HoosierCat Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2068940&num=0Nothing we really didn't already know. They're high on our offense, down on our defense, but appear to think we have a wild card shot.Only thing I really have to question is, how do you spin the loss of Cheeslisburger's favorite receiver as a positive??? (See story for answer ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Only thing I really have to question is, how do you spin the loss of Cheeslisburger's favorite receiver as a positive??? (See story for answer )Yea, even local Pittsburgh papers are saying the WR core could be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Next_Big_Thing Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Homerism is written all over this report, the author CLEARLY assumes Pittsburgh will win the division because they are his team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vman1186 Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I can't believe more fans on ESPNation predicted the Browns winning the division than us! Those poopfaces! Go to: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation...g?event_id=1356to vote for the Bengals!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted May 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Homerism is written all over this report, the author CLEARLY assumes Pittsburgh will win the division because they are his team. Well, I don't know anything about this Smith guy, but funny how all the other divisions covered so far get the first-string guys (Clayton, Lenny) and then they get to the AFCN and we get written up by the JV guy! What's up with that?Personally, I didn't think it was too homer-ey. Pitt won 15 friggin' games last season, this is their division until someone takes it away from them. And yes, the Bengals have a shot at doing that, if they pull their act together on defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 He jsut looked at last year and started writhing. Pretty predictable article if you ask me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 One thing I read that I thought was interesting was that Plastico and Big Ben were add libbing plays with each other. Pretty slick on plax's part, but very dangerous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indycat Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I can't believe more fans on ESPNation predicted the Browns winning the division than us! Those poopfaces! Go to: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation...g?event_id=1356to vote for the Bengals!!!!!!In the words of Rodney Dangerfield "We don't get no respect"7) Who will win the AFC North this season? 40.5% Steelers 27.1% Browns 21.2% Ravens 11.3% Bengals Total Votes: 2,033 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Michael Smith is a former beat writer for the New England Patriots at the Boston Globe. Now you see him on various ESPN programs such as Cold Pizza (never seen it), and Around the Horn. Nothing about Pittsburgh.I wonder if the 15 wins, as JC points out, has anything to do with people predicting their success in the division? Personally I think it's silly to really care or worry about what other people from other cities think about us. Most of the time, as BB points out, a lot is recycled news and last season's happenings -- which is very common and expected with national beat writers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazkal Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Well it's a fan thing browns have more diehards and more internet trolls eh.the ones who voted browns have a chance of winning the division are on crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Well it's a fan thing browns have more diehards and more internet trolls eh.the ones who voted browns have a chance of winning the division are on crack. Browns, on crack... BRILLIANT!(for some, that's a play on words). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazkal Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I've been giving the browns their props that in few years they could be a good team under romeo...but winning division in one of the toughest divisions....umya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StripesNTn Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 but winning division in one of the toughest divisions....umya one of? hell the toughest division in football!And yes the browns overall record will stink this year but we all know they will play the division hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Orange Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 Personally, I didn't think it was too homer-ey. Pitt won 15 friggin' games last season, this is their division until someone takes it away from them. And yes, the Bengals have a shot at doing that, if they pull their act together on defense. I couldn't agree more...however, If I could add one more segment to this segmented article it would be "Obvious Oversights by this Article". For the Steelers...when the thing you did absolutely the best last year...ala opening holes for your RB's and protecting your rookie QB gets absolutely obliterated it can drop a team by say half of their wins of the previous season. Bettis could easily go back to the many frustrating seasons he's had in the not so distant future (plus he's old). Cedric Wilson is not an upgrade or even an even trade for Plax...not even close. Last year their wins were half due to their D and half due to their running game with an occassional pass bailing them out once in a while. Their running should be well behind Cincy's and Ravens this year, their passing took a serious shot, so most or all of their wins should be because of their D...good luck winning 15 games with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Orange Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 As for the Ravens...something which wasn't even mentioned was that the backbone of this team...their defense...particularly their linebackers are no where close to what they were a few years ago. This is the fear factor of the Ravens D. This last year it's begun shifting to their secondary ala Reed, but my guess is that this D will drop out of the top 10 this season...teams will run at these guys...in particular if they figure