Will the bengals make the playoffs

[losersaywha]

I want the bengals to make the playoffs but truthfully i think that they won't because they haven't emproved the defence. Don't get me wrong because they had some pretty goooood draft picks but knowing marvin lewis they won't start there rookie year. We are basiclly have as good as a team as we did last year. The ravens and the browns are stocking up there team with good players and the steelers have lost some players. Even though i want the bengals to make the playoffs i think that they won't.

[ckj414]

I think the Bengals have as good a chance as any team, but the AFC is pretty tough. Now if they were in the NFC, it would be a no brainer.

[Kazkal]

Ummm Marvin already has the draft picks writen in as Starters,

Pollack & Thurman will be starting.

[AMC]

he drafted them TO start...Gotta have alot of good youth on your team...

[Who?]

The Bengals will make the playoffs, Carson Palmer will emerge as a top QB and lead them there.

[Ox]

The Bengals will make the playoffs, Carson Palmer will emerge as a top QB and lead them there.

I like you more every day, Who.

All you to do now is add a "Dey" to your name and you'll fit right in!

[johnson85]

I want the bengals to make the playoffs but truthfully i think that they won't because they haven't emproved the defence. Don't get me wrong because they had some pretty goooood draft picks but knowing marvin lewis they won't start there rookie year. We are basiclly have as good as a team as we did last year. The ravens and the browns are stocking up there team with good players and the steelers have lost some players. Even though i want the bengals to make the playoffs i think that they won't.

I think they will cause like kazkal said Pollack and Thurman are starting plus we has our new D. Coordinator - Chuck Bresnahan I think he will do a much better job than Frasier. Thats why I think they will make it.

[ckj414]

Ummm Marvin already has the draft picks writen in as Starters,

Pollack & Thurman will be starting.

...which doesn't bode well. Its a rare talent that can step in as a rookie and match the performance of an experienced vet. Plus with an uncertain situation at DT, I don't know how they're going to keep blockers off Thurman; its certainly not the best situation to have a rookie at MLB. Expect suspect run defense in at least the first half of the season.

Now if the Bengals just drafted the 2nd coming of Lawrence Taylor and Ray Lewis, I'll be made to look like a fool. Never would I be so happy to feel so stupid

[d00leyn0ted]

I think most of us strongly disagree when you say Marvin has not improved the defense. Besides the additions of Pollack and Odell, you might not be taking in to consideration the marked improvement of many young players who will be much better this year. Caleb Miller and Landon Johnson could have both moved into starting roles and I wouldn't have blinked. They were awesome as rookies, which kind of disproves the comment concerning the rookies' inability to start effectively. Our linebacker corps are going to be strong. Don't forget Nate Webster either. He's a badass sparkplug with a something to prove. He might take over the center a few games into the season. Williams and Ratliff will both be better as will Kim Herring. He's a smart player who can put it down when he's healthy and knows the D. As for our line, Geathers would have been a first round draft pick this year. If learning our D and playing moderately in the NFL is better than starting in college remains to be seen, but he is a first round calibur prospect. Not to mention Leslie Frazier was making the calls which obviously had alot to do with our plight. The D was too complex for not being effective and I believe he was guilty of trying to do too much too little. He would have been great on a blitzing team like the Eagles or a 3-4, but as we all have read that's not our plan according to Marv. He wants to contain and make offenses earn everything. Be quick to the ball, something Hardy and a few others could not do well. Old guys get slow. Lewis knows. I don't think anyone's job will ever be safe as long as he's with us because he will always have a young hungry player in the ranks salivating to take someone else's job. Which is the way it should be and it will keep us from primadonna veterans gaining leverage and keep our salary cap sane. Ever notice how the Browns overpay lesser talents the way we used to? it doesn't work. And Chuck was the guy who cemented the Raider's D under Chuckie and it was a damn fine unit with only a few stars. Kind of like what I see happening here. Marv needed someone who thinks like he does so he doesn't have to double as D coordinator. I'm sure he'll sleep better at night. Our D will be better. The biggest question marks to me are our outside speed with Hardy and Justin Smith running people down and if we can avoid injuries. I can say I think we'd have made the playoffs if we had avoided so many injuries last year. Our O line was not there early in the season, we lost Webster, Warrick, Herring, often Deltha, and Chris Perry. If we can stay healthy or just get injured at the positions we're deepest at we will make the playoffs.

