Should Bengals Fans Settle For Mediocre?

[Ox]

Should Bengals Fans Settle For Mediocre?

The Cincinnati Bengals finished up their season on Sunday with their third straight win. This was a great way to close out the season, but let me tell you; don’t go jumping back on the bandwagon just yet. That three game winning streak, consisted of beating three teams that did not have a winning record. That is great that they won those games, but beating sub par teams is nothing to do a dance about. With the number six pick in the upcoming draft, and the Bengals getting key players back next season from injuries, some would think that next season looks bright. Don’t go busting out your sunglasses just yet, there are a lot of reasons why the Bengals, won’t be so hot next year either.

Marvin Lewis appears to be gearing up for his seventh season as the Bengals head coach. Some fans might look at this as a good thing, but Lewis has had just one winning season in seven years at the helm. If this were any other franchise, Lewis would have been tossed out on his butt several years ago. The Jets recently fired Coach Eric Mangini after three seasons in New York, two of those seasons produced winning records. The same goes for Mike Shanahan in Denver, fired after winning two Super Bowls in Denver. Considering the fact that many coaches have been fired for producing more wins and better season records than Lewis, why does he continue to be the boss in Cincy?

The Bengals have many holes to fill before fielding a team next season. They were the worst offense statistically this season, and most of their holes need to be filled on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line is their most needed place for upgrading; Center Eric Ghiaciuc has been horribly inconsistent at the position. This is the most important position on the offensive line and needs upgraded in the draft. This is not the only hole that needs filled; with injuries this season it became apparent that the line needs solid backups at every position. Towards the end of the season, the Bengals were picking lineman off of practice squads, like kids do in backyard football games.

Beyond the offensive line the million dollar question on everyone’s mind is what will the Bengals do with their current wide receivers. T.J. Houshmandzadeh has emerged as the go to guy for the offense. His contract is up and he becomes a free agent, there is talk that the Bengals want to resign him, but why wouldn’t they do this before other teams have a shot at him? A mid season extension would have been great news for the team. There is talk of using the franchise tag in this situation, but what good will that do? This would guarantee him around eight million dollars next season, this would lock him in for a year, but with so many other holes to fill, this would not be a good decision. The other receiver in question is Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson, or whatever his name will be next week. He is coming off the worst season of his career, and was deactivated earlier in the season for being a disruption to the team. It appears the Bengals are ready to move on without him, but who wants a loud mouth receiver who does more talking than playing? Your right… They should call up Jerry Jones and swing a trade with Dallas.

The next thing that needs to be addressed is the running back position. Cedric Benson appears to have boosted his stock with two consecutive 100 yard performances to close the season; this included a career high 171 yards against the Browns in week 16. Benson is sure to get a few contract offers this off-season. He has stated he would like to stay in Cincinnati because they gave him a chance to rejuvenate his career when no one else did. If the Bengals are serious about winning, they need to resign him, before someone else does. With most successful teams in the league going to a running back by committee style of run, Benson is sure to catch on with another team if he isn’t signed quickly.

One bright side of this season is the Bengals defensive unit. They finished the season 12th overall, after finishing towards the bottom of the league consistently over the years. With another year for the defense to gel, and the offense getting back players from injury, the Bengals could be looking at a better year than this one, they play an easier schedule in 2009.

How much better can the Bengals be next season? Fans shouldn’t get their hopes up, with only one winning season in the last eighteen years; it looks to be another mediocre season at best in 2009. Bengals owner Mike Brown refuses to hire a General Manager to run this team. Until Brown turns the team over to someone with a respectable football background, they will continue to be mediocre. Marvin Lewis cannot be considered a great coach, with four sub par seasons in his six years here. He has compiled an 8-8 record three times, and went 7-9 last season. Bengals fans have become complacent over these last eighteen years. They know that the Bengals will not be good, and they are fine with that. Being mediocre has become the norm in Cincinnati, when the Bengals go 8-8 again next season, fans will be fine with it, they will get excited, they will put their jerseys back on and take the brown bags off of their heads. They will choose to be anonymous fans no more, because mediocre is good enough for the Bengals.

http://www.studyofsports.com/?p=671

[BengalszoneBilly]

I honestly don't think we have a choice on what we "settle" for. In most cases we all got on board with this team many years ago when Paul Brown ran things. Now we're saddled with Mike and the rest of the Brown clan. IMO our founder didn't fully think this through, and if he did, he didn't leave explicit enough directions on how things should be carried out.

