Marvin Lewis

[Fab Five]

Joisey Cat,

Good one... I see where your coming from...

Lets ask this question though... Who had the better coaching record??? Shula, Coslet or Lebeau???

Answer please..........................................

Who in the hell cares!!! Coslet actually went 7-2 in his first 9 games...

Since when did 8-8 get you anything in this league... Marvin Lewis botched it in Free Agency and in the draft... Face it... Its obvious!!!

Chris Perry is no better than Kenny Watson which is why he can't get on the field

Ratliff is no better than Rashaud Bauman / Tory James / Terrell Roberts which is why he can't get on the field either. Madieu Williams could have been taken in Rd 4 at the earliest and so far shows more promise out of any of them... That comes from coaches in the organization who stated during camp and pre season he shined the most out of any rookie. You tell me how does Williams match up with Jamal Lewis Todd Heap so on and so on in this division as a 190 lb Safety... If your not the best team in the division chances are your not going to be in the playoffs especially in the AFC North were 9-7 may just win the division.

Will Chris Perry start here if Rudi Johnson re signs??? Marvin Lewis drafted as if he was a Super Bowl Champion with no major holes to fill and filling out depth on the roster... There were and still are plenty of holes to fill and he drafted a 3rd down back in the first round???

Only time will tell the draft picks turn out to be something more than average...

As much as you would like to belive and hope that the draft picks turn out to be above average players chances are they are not, which for your 1st and 2nd rd picks you need to get difference makers and players that are above average players. We were capable of getting 3 this year we obviously ended up with 0.

Fab Five

[Bobcat Bengal]

Well Tampa, won't you agree free agents aside, they passed up too many GOLDEN opportunities to pick up some defensive players in the draft? Many of which are already making an impact, and even a few who are starting on the teams that drafted them! And most of those teams had far fewer, not to mention later picks than did the Bengals!!

Honestly, I felt that Coach Lewis picked up as many draft picks as he could, in order to purge out the ones that were there before his campaign. He needed to add an infusion, and using those same players that clearly werent getting it done wouldnt helped us at all.

Next year, I can guarantee you that we won't make as many moves or trades, and if we do, it'll most likely be to move up, instead of trade down.

[HoosierCat]

Who in the hell cares!!! Coslet actually went 7-2 in his first 9 games...

Since when did 8-8 get you anything in this league... Marvin Lewis botched it in Free Agency and in the draft... Face it... Its obvious!!!

Absolutely. Marvin is a complete f**kup. Bring back Coslet! The way he commanded the respect of his players was amazing. And his press conferences! He just oozed confidence. And like I said he wouldn't have fired such greats as Kim Wood and Al Roberts. If we'd stuck with his idea of keeping Jeff Blake as out starter, just imagine how many Lombardis we'd have right now!

Chris Perry is no better than Kenny Watson which is why he can't get on the field

Ratliff is no better than Rashaud Bauman / Tory James / Terrell Roberts which is why he can't get on the field either.

Right again. Y'know, it just amazes me how guys can come out of college, get drafted, and not immediately be better than long-time NFL veterans. I know Perry and Ratliff both got dinged up in training camp, but hey, they had a couple of weeks to run around and now have had three weeks watching on the sidelines, that ought to be enough to make them starter material in the NFL.

Only time will tell the draft picks turn out to be something more than average...

Waddya mean, time will tell? We've had three games, right? And "Marvin Lewis botched it in the draft," right? They're all bums. I say, fire Marvin, cut the whole '04 draft class, and offer the next three year's worth of first-round picks to Buffalo, NE and Oakland so we can get Spikes, Dillon and Sapp. That's the ticket!

[cover2]

We judge Mavin and what his team does every game they play, not what they played last year or what they are going to play a year from now. Every NFL team

has players hurt....get over it. For us to suspend judgement is a crock. If the team plays well great and if they play poorly...expect to hear some criticism.

