ya know ..... I was waiting for somebody to bring this up. The same Carson Palmer that a lot of folks were screaming for last year is the same one that a lot of folks are having butterflies over starting this year .............. and he's had a year to learn the offense.

Seems to me he's learned all he can from watching and now it's time for him to take the game to the next level by doing. He's got to get on the field and put to practice what he's been taught from the sideline. He's going to have a few bumps. Acouple of safeties and lb's are going to whack him ..... so what ??? It's football, and it's not like he's Eli or anything. He'll do well. He won't go to the pro bowl, but he won't go Leaf on us either.

He's had his year to watch .... give him his year of ojt, and those who used '05 in their signatures are going to look like prophets.

[Barbarian]

Just remember the first few weeks of the season when many of us wanted Kitna gone.  It's not like we are replacing Steve McNair or something.

Ya know ..... I was waiting for somebody to bring this up. The same Carson Palmer that a lot of folks were screaming for last year is the same one that a lot of folks are having butterflies over starting this year .............. and he's had a year to learn the offense.

Seems to me he's learned all he can from watching and now it's time for him to take the game to the next level by doing. He's got to get on the field and put to practice what he's been taught from the sideline. He's going to have a few bumps. Acouple of safeties and lb's are going to whack him ..... so what ??? It's football, and it's not like he's Eli or anything. He'll do well. He won't go to the pro bowl, but he won't go Leaf on us either.

He's had his year to watch .... give him his year of ojt, and those who used '05 in their signatures are going to look like prophets.

"but he won't go Leaf on us either"--how do you know??? Ryan Leaf DID hold out of training camp, but he didn't start "going Leaf" until he started to feel the pressures of the regular season games.

So, how do you know that Carson isn't going to fall flat on his ass???

And with the season that Kitna had last year, why not shelf Palmer for one more season???

Starting Palmer this year has Mike Brown written all over it.

[jjakq27]

And with the season that Kitna had last year, why not shelf Palmer for one more season???

Starting Palmer this year has Mike Brown written all over it.

There 15 million reasons...and each one has a "$" in front of it.

And I guess if he doesn't do well, it'll be Mike's fault and if he has some success it'll be Marvin's great idea?

[HoosierCat]

And with the season that Kitna had last year, why not shelf Palmer for one more season???

Or, on the other hand, with the year Kitna had last year, why not start Palmer? Aren't you the one insisting that their "mediocre" 8-8 record doesn't prove anything and they're still "Bungles"? Well, as I've pointed out numerous times before, the most direct correlation between the Bengals' winning and losing last year was the good or bad performance of one Jon Kitna. The defense averaged almost exactly the same number of points allowed in our 8 wins versus our 8 losses; however the offense scored something like 30 points, on average, in our 8 wins versus about 13 in our 8 losses. In the 8 wins, Kit was something like 10 to 1 TDs vs INTs, in the 8 losses he was around 2 to 1 INTs to TDs.

So, how do you know that Carson isn't going to fall flat on his ass???

How do you know that Kitna would get any better? "Mediocre," you keep telling us, isn't good enough, and Jon was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) reason we were "mediocre" last season. In fact, history argues he'll slip: he led Seattle to the playoffs in 1999 with a 23 TD, 16 INT performance -- then the Hags went 6-10 the following year while he threw 19 INTs to 18 TDs.

Starting Palmer this year has Mike Brown written all over it.

Starting Palmer makes sense both financially and in football terms. By the time Palmer lines up behind center against the Jets this fall, he will have had the equivalent of three training camps' worth of snaps (thanks to all the extra camps Marvin got as a rookie coach) as well as time in some/all of 8 preseason games. With the likes of Lewis, Zampese and Kitna around, he has coaching/mentoring that's second to none in the league. He has a Pro Bowl WR and a solid wideout corps to throw to, a solid RB with a first round pick for depth -- and a bulldozing FB -- to take the pressure off the passing game, and the best offensive line the Bengals have fielded in many a long season. In short (too late) unlike most rookie QBs, who get thrown into the fire on crappy teams, Palmer is stepping into a rookie QB's dream scenario. There is absolutely no reason to expect failure and every reason to expect at least modest success. As for the greatness...it'll come.

[redsfan2]

"but he won't go Leaf on us either"--how do you know??? Ryan Leaf DID hold out of training camp, but he didn't start "going Leaf" until he started to feel the pressures of the regular season games.

So, how do you know that Carson isn't going to fall flat on his ass???

And with the season that Kitna had last year, why not shelf Palmer for one more season???

Starting Palmer this year has Mike Brown written all over it.

[redsfan2]

And with the season that Kitna had last year, why not shelf Palmer for one more season???

Or, on the other hand, with the year Kitna had last year, why not start Palmer? Aren't you the one insisting that their "mediocre" 8-8 record doesn't prove anything and they're still "Bungles"? Well, as I've pointed out numerous times before, the most direct correlation between the Bengals' winning and losing last year was the good or bad performance of one Jon Kitna. The defense averaged almost exactly the same number of points allowed in our 8 wins versus our 8 losses; however the offense scored something like 30 points, on average, in our 8 wins versus about 13 in our 8 losses. In the 8 wins, Kit was something like 10 to 1 TDs vs INTs, in the 8 losses he was around 2 to 1 INTs to TDs.

So, how do you know that Carson isn't going to fall flat on his ass???

How do you know that Kitna would get any better? "Mediocre," you keep telling us, isn't good enough, and Jon was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) reason we were "mediocre" last season. In fact, history argues he'll slip: he led Seattle to the playoffs in 1999 with a 23 TD, 16 INT performance -- then the Hags went 6-10 the following year while he threw 19 INTs to 18 TDs.

Starting Palmer this year has Mike Brown written all over it.

Starting Palmer makes sense both financially and in football terms. By the time Palmer lines up behind center against the Jets this fall, he will have had the equivalent of three training camps' worth of snaps (thanks to all the extra camps Marvin got as a rookie coach) as well as time in some/all of 8 preseason games. With the likes of Lewis, Zampese and Kitna around, he has coaching/mentoring that's second to none in the league. He has a Pro Bowl WR and a solid wideout corps to throw to, a solid RB with a first round pick for depth -- and a bulldozing FB -- to take the pressure off the passing game, and the best offensive line the Bengals have fielded in many a long season. In short (too late) unlike most rookie QBs, who get thrown into the fire on crappy teams, Palmer is stepping into a rookie QB's dream scenario. There is absolutely no reason to expect failure and every reason to expect at least modest success. As for the greatness...it'll come.

Once again, we're posting basically the same thing within 4 minutes of each other. I'm just going to go back to quoting you and adding ' Yeah. What he said "

The only thing I would take slight exception with ( like last time ) is the notion that Kitna was to blame in the losses. I still think it had more to do with the poor performance of the O line than anything else. Some better play calling wouldn't have hurt either ...... but that's another topic.