He was a man of the game. To simply drop all control into the lap of his son who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to NFL level football utterly astonishes me.

[bengalboomer7]

I honestly don't think we have a choice on what we "settle" for. In most cases we all got on board with this team many years ago when Paul Brown ran things. Now we're saddled with Mike and the rest of the Brown clan. IMO our founder didn't fully think this through, and if he did, he didn't leave explicit enough directions on how things should be carried out.

He was a man of the game. To simply drop all control into the lap of his son who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to NFL level football utterly astonishes me.

Come on, Billy. How could Paul Brown, or very many fathers for that matter, openly think their son is a dumbass. He couldn't have prepared for this, because he probably never could have fathomed his son being such a moron.

What i wonder, is how much longer can Mike brown run a giant football organization like your local mom and pop shop?

[HoosierCat]

I honestly don't think we have a choice on what we "settle" for. In most cases we all got on board with this team many years ago when Paul Brown ran things. Now we're saddled with Mike and the rest of the Brown clan. IMO our founder didn't fully think this through, and if he did, he didn't leave explicit enough directions on how things should be carried out.

He was a man of the game. To simply drop all control into the lap of his son who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to NFL level football utterly astonishes me.

Paul Brown, indeed, did fully think through the Bengals' future without him -- and his first priority was finding a way to ensure that his family retained control of the team, which he did with stock buyback/tax dodge thing Mikey spent all the Bengals' profits in the 1990s on.

I suppose it's because of Paul's well-deserved rep from his pre-Cincy days, but the fact is that Mikey is running the franchise exactly the way Paul did: on the cheap, hating change like unions and agents, and failing to build a consistent winner. Mike may be even more of a failure at building a winner, but Paul won no championships with the Bengals, either as coach or GM. And he made his own share of bonehead moves. In fact, IMHO the stupidest decision ever made by the organization was made by Paul: not naming Bill Walsh head coach.

If PB were around today, he would be just as dismissive of GM talk, just as reluctant to spend in free agency, and meddle just as much, if not more, in his head coach's decisions.

[bengalboomer7]

I think he'd be more dedicated to winning, though

[BengalszoneBilly]

the fact is that Mikey is running the franchise exactly the way Paul did

Well if that's true Mike misplaced a couple Super Bowl appearances. Mike can't carry his daddy's fedora.

[combatbengal]

Should we, NO. Are we, YES. I want to see them win just as bad as everybody else. But I keep bringing this up. We won three in a row at the end of the season which illustrates to MB that there isn't any need for change. The team is where they need to be and will improve next season with the same course. Same thing happened last year. We won a few games at the end of the season and didn't do much to improve. We did bring in the Z man who has improved the def but that's where it stopped. We had one of the best offenses in the leagues a few years ago and now all of a sudden, they're the worst (with the same guys). We ended up with a better record than the Clowns did, big deal. They've already started cleaning house in hopes to improve. They got rid of their GM and HC. What have we done to this point? Nothing. TJ is our best asset (except for Palmer) on offense and we're screwing around by not signing him for more years. What's Chad done for us in the past two years? Nothing. So let's cut him. Nope, we need that cancer in the locker room and on the field, so we’ll keep him. I loved Chat and was a big supporter until he started all that crap last year.

I've always known this about football but K Johnson opened my eyes to it yesterday during an interview. Most of us played Pop Warner/youth football for fun. Some of us played high school and college football for the same reason. But when guy reach the NFL level, it's all business and about money. You see some unbelievable hits and tackles in just about every game in college. Then guys get to the Bengals and somehow forget the fundamentals to those skills that were learned early on. To afraid to get hurt; that's their meal ticket. Chad knows that you catch the ball with your hands and yet he's got to receive remedial training on the sidelines from TJ on how to catch with your hands and not your body. Guys know that you hit low and wrap a guy up to make a tackle and yet when they get to the big leagues, they think that they can make the tackle by throwing their body into a guy or pushing him. The NFL doesn't use the option because they pay QB's too much and can't afford an injury to their investment.

So, we stay the course, and cheer for the same results year after year. The seats are bought out every game, MB is making money, and the players are cashing their pay checks so why should we expect any changes. After all, we did finish a head of the Clown's. That's the substandard that we've set for ourselves. So we live with it. No matter how poor of a performance they display, money will be made because we the fans support it.