Marvin is not above citicism. I think he has made some big mistakes particularly in the draft......time will tell.

This is a big game this week in Pittsburgh and if we don't win it....could be a long season. We all have opinions and that's what the forum is for....if we did'nt care why would we be wasting our time?

[HoosierCat]

We judge Mavin and what his team does every game they play, not what they played last year or what they are going to play a year from now. Every NFL team

has players hurt....get over it. For us to suspend judgement is a crock. If the team plays well great and if they play poorly...expect to hear some criticism.

Marvin is not above citicism. I think he has made some big mistakes particularly in the draft......time will tell.

Fine. Last year, Marvin was 0-3 at this point. This year, he's 1-2. Marvin and the team are better by the only measure that counts. No suspension of judgement required.

You think he's made some big mistakes in the draft? Based on what, three games? You believe you can judge a draft after just three games -- in which we haven't even seen the players in question!

Time will tell? Well, yes, it will. But according to you we don't get to suspend judgement, right? Make up your mind: either Marvin made mistakes or you don't know if Marvin made mistakes. You can't have it both ways.

[Fab Five]

Joisey Cat.

Your sarcasm is the best thing since the last time thing Bengals went to the Playoffs... I have to respect you positive outlook, even though I don't agree...

I only commented on what Marvin Lewis accomplished in the draft and in Free Agency... I think he's a great motivator and good coach overall.

How he handled the 04 draft and free agency period has nothing to do with those things... How can the defense be as bad as was in 03 and the only thing you accomplish in the offseason is bringing in a back up linebacker in Webster, a player that has a history of injuries in Herring, trading for Deltha O'Neal (who is a good corner) and resigning your own scrubs safteys???

I know your good Joisey Cat but there is no way you can spin that and say the Bengals had a successful offseason... If you can... Please put me in touch with whomever your getting your stuff from. The Bengals defensive starters haven't stopped anyone in 3 out of 4 preseason games and 2 out of the 3 reg season games. Come on Miami has the worst offense we've seen since David Klingler's first game here. These are FACTS!!! Were 2nd to last in the league in Rushing Defense and the only thing you comment about is how much an improvement Coach Lewis is over past coaches... Which doesn't matter nor was it my point... My threads have not been about comparing what he's done to others... My threads have been about the players he's brought in to play that are absolute scrubs... Lets face it Tory James if GOD awful... Kevin Hardy does not make plays. John Thorton is a hard worker bust an average player. Kashviharn... I still don't see him being able to tackle Jamal Lewis. How many games will they get out of Kim Herring and Nate Webster in the next couple of years before they turn them over??? He's not only turning over LeBeau roster but he's going to have to turn over his own guys within the next few years as well

These were all his guys and look at this defense... What more do you need. How many games is enough for you to say you know, maybe they can't stop the run and maybe the talent level on defense is not what I thought it was? 5 games? 10 games? Next year... Hell I've waited for 14 years for the playoffs to come here. Hell, whats another few years to wait? Lets go for a big round number like 20.

The league won't wait for the Benglas D to get better... Its Steelers week and I can't wait until Duce and the Bus rush for 100 a piece and Tory James gets beat by Ward and Burress for TD's from a rookie QB... Better yet I can't wait until its Steelers week here in Cincinnati (Nov 21) and we hear more Steelers fans in the stadium than Benagals...

Here's to the makings of long year...

[HoosierCat]

How can the defense be as bad as was in 03 and the only thing you accomplish in the offseason is bringing in a back up linebacker in Webster, a player that has a history of injuries in Herring, trading for Deltha O'Neal (who is a good corner) and resigning your own scrubs safteys???

And you would have brought in...who? Seriously, it's easy to sit here and s*it on Marvin for not signing Pro Bowler A, B, and C, but who were all these stars we could have brought in and how would we have fit them under the cap? What LB should we have gotten? What safety should we have signed? What corner should we have signed?

