HoosierCat Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Opponents set for next season: Home Opponents (8): Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Denver, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington and New England. Road Opponents (9); Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Tennessee and Carolina. https://nbc24.com/sports/cincinnati-bengals-2024-25-opponents-set-after-loss-kansas-city-nfl-pro-football-home-road-browns-ravens-steelers-chiefs-titans-chargers-raiders-broncos-panthers-giants-patriots-commanders-eagles-chiefs Very friendly if they can manage to win a division game or two… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 They have got to find a way to win within the division in 2024 and I don't see the division getting weaker next season either. Still have to play Dallas, KC and Philadelphia despite finishing last in the division? That's not nice. They better go undefeated against Denver, Las Vegas, Washington, New England, LA Chargers, NY Giants and Carolina. The offseason news as I see it right now is as follows: 2024 Free Agency led by: Higgins, Reader, Awuzie, and Jonah, not to mention contributing LB's, WR's and damn near every TE. 2025 Free Agency led by: Chase, Hendrickson, BJ Hill, Hilton, Karras, Mixon and McPherson to start. Those names alone are enough to make even a casual fan realize big changes are coming. It's easy for people to say that so and so should be replaced. Ok, fine. By who and how? They have a lot of contributors on this roster and I don't think it's easy by any stretch. Personally, I would like to see a replacement for Reader in the draft and wouldn't mind if it was a first rounder either. Give me a younger, healthier veteran CB to replace Awuzie, as I don't want to go rookie there. I'm thinking new RT in the draft as well. Then there's Higgins. I think he's gone simply because that's a lot of money to tie up in the WR corps and they don't keep him over Chase. After that, it may not be as hard to bring some of the lesser known contributors back. Give me TE Dalton Schultz from the Texans on a 3 year deal to pair with Tanner Hudson as well. Just saying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Bengals are projected ($70m) under in cap which leads the north. They probably have the least signed but are still in the most advantageous cap situation. Of course they have several key positions to keep or fill via FA. J'mar Chase in the Summer like Burrow will be the biggest thing to watch this offseason, IMO. He's due to make $16.3m for the next 2 seasons but could easily top $50m with an extension. His agent should be in the ear of the Bengals and the Bengals should be receptive of an extension. It would be client neglect to let him play out these next two years under his rookie deal. An extension for Chase would not eat up much more Cap (pending structure) he counts $9.8 already for 2024. Baltimore projected ($11m) under - they have several key Free Agents like the Bengals to deal with. Pittsburgh $6m - over. Cleveland $12m - over. Obviously Pitt and Clev have some work to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Division struggles are overblown, IMO. The Burrow situation effected every division game. Of course the division will be competitive once again, but the biggest need there is to have a healthy QB1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Coach Taylor is 9-20 against AFC North teams during his Bengals coaching tenure. He's only had a single season that his divisional record was a successful one (2021). While they have had some success despite their shit showings against division rivals, it's a problem coach needs to fix. I like coach Taylor and hope he sticks around. I like his leadership and the culture he has helped created within the organization. There have been a lot of changes within the organization since his arrival and I as a fan am appreciative in seeing that. All that being said, this is a coach with a 36-44-1 record. Agree that a healthy Burrow goes a long way. Hoping 2024 is a return to our expectations for our Bengals !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 3 hours ago, ArmyBengal said: Coach Taylor is 9-20 against AFC North teams during his Bengals coaching tenure. He's only had a single season that his divisional record was a successful one (2021). While they have had some success despite their shit showings against division rivals, it's a problem coach needs to fix. I like coach Taylor and hope he sticks around. I like his leadership and the culture he has helped created within the organization. There have been a lot of changes within the organization since his arrival and I as a fan am appreciative in seeing that. All that being said, this is a coach with a 36-44-1 record. Agree that a healthy Burrow goes a long way. Hoping 2024 is a return to our expectations for our Bengals !! Overblown. Does Zac's 2-10 start vs. the AFC North from 2019/2020 really matter today? I'd say no considering he's won it twice since then. Does the 0-5 record today from this season matter knowing a healthy Burrow took snaps for less than 2 quarters? I'd say no. 50% of those 29 games doesn't include the reality we expect for 2024 and beyond. A healthy Joe Burrow. Its only a problem if you are thinking the Bengals will be stuck playing the AFC North without a healthy Burrow. Zac Taylor 7-5 AFC North games with a healthy Joe Burrow. He's 2-15 without. Then he's also 1-0 vs. AFC North in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 So minus Joe Burrow there should be no expectation to beat division rivals or win the division crown? Thank God for the 5-7 seeds for the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted January 4 Author Report Share Posted January 4 Amphar is just doing us the service of previewing the line the Bengals will be rolling out in the offseason. That being, the only reason they didn’t make the playoffs/win the division/win the Super Bowl was that Burrow got hurt. Hobs will be detailed to explain in his usual exasperating