[ckj414]

I think most of us strongly disagree when you say Marvin has not improved the defense. Besides the additions of Pollack and Odell, you might not be taking in to consideration the marked improvement of many young players who will be much better this year. Caleb Miller and Landon Johnson could have both moved into starting roles and I wouldn't have blinked. They were awesome as rookies, which kind of disproves the comment concerning the rookies' inability to start effectively. Our linebacker corps are going to be strong. Don't forget Nate Webster either. He's a badass sparkplug with a something to prove. He might take over the center a few games into the season. Williams and Ratliff will both be better as will Kim Herring. He's a smart player who can put it down when he's healthy and knows the D. As for our line, Geathers would have been a first round draft pick this year. If learning our D and playing moderately in the NFL is better than starting in college remains to be seen, but he is a first round calibur prospect. Not to mention Leslie Frazier was making the calls which obviously had alot to do with our plight. The D was too complex for not being effective and I believe he was guilty of trying to do too much too little. He would have been great on a blitzing team like the Eagles or a 3-4, but as we all have read that's not our plan according to Marv. He wants to contain and make offenses earn everything. Be quick to the ball, something Hardy and a few others could not do well. Old guys get slow. Lewis knows. I don't think anyone's job will ever be safe as long as he's with us because he will always have a young hungry player in the ranks salivating to take someone else's job. Which is the way it should be and it will keep us from primadonna veterans gaining leverage and keep our salary cap sane. Ever notice how the Browns overpay lesser talents the way we used to? it doesn't work. And Chuck was the guy who cemented the Raider's D under Chuckie and it was a damn fine unit with only a few stars. Kind of like what I see happening here. Marv needed someone who thinks like he does so he doesn't have to double as D coordinator. I'm sure he'll sleep better at night. Our D will be better. The biggest question marks to me are our outside speed with Hardy and Justin Smith running people down and if we can avoid injuries. I can say I think we'd have made the playoffs if we had avoided so many injuries last year. Our O line was not there early in the season, we lost Webster, Warrick, Herring, often Deltha, and Chris Perry. If we can stay healthy or just get injured at the positions we're deepest at we will make the playoffs.

I'm sorry Dooley, assuming you're talking to me, I didn't mean to say that the defense isn't improved. Obviously thats not true - the defense is far better and deeper than it was two or three years ago. But the conventional wisdom is that rookies starting on defense, even highly touted rookies like Pollack and Thurman, are a detriment. I can't begin to describe how absurd it sounds to hear someone say, 'look how great the D is going to be...they've got ROOKIES playing!'

Sorry to piss on your 3-way, but thats the truth. As much potential as those guys have, they've got a lot of learning to do yet. And in the case of Thurman, unless the answer is found at DT, he's going to have a lot of blocks to shed this year. That means the safeties, yup, those safeties, are going to be asked to make too many plays in run support.

Bottom line, the defense isn't there yet. Sure, there are a bunch of young guys on the roster who might answer the questions we have this offseason...but 31 other teams in the league can say the same exact thing. The health issue - sure, if the Bengals had stayed healthy, they may have had a chance at the playoffs last year. Nineteen other teams can say the same thing (excluding the teams that did make the playoffs...and Arizona, because they suck just that badly).

But look on the bright side. The offense is going to be a blast to watch. The Bengals should score a lot of points, and if they stay relatively healthy a playoff berth could be in order.

[d00leyn0ted]

No dude, I get what you're saying. And I agree that rookies don't classically make a huge impact in the sport. It was more in response to the original thread. Hope that didn't get under your skin, I just meant that the rookies we have will perform better than Hardy. Furthermore, with our D strategy the youthful speed will beneift us more than a smart but slower veteran. Not to mention both Odell and Pollack have a dearth of colelge experience at a stadium that packs as many in as most NFL stadiums. That will factor in. But yes, rookies aren't going to win superbowls. My whole point was the D will be better - hence the original thread - and that we will make the playoffs.

[combatbengal]

Bottom line, we'll make the playoffs. Last year we were one game away from the playoffs. All we have to do is win 3-4 more games this year and we're in!

[7/11]

jonathan vilma, as a rookie last year, was the leader of a good jets defense. his supporting cast is not that much better than ours, if it is.

between marvin simplifying the defense, our vets knowin their roles and not havin to "fill-in" for injured players (i.e. madieu at corner and both safeties; landon at mlb; injured kim herring) and the presence of the two rookies, our defense will be a lot better. it hasn't been but a year that anyone on our defense has had to fight off depth and "win" their position. this depth and competition will bring out the best in every player we have. we had a ton of injuries last year...there was no cohesion. when our "future" mlb nate webster went down, we had to adjust, and adjust with rookies nonetheless. we rarely started the same defense in consecutive games.

i think this year will be a year that (assuming injuries are minimal and we have a good camp) the defense understands what their jobs are and will gel together. geathers provides a pass-rush we haven't had. his presence puts justin on the weaker left side, where he can hopefully have an easier time pressuring.

i don't hear much about bryan robinson, but this dude is a run-stuffing monster. he's no kris jenkins or shaun rogers, but he and john thornton provide a tough tandem of dt's to run through.

barring injuries, this defense is heads above where we were last year. pollack and thurman both seem to have that "it" factor that you can't teach. they have drive. they are natural leaders. they will do nothing but help our defense. nick barnett was his team's leading tackler his rookie year in green bay, jonathan vilma emerged as a GREAT mlb in his rookie year, landon johnson led our team in tackles as a rookie. i don't see where rookies can't be great defensive players, especially for a defense that isn't that great to start with.