Let's not forget, they tried. They courted Troy Vincent (who I personally didn't think was all that), but he spent his time publicly proclaiming his love for the Panthers, and then weh they showed no interest signed a deal with Buffalo for the same money we offered (great move, Troy). Taylor? The Seahawks offered him more money? Sapp? The Raiders offered him way too much money. They offered Gildon, but he only wanted a 1-year deal and the Bengals wanted a 2, so he signed with Buffalo (and got cut). They had a deal with Gardener but his back won't let him play anymore.

I have my issues with the offseason, but the bottom line is that Webster, Herring, and O'Neal are all upgrades over the guys they replaced. Herring is a stopgap, Williams should take that spot fairly quickly. Webster showed some real promise, but now he's shelved -- and let's not forget that we lost two other promising young 2nd year guys, Abdullah and Weathersby, before the season even started. The holes at CB and LB were in great part created by those two injuries. Y'know, before I pass judgement on Lewis and Frazier and the defense, I would like to actually see the thing, out on the field, played as it was intended by the people they brought in to play it.

[Bobcat Bengal]

How can the defense be as bad as was in 03 and the only thing you accomplish in the offseason is bringing in a back up linebacker in Webster, a player that has a history of injuries in Herring, trading for Deltha O'Neal (who is a good corner) and resigning your own scrubs safteys???

And you would have brought in...who? Seriously, it's easy to sit here and s*it on Marvin for not signing Pro Bowler A, B, and C, but who were all these stars we could have brought in and how would we have fit them under the cap? What LB should we have gotten? What safety should we have signed? What corner should we have signed?

Let's not forget, they tried. They courted Troy Vincent (who I personally didn't think was all that), but he spent his time publicly proclaiming his love for the Panthers, and then weh they showed no interest signed a deal with Buffalo for the same money we offered (great move, Troy). Taylor? The Seahawks offered him more money? Sapp? The Raiders offered him way too much money. They offered Gildon, but he only wanted a 1-year deal and the Bengals wanted a 2, so he signed with Buffalo (and got cut). They had a deal with Gardener but his back won't let him play anymore.

I have my issues with the offseason, but the bottom line is that Webster, Herring, and O'Neal are all upgrades over the guys they replaced. Herring is a stopgap, Williams should take that spot fairly quickly. Webster showed some real promise, but now he's shelved -- and let's not forget that we lost two other promising young 2nd year guys, Abdullah and Weathersby, before the season even started. The holes at CB and LB were in great part created by those two injuries. Y'know, before I pass judgement on Lewis and Frazier and the defense, I would like to actually see the thing, out on the field, played as it was intended by the people they brought in to play it.

That's a good point there Joisey.

[cover2]

"I have my issues with the offseason, but the bottom line is that Webster, Herring, and O'Neal are all upgrades over the guys they replaced. Herring is a stopgap, Williams should take that spot fairly quickly".

How big an upgrade do you think these guys are? The jury is still out

on all of them especially O'Neal who lost his job in Denver and is a project. Herring is a marginal improvement and Webster was a second string middle LB undersized at that.....talk abt spin.

When was the last time the Bengals signed a highly regarded Free Agent? Let's face it the guys they sign are always second tier players.

It cannot be disputed........Marvin might take the blame for that but Mike

is the one behind it. Let there be no doubt.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Marvin might take the blame for that, but Mike

is the one behind it. Let there be no doubt.

Of course it's Mike! Look at the guys past history of such dealings! If the Bengals EVER do sign a top F/A, it will be BECAUSE of Marvin working it out, and inspite of Mike just being tight-assed Mike!

Man I tell ya...sometimes I think if you could actually put a piece of coal between the cheeks of Mike Browns butt, within a week you would have yourself a pretty nice diamond!

[cover2]

Mike just can't let it alone....and will he ever? The question is can Marvin pull this team together in spite of the Jack Ass and his clan (daughter, son-in-law and so on and so forth). Don't answer that question.....its more reality than I want to face.