NYBengalfan Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Every show i watch, every article i read, and every power ranking u check out show that the so called experts think that we will finish second if not third. its like baltimore won the division last year, and we did nothing. heck we have had their number pretty much since Carson lead a comeback on them at their place in '04. This is mainly a feeling that the media is slighting the bengals.. just because they are the bengals. Its cause of the team name. If we were any other team.. even atlanta, people would have higher expectations for this season... we swept our division last year.. thats not done too often... top 10 defense last year.. and guess what they are all coming back = DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!! just curious on anyone elses thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Funny, I just spent a few minutes reading WalterFootball's AFCN season predictions. Much of the analysis seemed dead on, but just as much seemed remarkably dead headed. Long story short.... Ravens 12-4 Steelers 7-9 Bengals 7-9 Stains 3-13 Walter goes so far as to say the Ravens could win the Super Bowl easily, the Bengals are improved everywhere but simply don't care enough to challenge, and Pittsburgh has a better plan than everyone...despite imploding. Bottom Line: I believe Walter is on the crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Bottom Line: I believe Walter is on the crack.Yes, and quite a few other popular prognosticators along with him.That reasoning of Walter's as you described it is very much the sort of conclusions most people seem to be coming to when discussing the Bengals this offseason. They all see and identify the stacked roster. They generally agree that few if any glaring weaknesses are observable anywhere on the team. Unconvincing worries about Palmer have been the only common denominator I've noted from various sources about where the Bengals might struggle. Plenty have even made up plain nonsense for reasons I can't begin to fathom, quite like Walter's wild ass guess that the Bengals "don't care". Few of them have the balls to transition from those positive assessments to an actual prediction placing the Bengals in serious playoff contention. The outermost appearance of the team is one of a one-hit wonder destined to fall back into mediocrity immediately, even if all further investigation on the matter suggests otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYBengalfan Posted July 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 I just feel that if it was another team then, the experts would be predicting big thngs.. if this were the Cowboys the pundits would be ranting and raving about how they are legit super bowl contenders. But just cause its the bengals they just say that was a fluke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC_Bengals_Fan Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 I just feel that if it was another team then, the experts would be predicting big thngs.. if this were the Cowboys the pundits would be ranting and raving about how they are legit super bowl contenders. But just cause its the bengals they just say that was a fluke.Well, it'll be that much more enjoyable to watch the morons falling over themselves by week 12 to claim they saw the Bengals coming way back when. This Bengals team has fewer question marks than I've seen for a while. If the running game is OK, the D keeps improving, and the passing game can rise above putrid, that's 9 wins right there. If Carson can be a better than average QB and somebody decides they can catch the ball, that should be 11 wins.I'm not drinking as much Ravens kool-aid this year, Ray has to fall off sometime, and Ed Reed's hip is screwed. I do wish they hadn't gotten Boldin, that's gonna hurt us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Similarly, much of the Ravens hype seems to ignore a problem that pretty much everyone already knows about -- their secondary is close to awful and it hasn't gotten any better since last season ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalPimp Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Ok...I get that the mindless idiots will overlook the Bengals talent, and remember the bad things about the franchise....I'm used to it, so I get it....BUT.....I can't see how someone can honestly say Baltimore will go 12-4 and the Bengals will go 7-9....WTF? The Bengals have a very tough schedule yes, BUT aside from the ravens having easier opponents in the 2 random games (Texans & Broncos) than the Bengals (Colts & Chargers) the other 14 games for both are against the EXACT SAME TEAMS. The both have 6 division games, and play all 4 teams in the AFC East and NFC South......So Really? The Ravens will be 5 games better than the Bengals? While the Colts and Chargers are tough, Baltimore won't have an easy time with the Texans.F*ck the Prognosticators !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGrizzlyBaer Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Ok...I get that the mindless idiots will overlook the Bengals talent, and remember the bad things about the franchise....I'm used to it, so I get it....BUT.....I can't see how someone can honestly say Baltimore will go 12-4 and the Bengals will go 7-9....WTF? The Bengals have a very tough schedule yes, BUT aside from the ravens having easier opponents in the 2 random games (Texans & Broncos) than the Bengals (Colts & Chargers) the other 14 games for both are against the EXACT SAME TEAMS. The both have 6 division games, and play all 4 teams in the AFC East and NFC South......So Really? The Ravens will be 5 games better than the Bengals? While the Colts and Chargers are tough, Baltimore won't have an easy time with the Texans.F*ck the Prognosticators !!!I really am glad that we don't have to go to the west coast to play the Chargers I think that helps a bunch. The furthest west we play is indy, how often can we get that? Here's to proving the media wrong again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 I don't really care if anyone here is mad about this at all. I want the players to be mad. I want them to be good and pissed off that besides the fact the team swept the division last season, they improved the roster greatly, and Carson's thumb isn't all jacked up, but get no love and are told they won't have a winning season.GET PISSED OFF BENGALS.As one of my favorite bands of all time said, "Anger is a gift" !