out that the key to doing this is running right at Ray Lewis. I appreciate that people put an equal number of question marks around Boller as they do around Cincy's up and coming D, however, if one would look at tape they would see a vastly improving D from the diginning to end of the season...I saw nothing like that from Boller. I saw wins come and go as Jamal was available and as Reed intercepted. Since when has a good WR turned a less than mediocre QB great? Culpepper was good before Moss, McNabb was good before Owens, and it's not like their was tons of evidence that Ravens Wr's were dropping tons of balls. like their was at Seattle. You can put flowers around a roll of poop and the poop still stinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Orange Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 For the Browns...I like that the writer put that their are holes everywhere, and I realize that at the end of the article he didn't want to totally desemate Browns fand by saying they will be more competative, which I agree with. I think their are a lot of similarities between the browns today and the Bengals after the 2002 season..new Coach (a 1st year coach with Super Bowl win(s) under their belt as coordinator). I think they may have the same amount of remaining talent...what they don't have is a number #1 overall pick QB...that will be a question for a few years to come. They have no probowlers or even any on the horizon unless Braylon develops into one, but with WR's, that usually takes time. Their run D was the worst in a running division. They will probably get crunched this year, and best case scenerio, they win 8, which would be just as excited for them as when we did 2 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Orange Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 As for the Bengals...and this doesn't really bother me as I like the fact that more people think the Browns will win the division then we wil so we can sneak...but anyways, the predictions from Mr. Smith are weak at best and make me wonder if this guy has even seen any tape at all..."the Bengals should be better than 18th in offense"??? C'mon, take a stand...how about top 10...or even top 5. As I said, I don't mind the question marks around our D...I think we should prove it before people say anything good, but what really chaps me is that in this guys mind the best case scenerio for us is winning a wild card spot. I hate that. It's hard for me to be objective about this but Wild Card is not the best we can do. We have not lost talent this year...none...no one...not a single player. We have added through the draft, one key player through free agency, and a few more coming back from injuries. Our Coaches are solid and marvin is great. Writers hate it when teams build through the draft and not FA...so many pesky new names to learn. If you don't think that the Bengals have a shot at the division, then you just haven't been paying attention at what's going on here...but you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schweinhart Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 You add some excellent insights there Big O.I got the feeling the Steelers wil have to rely on some rooks to bail them out on offense. Fred Gibson is a Plax type, tall, fast, but not much of a threat over the middle. He'll get in. The right side of their O-line is their biggest ? mark. I can see Max Starks getting benched in favor of another rook Trai Essex at RT and rook Chris Kemoeatu getting the start at RG.Even when their offense stumbles, their D should still keep them in games.I agree that the Ratbirds should drop defensively but their offense is improved despite Blower.Clowns could cause trouble but hopefully it'll be trouble for Steelers and Ratbird and not Bengals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesperateDerelict Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 Updated ESPN Vote tally - probably very similar to the Vegas oddsmakers -7) Who will win the AFC North this season? 50.9% Steelers 26.6% Ravens 14.4% Bengals 8.2% Browns Total Votes: 15,199To put it in gambler parlance:Steelers 2:1Rat-birds 4:1Bengals 7:1Turds 12:1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted May 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 I think their are a lot of similarities between the browns today and the Bengals after the 2002 season..new Coach (a 1st year coach with Super Bowl win(s) under their belt as coordinator). I think they may have the same amount of remaining talent...what they don't have is a number #1 overall pick QB I dunno. I think the Browns will win about 6 games next season, but I also think it's going to take them a bit longer to climb back, unless they get very lucky with their draft picks. I disagree that they have a comparable level of talent to what the bengals had when Marvin took over. Cincy was a mess on defense, no doubt, but so are the Browns, who just basically gave away their whole d-line to Denver. And on offense, the truth is, Marvin owes a big debt to Bruce Coslet's last draft, which brought Peter Warrick if nothing else, and especially to Dick LeBeau's first draft in 2001, which brought in not just Justin Smith and TJ, but two Pro Bowlers, Chad and Rudi. Toss in Levi and Schobel in '02 and you're talking about the backbone of the offense. Romeo's predecessors have left him nothing comparable to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJ29 Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 All question marks are based on last year. If the new guys we brought in can step up, we're set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Orange Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 I hate pinning our immediate future on Rooks. Our D-line isn't rooks...our secondary definately isn't rooks...our starting LB's has one rook, 1 2nd year guy...I guess our D-line and secondary also has one 2nd year guy...that's probably not too odd, and since our only presumed D started is our 1st round pick that's not bad. We're young, but not totally dependant on rooks, which is nice. If every year our rookies come right in and start...that's a bad thing...like our defense last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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