Surprisingly, I am not too disappointed...

[Pidge]

Hey everyone, belated Happy New year to you all. Missed the playoff game, travelling back, but was at the game in NY. Ah well, a case of peaking too early and the injuries catching up with us. I never expected them to even sniff the playoffs this yr so a success overall. It will be for nought if this yr isn't used as a foundation though. Another winning season and a chance for another playoff appearance next yr at the very least or this will have been just another all too brief blip in the otherwise featurless tundra that is the Bengals.

The D has a real chance of establishing itself as one of the elite ones over the next couple of yrs. Looking forward to seeing the new additions etc.

The O - where to start? No idea if it's a quick fix or a long fix. Real concerns though. Maybe Brat finally departs these shores? Please?

[HairOnFire]

But, this should be a day for constructive venting, not Shula bashing.

It might help if you didn't write so many stupid posts. For example, of all of the things you could mention that are wrong with the Bengals your dumb azz keeps talking about a practice bubble.

[HairOnFire]

I would fire ML and hand the job to Zimmer in a heartbeat.

I love Zimmer, but I'm amazed by the lack of criticism being directed his way this week.

[BengalByTheBay]

This year seems different though. I had high expectations before the season and thought we could really challenge for the AFC title. But as the season got underway, and seeing how inept our offense was, I didn't really think we had a chance to beat anyone in the playoffs.

So, you thought we would win the division (with a sweep), but would lose in the first round of the playoffs from when -- week 1? That's a pretty amazing and oddly precise prediction. Speaking of odd, I don't remember you making that prediction. My bad.

As for the "I told you so" on Saturday -- congratulations. I feel really good about you not being too disappointed because you predicted the Bengals would lose to the Jets. Props to you. I hope you made mad cash on your undoubtedly enormous bet placed with such tremendous confidence. Invest it wisely.

One of two things could've happened on Saturday and the fact that you are pleased that the Bengals lost is pretty lame. If it makes you feel good to have predicted that loss then, again, I say congratulations to you. If it were me, I would be disappointed that the team I am a fan of is out of the playoffs. But, then again, that's just me. It speaks volumes about you that you waited a whole day to flaunt your genius.

[HairOnFire]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

[ArmyBengal]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

Speaking of pass blockers, I think Whitworth only gave up 1.5 sacks in his first full season at LT.

Whit turned in one hell of a season !!!

[BengalByTheBay]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

Speaking of pass blockers, I think Whitworth only gave up 1.5 sacks in his first full season at LT.

Whit turned in one hell of a season !!!

Sure, but I think he just got called again for holding just now. O-line penalties were killers all year and Whit must have led the list. For a veteran it was at least slightly disturbing.

[ArmyBengal]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

Speaking of pass blockers, I think Whitworth only gave up 1.5 sacks in his first full season at LT.

Whit turned in one hell of a season !!!

Sure, but I think he just got called again for holding just now. O-line penalties were killers all year and Whit must have led the list. For a veteran it was at least slightly disturbing.

The only other option was having Collins in there to start and keeping Whit at Guard since Dre Smith was hurt and going to RT from the start.

I couldn't envision ANY scenario where that would have been better and once again, it was his first year starting there in the NFL, vet or not.

Those pre-snap penalties HAVE to get fixed though, I do agree.

[cincyhokie]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

Speaking of pass blockers, I think Whitworth only gave up 1.5 sacks in his first full season at LT.

Whit turned in one hell of a season !!!

I love it. The O-line's play gives hope that it will be a strong piece of this team's success for a long time.

[Ickey44]

If they want to get better they need to stop drafting the Jerome Simpsons and Andres Smiths. Cant be consistent winners missing on picks that high.Smith is a big run blocking tackle at best. We need quicker more agile lineman like a michael oher.

Sadly, Smith might be their best pass blocker. And because you don't seem to know much, be advised.....your "quicker more agile" choice was not only one of the most penalized offensive lineman in the NFL, but also surrendered 8 regular season sacks.

Speaking of pass blockers, I think Whitworth only gave up 1.5 sacks in his first full season at LT.

Whit turned in one hell of a season !!!

Sure, but I think he just got called again for holding just now. O-line penalties were killers all year and Whit must have led the list. For a veteran it was at least slightly disturbing.

He did. When I checked before the week 17 game, Whit had 5 false starts and 5 holding penalties, both of which were good for the team lead. Having said that however, he has emerged as a leader on the offense and the oline and I'm glad we have him. He can work on the penalties just like the rest of the team. Leaders like that are hard to find, though.