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Not all that worried about Boldin for the Bengals' match-ups with Baltimore. The Bengals DBs should be able to handle that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 everyone is all over the ravensThis is a yearly occurrence with Baltimore, so of course I never pay much attention to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Try living here. They are more over-the-top obnoxious than they were a year ago. It is already unlistenable around town. And, for a team that did not address their gaping hole in the secondary, I am rather giggly over their out-size expectations. I think they are in for another round of disappointment.Oh, and the prevailing thought is the Bengals "got lucky" last year, and are not really a concern again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Oh, and the prevailing thought is the Bengals "got lucky" last year, and are not really a concern again.Yeah. Right. A top 10 defense and a solid running game is never anything to be concerned about. When Palmer and his receivers get things in sync, they'll never know what hit 'em...again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Here's to hoping they overlook our #4 defense that only got better during the offseason, while theirs regressed. No arguing that fact.I really do have high expectations for the 2010 season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 I really do have high expectations for the 2010 season.Me too buddy. I've tried hard to contain myself, but if this doesn't end up being one of the best teams in Bengals history, I'll not only be disappointed, I'll be surprised. Tough schedule be damned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Well, you see it alot where teams have a rather easy schedule, make it to the playoffs, and then get beat pretty bad when they face better competition. If the Bengals can make it back to the playoffs after facing the schedule they do this season, they will be MORE than ready to make a deep run into the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazkal Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Indeed people are picking the steelers over us...even though we improved much more then them...I understand we have 4th hardest schedule this year but we had one of the hardest going in to last season things change.Patriots aren't a destiny anymore Steelers are what they use to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
combatbengal Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Let the so called experts write us off! They had no faith in us last year and we not only won the division; we swept it! I’ll give the Bengals the same advice that I gave a Soldier that reported to the unit with a bad reputation. Let the haters talk all the crap that they want. Don’t let yourself drop down to their level with a reply. Just prove them wrong with your performance! All you have to do is Soldier. As far as the Bengals, all you have to do is take it one play at a time. Stay in your position and just do your job! If we have all 11 men on the field doing their jobs, we’ll win games, win the division, and move through the playoffs! It's that simple!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Bengals are definitely going to sweep the Division again, or even win it with ease for that matter.I'm saying the Bengals have done nothing but upgrade the #4 defense in the league, gave Carson a true TE, made strides to improve the WR corps, and have a healthy QB whose thumb will allow play faking and not tip running plays.The Ravens have a very solid offense, but that defense is certainly getting older and their secondary flat SUCKS.The Steelers have a solid defense that should be better with Troy coming back healthy, but their o-line is going to get their QB killed.The Browns should be better, but that will only amount to Browns fans still having to embrace the suck, while bringing up the rear.Yeah, I like our chances when all of schedules are fairly even between the top teams in this division.It's simply silly to say ANY team is going to run away with the AFCN, but I like the Bengals odds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 My best pointless guess puts the Bengals and Ravens both around 11 wins with the Steelers and Browns both well behind with 7 wins or fewer. It ought to be a tight two team race with one of the other two playing better than they should (and the Browns ought not be ignored in the discussion considering they won four in a row to close 2009, just like the Bengals won three to close 2008). