The Coach says

[redsfan2]

This statement struck me and I can't believe that no one else has jumped on it .... so I'm going to. The coach says the team isn't where he thought it would be and after the dismal self imposed thumping yesterday I and everyone else seem to think he's right.

The question that begs to be answered is ......... Why not ?????

Now everybody has their pet peeve about the team ..... No big DT to stop the run .... lack of depth on the O line ...... Absence of a tight end that can catch AND block ...... (Until recently) .... were we starting the right qb ......... secondary .... linebackers ...... Problems with the Offensive coordinator / defensive coordinator ??

I personally think the problems started in the off season with a lack of direction. In his first season, Coach Lewis identified players he wanted from free agency and from college and took positive steps towards achieving his goals. Now you can agree or disagree about the players, but you got the sense that he had a set course of action that he was following to a T.

Sorry, but this off season ... I didn't get that feeling ..... it lingered over into the draft. Just my opinion now mind you but .... I think we went about pursuing players in free agency haphazardly and with a certain amount of trepidation. The draft ????? We got some good players .... it seems, but others clearly aren't going to be a factor for a year or 2. Now if you've got roster full of vets that have 2 super bowls in the bag you can afford to draft like that. Coach Lewis on the other hand was totally rebuilding the organization and needed help NOW. As the record shows ... we didn't get it.

Looking forward to your response to The Question ?????????? Why ?????

[schweinhart]

At halftime at PBS with a Warsteiner booth nearby, I was talking w/ a diehard about how the season went and the best I could come up with was that 2004 was a good practice season. No one wants to really hear that after so many years of crap, but that's seems to hold water. The slew of injuries and so many rooks getting game experience bodes much better for next year.

The offseason DT debacle from the draft and free agency clearly hurt the Bengals this year. With a few exceptions, the run D was pretty much brutalized all year. However, the D did come up with several impressive stands in a number of games and overall the run D did not solely cost the team Ws, though it made it much harder to win too often.

So the DT factor has to be addressed. As much for the run as pass rush. The opposing teams QBs have way too much time to throw and it would be great to see a 4 man rush that can pressure effectively so as to not to rely on blitzing so much to get that pressure, which exposes the secondary too much.

Shaun Smith saw some action vs. Bills. Watching him, I'd say Smith provides some of the answer at DT. He's got size and gave effort with some success.

There does have to be more offseason priority given to DT with a bigger, better bullrusher who can clog running lane as well. But I'm not sure how the offseason will be prioritized. I'd like to see Carson get a full arsenal at his disposal with Day 1 picks at TE and WR and if no Rudi deal works out, maybe even a Day 1 RB. I'm leaning towards lighting up the scoreboard and rolling the dice with the D with a few FA and Day 2 pickups at DT, DE, and SSLB.

[vettespd20]

I feel we are not where I expected us to be but lets look at the whole picture. These are the areas of much improvement. The future star of the nfl QB is getting a lot better, Rudi has improved a lot, our defense has improved a lot also chad and TJ have both improved this season. Now this is with out Peter Warrick. A lot of areas are a lot better this season than last season and next year things are going to be better than this season.

[Tiger Stripes]

8-8 or 7-9 is what i thought our record would be in the offseason so were right where i thought we'd be.

[membengal]

I had us pegged at 8-8 also, so if they win one of two to get to 7-9, they are about where I expected also.

It seemd hella unlikely that they were going to make a playoff run with a Carson taking his first snaps and that schedule.

That said, missing the playoffs still hurts. Being right about the season doesn't make me happy.

Anything less than 10 wins next year and I will be beyond angry. They need to make a leap next year. One more off-season, and finally win some damn games that matter. Maybe cut out the frickin' false starts while they are at it.

[redsfan2]

Prior to the start of the season, a lot of the guys on the board were figuring a season of 6 and 10 to 7 and 9. I seem to recall that the NFL maestros had us at 5 and 11 or 6 and 10 and finishing dead last in the division.

I had us at 9 and 7 which I thought was reasonable and attainable. I hadn't even considered the possibility of a play off berth.

[richmond_mat]

My 2 cents.

Injuries have hurt most. Nate webster was finally starting to play well and he went down. Richie Braham was hurt at the beginning and the new (hehe) center took too long to play well and now Richie is on IR. (I'm curious about their record with him vs without him, anyone know?) Of course, Palmer took longer to develop consistency than we expected. It took TJ too long to step up for Warrick (whom I'd cut BTW) Our special teams still are mediocre at best. And the biggest reason is all the playing time the rookies are getting (again it goes back to injuries). Tight end play is definitely a detriment. Sometimes I wonder if we even have one in the game.

Another big reason is Bratkowski's play calling (why not stick with what's working). He' too busy trying to be a genious instead of just getting it done. Just because you're down 14 doesn't mean you have to throw the ball Especially when it's the second or third quarter. :player:

[HoosierCat]

I personally think the problems started in the off season with a lack of direction. In his first season, Coach Lewis identified players he wanted from free agency and from college and took positive steps towards achieving his goals...Sorry, but this off season ... I didn't get that feeling ..... it lingered over into the draft. Just my opinion now mind you but .... I think we went about pursuing players in free agency haphazardly and with a certain amount of trepidation.