manner how there is no need for coaching or personnel changes, no need to spend big in FA, no need to draft impact players, we can take luxury picks that will play 10 snaps a game, etc., because a healthy Burrow farts lightning and craps thunder and the Lombardi is a lock if they just Stay. The. Course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, ArmyBengal said: So minus Joe Burrow there should be no expectation to beat division rivals or win the division crown? Thank God for the 5-7 seeds for the playoffs. I don't know about expectations. I think the AFC North record overall is pointless in regards to offseason plans. The results are different when a healthy franchise QB plays. That's a fact. So if you are dead set on using the overall AFC North record and dead set on making it a problem. How do you determine the source of the problem and solutions without factoring the effect of Joe Burrow? Should they alter their draft board? Fire a coach or coaches? Change overall scheme of defense/offense? Seems kinda drastic considering everyone saw the reality of Joe's calf injury week 1. Then saddled with 4 AFC North games post bye week and got to play 2 quarters with Burrow in those 4 games. The fact Zac went 2-10 vs. the AFC north with Dalton or whoever means little to me. Might mean a bunch to somebody, I dunno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 40 minutes ago, HoosierCat said: Amphar is just doing us the service of previewing the line the Bengals will be rolling out in the offseason. That being, the only reason they didn’t make the playoffs/win the division/win the Super Bowl was that Burrow got hurt. Hobs will be detailed to explain in his usual exasperating manner how there is no need for coaching or personnel changes, no need to spend big in FA, no need to draft impact players, we can take luxury picks that will play 10 snaps a game, etc., because a healthy Burrow farts lightning and craps thunder and the Lombardi is a lock if they just Stay. The. Course. I think this just proves no matter what changes the Bengals make. IF they don't make the playoffs they've actually done nothing since 1991. Either way trying to fix a problem based on Zac's overall record vs. AFC North seems like a colossal waste of time. There's no magic pill. If you have AFC North teams in Weeks 1 or 2, hope your QB can get some snaps and you might want to practice a little more. Don't try to play the AFC North teams with your 2019 roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 38 minutes ago, AMPHAR said: I don't know about expectations. I think the AFC North record overall is pointless. The results are different when a healthy franchise QB plays. That's a fact. So if you are dead set on using the overall AFC North record and dead set on making it a problem. How do you determine the source of the problem and solutions without factoring the effect of Joe Burrow? Most teams want to win their division due to better playoff seeding. The Bengals don't do that. That's a problem. Whether that problem is that Burrow is injury prone (Yeah, I said it) or coach Taylor isn't preparing his team, it's a problem. Everyone wants this team to get the #1 or #2 seed. Well... that ain't happening without winning the North, unless someone knows another way. I'm not dead set on "making" the struggles against AFC North teams a problem, it is one. What if we didn't have Burrow? Wouldn't we still need to beat AFC North teams? If Burrow's injury was career ending and Browning was the man from here out, we would still have to beat AFC North teams. How would coach Taylor make that happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Just now, ArmyBengal said: Most teams want to win their division due to better playoff seeding. The Bengals don't do that. That's a problem. Whether that problem is that Burrow is injury prone (Yeah, I said it) or coach Taylor isn't preparing his team, it's a problem. Everyone wants this team to get the #1 or #2 seed. Well... that ain't happening without winning the North, unless someone knows another way. I'm not dead set on "making" the struggles against AFC North teams a problem, it is one. What if we didn't have Burrow? Wouldn't we still need to beat AFC North teams? If Burrow's injury was career ending and Browning was the man from here out, we would still have to beat AFC North teams. How would coach Taylor make that happen? I'm pretty sure the Bengals won the division in 2021 and 2022. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 41 minutes ago, AMPHAR said: I think this just proves no matter what changes the Bengals make. IF they don't make the playoffs they've actually done nothing since 1991. I'm feel like I'm being argumentative with you today and that's really not my intent. However... That's silly. This team/organization has made great strides to become a more modern team in it's approach to many things over the last few years. We are seeing the results of those changes and due to that, the expectation is that the team get to AND win in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 minute ago, ArmyBengal said: I'm feel like I'm being argumentative with you today and that's really not my intent. However... That's silly. This team/organization has made great strides to become a more modern team in it's approach to many things over the last few years. We are seeing the results of those changes and due to that, the expectation is that the team get to AND win in the playoffs. Yeah I have a little concern the Bengals overall will not be trying to put the best team on paper to win the Superbowl. I'm not sure what Hoosier was trying to state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 minute ago, AMPHAR said: I'm pretty sure the Bengals won the division in 2021 and 2022. Yes and in 2022 they did that without a winning record against the AFC North opponents. We can't expect that to be the case year in and year out. The AFC North continues to be a very strong physical division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 16 minutes ago, ArmyBengal