[BengalszoneBilly]

...and Arizona, because they suck just that badly

Keep on tellin' yourself that. Dennis Green's coaching history contridicts you assuming that the "sucking" will continue.

[bengalsLB]

i our DT aren't as bad as some sad previously in this tread robinson is a solid run-stuffing vet who will help our run d a great deal thorton is moving back to right DT

where i heard he excelled with the titans (i never saw him play as a titan)

plus if one of our starters goes down langston moore can step in and our d won't miss a beat. i'm not saying or DT are great but there alot better then last year

[kentjett]

I think our biggest improvement on defense would be the firing of Frazier and promoting Chucky to defense coordinator.If our Defense was the same exact unit from last year and old Chuck was in charge we would have finished at least five spots higher in total defense.The scheme alone is the biggest improvement of the off season;add that together w/ the best two defensive players in the draft(my god honest opinion)I think we have a top fifteen defense,possibly top ten.If we can manage a top fifteen defense w/ a top 5 offense,we could be one hell of a team.(PLAYOFFS,POSSIBLY SUPER BOWL)

[membengal]

oh my god. someone start training camp already. please.

if they don't, i may have to start another "who is your favorite bengal" thread as a joke just to see how many serious responses it gets this time around...

[derekshank]

Am I the only one who noticed that the QB in this picture is Jon Kitna, with a some nice photoshop work changing the 3 to a 9?

Just thought it was kind of funny.

[BengalNation1281]

I think that it will be us and the Jets in the wild-card spots this year. In 2006, we win the division.

[bengal4life]

Dillon is not on the team anymore why do you have him on your sig Loserssaywha ?

Rudi, Rudi

[thefrazz]

Am I the only one who noticed that the QB in this picture is Jon Kitna, with a some nice photoshop work changing the 3 to a 9?

Just thought it was kind of funny.

When I first looked at it I thought it was Kitna. But that is Carsons face...at least it looks like it.

However, the arms don't look like they are big enough to be Carsons, so they would have to be Kitna's. The other thing is Corry obviously wasn't here with Carson starting.

If you are going to switch Kitna with Palmer..do us a favor and change out Cory to! lol

[derekshank]

No, that's definitely Kitna's face. That's the first thing I noticed about it. (Carson Palmer's helmet always pushed his brow down, and makes him look a little like Cro-Magnon man).

On further note, look at his hand. Kitna always spreads his fingers out as far as possible. I've always noticed that it looks a little goofy. Carson has his fingers together, and tucks his thumb in. (it also looks a little goofy, but what are supposed to do with that other hand?)

It is also the earlier uniform, so unless it was preseason game, Carson didn't take a single snap in that style jersey.

Final review... definitely Jon Kitna. This is a very old, and updated picture, not only because of Dillion, but how long ago was it that Peter Warrick was our big threat at WR over Chad Johnson?

Anyway... who cares. It just made me laugh a little.

[MexicanFan]

I really believe that Bengals gone to playoffs,… why?

Last season there were at least 3 games lost by rookie mistakes in the last minutes (fumbles & interceptions). Palmer is better every day and he has the same offensive players plus Warrick. If we lost playoffs last season, I gees it was for Palmer’s injury. The defense couldn’t be worst than last year.

And . . .

Steelers; "Big Ben" was just lucky and good defense.

Ravens; are falling down

Browns; no comments.

And Because I’m a big BENGALS fan and every season I think in Playoffs

:player:

[ckj414]

Keep on tellin' yourself that. Dennis Green's coaching history contridicts you assuming that the "sucking" will continue.

I was referring to last year actually. They had fewer injuries than all but one or two teams in the league, were in a division where the leading team played .500 ball, and they still had a top ten draft pick. Thats utterly pathetic. I think the playoff predictions for them are premature, Denny Green's prior history not withstanding - I'm not saying they won't improve, but there just isn't enough talent on that team for them to make a serious run.

[ckj414]

No dude, I get what you're saying. And I agree that rookies don't classically make a huge impact in the sport. It was more in response to the original thread. Hope that didn't get under your skin, I just meant that the rookies we have will perform better than Hardy. Furthermore, with our D strategy the youthful speed will beneift us more than a smart but slower veteran. Not to mention both Odell and Pollack have a dearth of colelge experience at a stadium that packs as many in as most NFL stadiums. That will factor in. But yes, rookies aren't going to win superbowls. My whole point was the D will be better - hence the original thread - and that we will make the playoffs.

Its cool, sounds like we're more on the same page than I thought .

Why isn't it training camp yet ?