I agree completely. I remember making similar comments early this year. They dawdled and prevaricated on Kitna, taking forever to work out an extension to lower his cap number (all the while complaining about how little cap space they had). The royally screwed up on Graham and had to pay through the nose when Jax dropped a bomb on him. They wasted their time chasing Troy Vincent, even after Vincent made it clear he'd rather be anyplace but Cincy. Then they fiddled around with Sean Taylor, even tho he made it clear he wanted more money than they would give. And when they belatedly -- after failing to find a FA CB -- went after a DT, they botched things with Sapp, and plan C (Daryl Gardener) would blow up later that summer.

Overall, it seemed they were trying to do everything -- even contradictory things, like wanting to extend Kitna, but not wanting to do it before FA, because then he'd have more leverage, but of course then we don't get more cap space, which is the whole point of redoing the deal -- at ojnce. And as a result, they managed to accomplish exactly none of their objectives. This time around, they need to make some decisions.

[ArmyBengal]

I think this team is right where most expected, maybe even a little better. I was thinking 9-7 myself and looking back on this year, SHOULD have been better than that. Everyone pretty much agrees on our needs... Do you hear that Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis, and Katie whoever the hell you are ?? NEEDS !!! I don't give a flying F**K about the best player available, we need to make decisions based on our needs and go after them. Make deals, trade picks or players, but get something, anything done. Obviously we can't reach, but obviously we can't afford not to address our needs when we are so close. I made mention before about why shouldn't we expect to much from this team... If we aren't 10-6 looking at the playoffs next year, something is way wrong. Hope everyone has a Happy Holidays.

WHODEY !!!

[San Antonio Bengal]

At the start of the season, I said 8 - 8 was the best that we'd be able to do. I'm actually pleasantly surprised how close we are to that mark considering the number of injuries that have happened and that we were breaking in a new QB. At least we know that we have a real QB for the first time in eons and a lot of good young talent. The future is bright.

[bengalboomer7]

I think the reason some of the free agents kind of used us (vincent ans taylor) is because the city was still the "Bungles" in national eyes. I don't care what Sapp or anyone else says. Cincy was the one that backed out of that deal and I for one thought it was a good decision. Hopefully, Marvin has built us a better national persona to attract those high price free agents. If you look at things realisticlly there is no reason why no one wouldn't want to play on this team

heres why

1. We are a really young team, which might mean we have our foundation already

2. We've got a second year Qb who's starting to look great and in my opinion is a far more accurate Favre and Joe montana with a way stronger arm

3. We have a top five wideout that's 26 years old.

4. If we resign Rudi, we have a 25 year old 1,500 yd back

5. Besides Braham and probably Williams we have our starting Oline set for probably 3-5 years depending on contracts.

6. We have two pro bowl caliber Db's, a rookie db(ratliff) that looks pretty good and one hella rookie FS

7. With all the injuries coming back next year and the extended playing time rooks have gotten we will be a very deep team next year

Hers what we definitely need

1. Big DT of course, I don't think you draft one though. If you look at history drafting a Dt is like russian roulette, you just never knnow, but there are two beasts coming into free agency I'd like to see at least take a visit to PBS Shaun Rogers from Detroit and Corey Simon from Philly

2 Are linebackers are a little suspect. Hardy should definitely be gome with the emergence of Landon Johnson and Simmons lokks to have lost a half step and we're still not sure what we got with Webster

3. No pure pass rusher! We do not get any pressure on the Qb when just the front four rushes. Hopefully geathers will be that guy but I think we all know by now that it's not Justin Smith

3. Reciever/tight end we have absolutely no tight end and I think we might need this the worst. We could probably use a better compliment to chad

4. Depth at O line. Our oline is ok but if anyone goes down we are SCREWED. Stacy Andrews seems to be coming along but there's still a long way to go on that guy.

5.Kickoffs This might not be a big need but if graham can't kick it any farther thatn we need to bring a guy in just for that. He's killing us in feild position

I'm sure theres more and I know it looks like a lot but we wanna win right

I see some of this getting done and it will be and all out dog fight with the Steelers for the Division next year

WHO DEY :player:

[bengalboomer7]

You know we you get to thinking and you start typing real fast, well I screw up a lot and it just makes me laugh to read my own posts. I must sound retarded

And I'm still to lazy to use that spell check

[San Antonio Bengal]

I see some of this getting done and it will be and all out dog fight with the Steelers for the Division next year

Next year, the AFCN is going to be a dog fight all the way around. The Bengals, Steelers and Ravens will all be in the mix and Cleveland will be the red-headed stepchild who we all beat on. Good times.

[bengalboomer7]

Personally, I think this was about the Ravens last chance. The defense is not what it used to be and you can't win too many games with that one dimensional offense.

[San Antonio Bengal]

I think the Ravens are on the decline as well, but they should still be a good team next year -- decent enough to cause both the Steelers and Bengals problems.