said: Yes and in 2022 they did that without a winning record against the AFC North opponents. We can't expect that to be the case year in and year out. The AFC North continues to be a very strong physical division. They didn't have a losing record either in 2022. They also beat a AFC North rival in the playoffs. Zac Taylor was 2-10 in his start vs. AFC North. Knowing he's won the division twice. Won playoff games. Since those season, does that record really concern you today? Are you waking up at night knowing Ryan Finley sucked so bad it cost them a chance beating the Steelers at home in 2019? I'm not. Then Zac is 0-5 this year. 0-2 is largely effected by Burrow's play which was incredibly bad due to practice time lost due to his injured calf. Then when you have 16 quarters of AFC North football left to play when Burrow was throwing up 100 ratings. Zac Taylor gets 2 quarters of that. I'm not concerned at all what happened post Joe Burrow injury. I'm actually encouraged because the team got itself back into the playoff race. The AFC North win/loss record is wasted blabbering. It means nothing to the Bengals. Nobody in the real world is basing anything off a slanted data point. While it sucks missing the playoffs. It was a heck of coaching job getting through the first part of the season with bad QB play and then late in the season with an undrafted cut several times QB. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted January 4 Author Report Share Posted January 4 3 hours ago, AMPHAR said: Yeah I have a little concern the Bengals overall will not be trying to put the best team on paper to win the Superbowl. I'm not sure what Hoosier was trying to state. No, you pretty much got it. Just change little to massive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 Maybe Mike Brown ate yo baby! Bengals have a FA acquisition battling for NFL sack lead but yeah they'll probably sit on their hands and do nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJJackson Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 20 hours ago, HoosierCat said: Amphar is just doing us the service of previewing the line the Bengals will be rolling out in the offseason. That being, the only reason they didn’t make the playoffs/win the division/win the Super Bowl was that Burrow got hurt. Hobs will be detailed to explain in his usual exasperating manner how there is no need for coaching or personnel changes, no need to spend big in FA, no need to draft impact players, we can take luxury picks that will play 10 snaps a game, etc., because a healthy Burrow farts lightning and craps thunder and the Lombardi is a lock if they just Stay. The. Course. you forgot the injury cap and the newbie cap 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted January 5 Author Report Share Posted January 5 2022 vs. 2023 PFF scores for some of our key FAs. Reader and Higgins still pretty good, even in a down year. Boyd...ooof. At least Chido had the coming off injury excuse. Not much change for Jonah despite the position move. Player 2023 PFF Grade (Rank) 2022 PFF Grade (Rank) DI D.J. Reader 82.2 (13th/137) 85.2 (6th/142) WR Tee Higgins 72.1 (43rd/99) 78.4 (20th/122) WR Tyler Boyd 60.8 (79th/99) 70.2 (42nd/122) CB Chidobe Awuzie 62.6 (81st/134) 69.9 (T-37th/131) OT Jonah Williams 59.1 (59th/81) 61.0 (T-65th/89) QB Jake Browning 75.2 (20th/44) N/A TE Irv Smith Jr. 44.2 (49th/49) 56.4 (38th/42, with Vikings) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 Irv Smith Jr., despite all the talk and excitement, was horrible and..... Oh forgot, no healthy Joe Burrow. Can't expect much. Irv Smith Jr. is awesome !! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted January 5 Author Report Share Posted January 5 14 minutes ago, ArmyBengal said: Irv Smith Jr., despite all the talk and excitement, was horrible and..... Oh forgot, no healthy Joe Burrow. Can't expect much. Irv Smith Jr. is awesome !! Yeah, Irv didn't work out as hoped. Orlando Brown Jr. took a step back too, from 75.8 in 2022 with KC to 63.9 here in 2023. Still better than Jonah was in 2022 at LT, but not by much. Certainly not the kind of improvement we were hoping for. Pratt got paid and promptly dropped 20 frickin' points, from 80 to 60. Makes Logan Wilson's fall from 72 to 62 look tame by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, HoosierCat said: 2022 vs. 2023 PFF scores for some of our key FAs. Reader and Higgins still pretty good, even in a down year. Boyd...ooof. At least Chido had the coming off injury excuse. Not much change for Jonah despite the position move. Player 2023 PFF Grade (Rank) 2022 PFF Grade (Rank) DI D.J. Reader 82.2 (13th/137) 85.2 (6th/142) WR Tee Higgins 72.1 (43rd/99) 78.4 (20th/122) WR Tyler Boyd 60.8 (79th/99) 70.2 (42nd/122) CB Chidobe Awuzie 62.6 (81st/134) 69.9 (T-37th/131) OT Jonah Williams 59.1 (59th/81) 61.0 (T-65th/89) QB Jake Browning 75.2 (20th/44) N/A TE Irv Smith Jr. 44.2 (49th/49) 56.4 (38th/42, with Vikings) DJ can walk. Boyd can walk. Higgins - Tag. Hopefully long term deal, should listen to trades. Chido - Walk Williams - probably should try to re-sign but not a the price he'll get, walk. Jake Browning - Exclusive rights obvious keep. Irv Smith - walk I think they need some youth and freak athletes along the D-line. Would be great to have a versatile d-line defender that raise hell at DT/DE. That's the biggest area needed to battle both Cleveland and Baltimore. It will also help you against mobile QB in Buffalo and KC. How big you invest at TE depends on what happens with Higgins. CB and Secondary - just a position group that will always need to be added to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPHAR Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 That's actually not a bad list of possible "key" FAs considering $70m in cap room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 2 hours ago, TJJackson said: you forgot the injury cap and the newbie cap Rookie Pool looms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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