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 MEMOTo: All Sirius NFL Radio On-Air PersonnelFrom: Sirius NFL Radio ManagementAll on-air talent is cautioned to avoid the loss of working hours we experienced last year at the beginning of training camp.Specifically, you are not asked, you are ORDERED, to stop swinging from Ray Lewis' nutsack before training camp starts. Last year, Randy Cross missed 3 days with bruising sustained when he was still hanging on Ray's sack when the Ravens kicked off training camp with an Oklahoma drill. Please be advised you are still ordered to spend 80% of your time talking exclusively about the NFC East, 10% talking about the Steelers (always mention what a class organization the Rooneys run), 5% Ravens, and the final 5% the other 26 teams. Let's have a great season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 That reasoning of Walter's as you described it is very much the sort of conclusions most people seem to be coming to when discussing the Bengals this offseason. They all see and identify the stacked roster. They generally agree that few if any glaring weaknesses are observable anywhere on the team. Unconvincing worries about Palmer have been the only common denominator I've noted from various sources about where the Bengals might struggle. Plenty have even made up plain nonsense for reasons I can't begin to fathom, quite like Walter's wild ass guess that the Bengals "don't care". Walter seemed to base much of his negativity on the Bengals habit of barely beating bad teams like Detroit, Kansas City, and Leaveland....thereby prompting him to deduct a staggering total of style points. And there's the rub because this team doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from most so-called experts when weighing intangibles. Of course the exact opposite is true for franchises like the Steelers. As for the darling Ravens, I'm guessing few will ever doubt that teams desire to win as long as Ray "Stabby" Lewis is still playing. The outermost appearance of the team is one of a one-hit wonder destined to fall back into mediocrity immediately, even if all further investigation on the matter suggests otherwise. Sadly, that was a familiar theme from the media last season and the Bengals late season swoon and playoff disaster did nothing to silence those critics. Rather, Henry's death is now being portrayed as the logical undesirable result of selecting too many bad actors and the playoff meltdowns of Opie and Chad are seen as just more examples of gutless failure by Bengal players who choked and crumbled under pressure. Nutshelled, the Bengals now familiar fade down the stretch, capped by Chris Henry's death and followed by their poor playoff performance, not only erased what had been a feel good story...but continues to tarnish peoples perception of what this team can be. And there's the rub because that perception won't change until the Bengals prove they're different from miserable teams that proceded them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalByTheBay Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 Nutshelled, the Bengals now familiar fade down the stretch, capped by Chris Henry's death and followed by their poor playoff performance, not only erased what had been a feel good story...but continues to tarnish peoples perception of what this team can be. And there's the rub because that perception won't change until the Bengals prove they're different from miserable teams that proceded them.I agree that's the perception. I tend to believe that it takes a team one or two "close calls" in the playoffs to figure it out and go all the way. At least, I hope that is the case this season for the Bengals. IF they are within spitting distance of another playoff berth or IF they are looking at a first round game, the coaches can go directly to the "we were close last year and what happened?" card for motivation. As for the media, it is overwhelmingly the case that the easiest story to go with will prevail. The easiest story when the Bengals are playing well is they don't have the "character" to close out. Sure, there are some changes to personnel, mostly at the positions that failed us last year. We're all optimistic that those changes will fix the problems and push this team over the hump. If you're not following the team closely, it's easy to look at the Bengals and say that you've seen this scenario before and they never get there. We shall see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 Frankly, I'm not bothered very much by the media's negative perception because I believe it's flawed. Furthermore, I believe few head coaches can tap and exploit the lack of media respect given to the team and it's players better than Marvin Lewis. But to be perfectly honest I should admit I am concerned by this teams history of fading badly late in the season, although I freely admit I'm unsure how much to make out of it since the results seemed to be due to numerous factors rather than just one. From a lack of depth from the start, to a staggering number of injuries sustained as the season went on, to the emotional struggle that followed the death Of Henry, to simply taking the foot off the gas in '05.....most Bengal teams that take to the field in November and December rarely manage to resemble the teams that started the season. And that makes me wonder about pacing...often called a head coaches toughest and most important job. That said, I also agree with Marvin's opinion that the single greatest challenge facing this team isn't a tough schedule or the high level of competition within the division, but rather....complacency. Or if you prefer, a malaise that grows when players are satisfied with merely good results. The players themselves have to believe they can compete for a championship.....a tough sell when none of the best players on the roster have rings. Bottom Line: I don't doubt the Bengals desire to win, but I do still worry whether they've developed the proper mechanics needed to win big in Cincy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalByTheBay Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 But to be perfectly honest I should admit I am concerned by this teams history of fading badly late in the season, although I freely admit I'm unsure how much to make out of it since the results seemed to be due to numerous factors rather than just one. Yeah, I'd be lying if I said it didn't occur to me as well. It's hard to guarantee this team stepping up under pressure when they've never really done it. It "feels" different at times, such as the present, when you can look at guys like Dhani Jones and Maualuga and envision them closing the deal. However, I am also guilty of thinking guys like Pollack and Thurman had that quality.....sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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