Week 14: Bengals @ Cowboys

[HoosierCat]

With the loss to Pitt, the Bengals inched up to the 10th pick in the 2025 draft. At 5-7 the boys are hard on their heels at pick 13.

But that's not why we can't afford a victory here, or frankly for the rest of the year, imho. At all costs, the front office must not be given a Dead Cat Bounce of any size to wave around in January as an excuse not to make major changes like firing Taylor and a bunch of the staff.

Fortunately, a bounce appears unlikely because the D is just that freaking bad.

Just lose, baby!

[TJJackson]

Yep.....just lose, baby

4-13 should get us a high as maybe pick 5 I'd think

even the worst team is only 2 wins away from tying it up with us

NE can leapfrog us simply by tying since they have the 1 on 1 tiebreaker

[HoosierCat]

I keep refreshing bengals.com looking for the announcement that Lou has been canned, and I keep not seeing it.

What's the delay? Everyone knows it's coming. Even if you believe (and I do) that he's been screwed over by the FO and doesn't have the horses, what he does have out there is going backward in development, can't tackle and is constantly out of position.

Honestly, I think that firing Lou now is about the only possible thing that might wake this pathetic squad up. Send the message that the top guy is out and everyone else is under the microscope. You want to keep playing here, you got five games to show us why.

But I guess I shouldn't complain. The more they do nothing, the better the chance of a higher draft pick, at least.

[ArmyBengal]

Seriously guys... will it matter?  Do you seriously have faith even with a top 5 pick they end up with a starter?
If they do, what are the odds of them paying that starter a second contract if they are an above average player with a top of the market deal coming?
If they fire a coach or multiple coaches, who's going to replace them? 

I don't understand the failure, I mean they spent all that money on a new locker room with LED lighting and brought back ping pong tables during the bye week.
What else could it possibly take to turn this team into a consistent post season contender?  I mean beyond good coaches and a beefed up scouting department.
Those answers will not be considered.

No worries, this is Big Lou's week to turn it around.

I hope the shitbag Cowboys beat the fucking brakes off them this week.

[ArmyBengal]

I did something I don't typically do and I watched the post game press conference from Tomlin.

Do yourself and favor and spend the 6 minutes listening to that and then compare that to what you get from Zac.

Wonder why the Steelers have had like 18 straight seasons without a losing record?  Yeah.
They are winners.  That whole organization are winners.  There it is from a Bengals fan perspective.

Conversely, the Bengals are a joke and that might be giving them more credit than they deserve.
Dude, I'm heated today.

 

EDIT:  Here let me help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLvVdEYG4Tg

 

[HoosierCat]

39 minutes ago, ArmyBengal said:

Seriously guys... will it matter?

No, of course not. But I have time to kill between now and death, so...

Quote

Do you seriously have faith even with a top 5 pick they end up with a starter?

Oh, he'll start. Dunno if he'll be any good, but he'll definitely start.

Quote

If they do, what are the odds of them paying that starter a second contract if they are an above average player with a top of the market deal coming?

Well, if they stumble into a stud defender, he's here for 4 on his rookie deal, the 5th year option and the tag in year 6 minimum. By then Joe will be 33. If they haven't won a Lombardi by then it's probably time to blow everything up again anyhow.

[HoosierCat]

Anyone want some easy money? Bengals are 6.5-point favorites next Monday night.

Take the Cowboys and the points.

[HoosierCat]

41 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

Well, if they stumble into a stud defender, he's here for 4 on his rookie deal, the 5th year option and the tag in year 6 minimum. By then Joe will be 33. If they haven't won a Lombardi by then it's probably time to blow everything up again anyhow.

I know, I know, quoting myself. But I wanted to follow this line of thought to its logical conclusion (and thanks to Army for the prompt!).

That conclusion is that this will be a make or break offseason for the Taylor/Burrow era in Cincinnati.

Burrow is 27 (28 in 8 days!). Taylor reportedly has 2 years left on his deal. If they let Zac stay and play out his contract and some miracle turnaround doesn't take place (and that seems unlikely at the moment), then they would be looking for a new head coach in January 2027, just weeks after Burrow turned 30.

I am wondering how any new head coach is going to look at a 30 year old QB with (in 2027) a $52 million cap hit versus $28 million in dead money, compared to the chance to start fresh. Especially if you could trade said QB.

This is all speculative because we don't know where Joe is at after two more years of getting beaten up behind our excuse for an oline. But it seems to me there's a good chance that 2025 is the last opportunity to change course while Joe is in his prime.

[ArmyBengal]

I seriously cannot even bring myself to caring about what they do.

When they fire Lou, I will pay attention enough to listen to what's said and then maybe see what the outcome on the field is after that decision.
Outside of that, I don't really care what they do the rest of the season or the draft.
That's not even considering what they are going to do with the plethora or starting or contributing UFA's they have next year.
Then there's Chase's contract.  Can't wait to see how stupid this all becomes.

[HoosierCat]

Oh, the UFAs are easy.

on defense: bye. No one on this d is worth one penny. Only good player is Trey and since he’s 31 and in the last year of his deal, I’m trading him while I can get some value.

on offense: sign Tee. Don’t care about anyone else.