Seriously, did ANYONE think this team would be 0-8?

[kingwilly]

I am not sure about the rest of you but I sincerely could not imagine a scenario where this teamwould really be this bad.

Even with Carson being out, the thought was the team would be manageable, a-la-Kitna.

Fitz-suck-a-lot makes Kitna look like Steve Young.

This Defense, the one with new-found fangs and the new DefCoord with bite...well, they bite alright.

Nothing...NOTHING even approaching this level of suckiness entered into my mind.

[COB]

Agreed, I figured 6 or 7 wins, and some close losses. We've got the close losses, but no wins and now we're getting blown out.

Maybe Mike Brown will come out of hiding and describe for us the oxcart/ditch machinations that must take place for this thing to be turned around. Turn it around all you want, we've already hit the iceberg and we're going down.

[membengal]

I had 'em at 7-9, but said that worse case was 3-13. So, I guess I figured they would stumble into a win at some point.

You have to work really hard to be this bad.

[preyer]

i spent the day sickern' a dog, so i was in and out of consciousness all afternoon, just rolling over every now and then to see what the score was and catch a couple of plays here and there.

i didn't miss much, huh.

my impression was that while they never got any momentum at all, it was the fourth quarter where they really fell apart. i rather expected palmer part duex to get some snaps in the end. i mean, why not?

at one point early on i figured the bengals to get five wins. i thought they'd beat the texans at least! what happened to the D? seemed they played sloppy, lazy, uninspired ball.

in my daze, i thought i heard boomer say afterwards that the team had given up on marvin lewis. then something about these guys wearing the uniform and getting paid to do a job, to mean that there was no excuse for playing the way they did.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Well that's two weeks in a row they collapsed in the 2nd half and lost by 28+ points. But today's game was over quick as soon as it was 21-6.

No NFL team should be this bad even with it's #2. It's just a repeat of the long losing cycle here, this team resembles the mid-early 90's and 99-2002 teams.

[GregCook]

Well that's two weeks in a row they collapsed in the 2nd half and lost by 28+ points. But today's game was over quick as soon as it was 21-6.

No NFL team should be this bad even with it's #2. It's just a repeat of the long losing cycle here, this team resembles the mid-early 90's and 99-2002 teams.

I think I had them 5-11, wildly generous. Now, best case in my mind is 2 wins, possibly Baltimore and KC, both home games.

But 0-16 is also a decent bet.

Thing is, given the state of Marvin's now apparent to all poor drafting over the years, I don't see much improvement next year except in one key area. The schedule should be kinder.

[HoosierCat]

No one saw this coming. And even the loss of Palmer doesn't explain it, since they weren't winning with him in there, either. The D is about what I expected (a work in progress) but the O is a disaster. I have never before seen a unit crumble in such a fashion.

[Ickey44]

I had them at 6-10. I thought the offense would gel and get better with Loco Cinco and TJ missing most of the preseason, but I guess I forgot to factor in the total LACK of an offensive line that will not let the team run OR pass....

[Pidge]

Nope. I had them going 6-10 to 8-8 (if they played well). Credit to them, they're surpassing all our expectations.

[HoTbOy]

All I can say is NO this is a total surprise...I thought the D would be better than what they are, but they still get NO pressure and the D still can't cover, so I don't see anything different than what we had with other D-Coordinators and our once powerful offense is a train wreck...I thought they would have had a least 3-4 wins...WE SUCK

[TJJackson]

well, I called them at 4-12 or 3-13 after preseason game 4......clearly, I was much too optimistic

[chrishcovga]

When I first saw the schedule I said, we could (With Palmer, Rudi, Willie Anderson,) that we could get 9 to 10 wins. Then I saw them in Preseason and said. 6-10. Then I saw the Ravens game, and I figured 4-12 at best. Then I saw the Texans game, and I'm going to say it.

THE 2008 CINCINNATI BENGALS WILL BE THE FIRST NFL TEAM IN NFL HISTORY TO GO 0-16. WE WILL NOT WIN A SINGLE GAME THIS YEAR. YOU CAN WRITE IT DOWN. IT'S A GUARANTEE.

[Pidge]

well, I called them at 4-12 or 3-13 after preseason game 4......clearly, I was much too optimistic

Yep. Still, a good shout. I thought we'd go about 8-8 maybe and there are zero PS games shown over here but yeah, after the first couple of games - it was over. This team lacks talent in many areas, experience in many areas and application in most areas. Thrown in a complete lack of direction from the coaches or even at the upper management levels and voila. The '08 Bengals.

We're watching history here folks.

[HoTbOy]

I don't want to watch history, I want to watch a victory...

[Ickey44]

I don't want to watch history, I want to watch a victory...

You should probably watch another game this weekend then....

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Thing is, given the state of Marvin's now apparent to all poor drafting over the years...

"Credit" where credit's due, it should be fairly apparent by this point that Marvin has little control over personnel. If he did, neither Stinko nor Henry would be here.

I've never thought Marvin was a fantastic coach necessarily, but I don't blame him for even 20% of this mess.

