The Bengals Fatal Flaw

[jjakq27]

I came across this statement in a recent article on Bengals.com about Paul Brown's 100th Birthday a few weeks ago. It made it rather obvious that Mike Brown has taken his father's mantra to heart and uses it to direct the franchise. Looking at the amount of money spent on the offense during the last decade proves that. It also reinforces the perception that the Bengals are a finesse franchise and offense oriented first.

However, several of Brown's disciples did not necessarily buy into his thinking completely. Look at the Steelers and the Dolphins of the 1970's. They were largely successful because of their defense and strong running games. Fast forward to the Ravens of 2000. Same thing. It's not glamorous but it wins games. Bill Walsh developed the West Coast offense and stated that they used swing passes and screens in place of draw plays and viewed them as just long handoffs. Thus you might say that the WCO was kind of a run oriented offense as well.

I can only imagine that this is some of the root of Marvin's frustration about being able to duplicate what was done in Pittsburgh and Baltimore during his tenure there. I think they tried to ride this offense without moving the team towards being more defense oriented like he wants. Perhaps some of the moves on offense (Willie and Rudi) were an attempt to balance the salary structure on both sides of the ball. Keith Rivers and Mike Zimmer are steps in the right direction but is this season a wash-out until we bring in an upgrade of telent on defense?

"Brown loved his quarterbacks. Ever since Otto Graham got him to 10 league title games in Cleveland, and Kenny Anderson and Boomer Esiason each led the Bengals to a Super Bowl.

"P.B. would have loved Carson because of all the things he could have done with him in his offense," says Dave Lapham, the Bengals radio analyst who played for Brown.

The Bengals have had Corey Dillon and James Brooks and Rudi Johnson, but it's always been a pass-first, score-now franchise. Paul Brown would tell you "Fire and fall back," and Mike Brown says to this day, "In order to win in this league you have to score and you have to pass the ball. ... What my father was doing in Cleveland in the passing game had never really been tried. Putting three receivers on the field and spreading the defense. No question he really would have liked Carson."

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=7011

[COB]

and Mike Brown says to this day, "In order to win in this league you have to score and you have to pass the ball.

I'm curious as to who asked Mike Brown the question that lead to this quote. Kind of like asking Captain Edward John Smith what it takes to pilot an ocean liner across the Atlantic.

[jjakq27]

and Mike Brown says to this day, "In order to win in this league you have to score and you have to pass the ball.

I'm curious as to who asked Mike Brown the question that lead to this quote. Kind of like asking Captain Edward John Smith what it takes to pilot an ocean liner across the Atlantic.

I can only guess that it was Geoff Hobson.

[COB]

I can only guess that it was Geoff Hobson.

Ah yes, Geoff Hobson. In another life, he likely found employment in the PR department of the White Star Line. His last interview went something like this:

Hobson: "Captain Smith, what does it take to pilot this greatest of ships, HMS Titantic, across the Atlantic?"

Captain Smith: "Well son, it takes... (pauses, looks barely concerned as huge iceberg rends hull) ... as I was saying, it takes experience."

Hobson: "Sir, First Mate Lewis just screamed that too many compartments are filling with water. What will you do sir?"

Captain Smith: "We've got to get the oxcart out of the ditch. We've hit a rough patch, but we've just got to keep pushing."

Hobson: (Asked as they both climb into lifeboat) "Captain Smith, this lifeboat doesn't look seaworthy. Will we survive?"

Captain Smith: "We'll be fine. I found an economical vendor, Luminaritti Boats, that built us these no-frills lifeboats for half the price other vendors quoted. That's right, you can rest easy. It's a Lumina."

Hobson: (Asked as they both drown) "Captain Smith, what's the next move?"

Captain Smith: "After this quick tour of Davy Jones' locker, courtesy of the always generous White Star Line, I'm certain we'll ease our ship into port in a day or two. (Both are sucked into the vortex as the stern of the Titanic heads for the bottom) See there, we'll be reboarding in a moment."

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

and Mike Brown says to this day, "In order to win in this league you have to score and you have to pass the ball.

I'm curious as to who asked Mike Brown the question that lead to this quote. Kind of like asking Captain Edward John Smith what it takes to pilot an ocean liner across the Atlantic.

Yeah, my head pretty much exploded when I read that.