[gregstephens]

Thing is, given the state of Marvin's now apparent to all poor drafting over the years...

"Credit" where credit's due, it should be fairly apparent by this point that Marvin has little control over personnel. If he did, neither Stinko nor Henry would be here.

I've never thought Marvin was a fantastic coach necessarily, but I don't blame him for even 20% of this mess.

See, I don't have enough accurate info to determine how much ML is to blame. For me, it all goes back to the wild card game in January, 2006. What really happened there? What did ML try to get down about what really happened? How much did SoP buck him on that situation? How much input is ML having as to which coaches to keep and/or fire?

The answers to these and other similar questions would enable me to better assign a blame value to ML.

[HoTbOy]

I don't want to watch history, I want to watch a victory...

You should probably watch another game this weekend then....

[BengalszoneBilly]

Personally I did not, but then again I didn't see the release of Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson, nor the elbow injury to Carson Palmer.

[membengal]

Is Willie playing in Baltimore? No, not that I am aware of.

Is Rudi doing anything but sucking for a winless Detroit team? No.

This team was the suck with or without those players.

Just sayin'.

[HoosierCat]

Is Willie playing in Baltimore? No, not that I am aware of.

Uh, actually he has started the last three games.

Is Rudi doing anything but sucking for a winless Detroit team? No.

Ehhh...he's been used mostly in a reserve role. Combined rushing and receiving, he has 62 touches for 260 yards and a pair of TDs. OK numbers for the job he's got.

This team was the suck with or without those players.

Probably true. I have to wonder, though, how much of the decision to cut them was Marvin's...and how much was just the Bengals being cheap.

[membengal]

Good for Willie, honestly had no idea (apathy).

Getting rid of him was probably a mistake. Getting rid of Rudi? Not so much.

[gregstephens]

Good for Willie, honestly had no idea (apathy).

Getting rid of him was probably a mistake. Getting rid of Rudi? Not so much.

I'm not sure I agree on Rudi. I think we should have at least given him a shot to see how he'd recovered from his injuries. He was a fairly stable lockerroom presence, and I think the team cutting him AND Willie hurt the leadership and morale of the offense. He couldn't have been any worse than Perry, probably not worse than Benson given this o-line. Of course, all of this is hindsight.

[fattyjay]

Well in answer to the title, I would say that the Bengals themselves apparently thought things could be this bad. How else do they explain going 0-8 with vitually no roster moves of significance and no coaching or front office moves? Would that not indicate that they are thinking everything is going according to plan?

[preyer]

who would have guessed the ravens wouldn't totally and completely suck without mercy this year? or that the browns would have to be taken seriously against other teams? or that the texans would play this tight? i'm sure if i actually followed these teams the signs might be there, but....

as far as willie and rudi, i'm sure most coaches would agree that some players bring 'intangibles' into play that makes them worth keeping around even if their stats may not be stellar. that's why i think the bengals are relying more on individual break-out performances/studs instead of making a bunch of guys a team. you put ocho loco on almost any, ah, 'real' team and i bet he'd have an outstanding year. conversely, put brian westbrook in there and he might look barely average (well, i kinda doubt *that*, but i hope you catch my drift).

i never thought lewis was a great head coach, feeling as if he was going to be one of these guys who had consistent .500 seasons, give or take a game. i certainly have no inside information, so it's possible he's a great coach indeed. he certainly doesn't seem to have any influence on defense, and that's where he belongs, if anywhere.

here's a question that popped up at work (and i smartly avoided, but dumbly plunge into here): was lewis getting hired partially a question of affirmative action, or was he truly the best man applying for the job at the time? i have no idea who else was vying for the position, so i have no opinion, and would have ignored the question as some jerk i work with again pushing people's buttons, but then i have to admit remembering the newspapers pushing for it as were it some kind of agenda.

whatever the reason, i think he'd do much better as D coach under a PROVEN head coach, as opposed to some guy who's never been at the helm before in his life. it's not like voting for the president of the united states here, the bengals need a guy with experience.

roster changes? well, benson is definitely a step above perry, imo. not sure it would have made much of a difference in any of those very beatable teams, but i think it wouldn't have hurt! lol.

there're two ways, i think, of looking at fitz. the first is he's a bum. the guy didn't come from the USC quarterback factory like palmer, after all. the second, more generous idea, is that no one could possibly step into this situation and behind this O line and do terrifically better. i lean towards the latter with the caveat that i don't see much leadership in him. watching him on 'bengals weekly' and you can really see how uncomfortable he is, that there's not much confidence exuding from him at this point (which is easy to understand, eh?). it's 'intangibles' why i ever saw keeping kitna around in the first place.

at the same time, brat sends plays in via smoke signals for the entire world to see and they're stilled owned by mike brown, so you kinda don't expect *that* much, do you? you would have thought that after the '06 season MB would get a taste of victory and like it. that theory is shot to hell.

i figured they'd be 3-5 at this point. good gravy, given a back-up QB i'd have thought they could squeeze out *one* win so far.

sorry for rambling....