Bob Bratkowski

[richmond_mat]

Wow. It looks like the board is pretty evenly divided on this issue. Isn't Brat the most significant leftover from the dark years?

First off, I think the team has been winning in spite of Bratkowski. His short yardage play calling is abysmal. He finally ran a qb sneak in garbage time the other day. If I were a stat guy I'd tell you the numbers, but my memory is good enough. They simply fail to convert short yardage first downs because the plays that are run are PREDICTABLE. Another reason for the futility may be that he doesn't use the tight end well at all. (I watch the games and wonder if there even is one in the game. Of course there is a body in the position on the line, but he is almost never utilized. Any offense that does anything has a tight end that can catch the ball.)

Secondly, he tries too hard to catch the other team off guard. I would love my playbook too, but at some point you have to take what the defense is giving you and beat them with that. You cannot invoke your will to chuck the ball down the field to rip off big chunks of yardage when the other team decides that's not how they are going to lose the game. I do believe in stretching the field, but not on first and ten (at least not very often, second and short is my preference for that). As I have said in other posts, Brat calls the deep pass on first down way too often. Then he'll call a run on down two which nets a couple of yards resulting in an obvious throwing situation for the D to lay back and prevent the first down. This has happend too many times.

There are a lot of posts that comment on how high the team ranks in scoring. When your defense is leading the league in turnovers, don't you think this is expected?

I'll stop my lengthy post with this: WHY CAN'T THE TEAM SCORE IN THE REDZONE? I say it's Bratkowski. He got out X'd and O'd by Dick LeBlow. Jeesh. it makes me sick.

I do not want him fired mid-season. But come January, he should be looking for another job because coach Lewis should put a toe where it needs to be and show him that Mikey doesn't run the show.

[redsfan2]

Sorry to chime in so loate, but I just got back ......... again.

Had to vote NO on this one. Brat isn't my favorite piece of the puzzle, but he's been doing a pretty respectable job so far this year. Cincy is ranked 4th in the league, and 2nd in the AFC. Numbers like that are not going to get you fired ..... not in the middle of the season .... and not at the end of it either.

The argument could be made ( and has been by some ) that with the offense he's got anybody could have them where they're at. Maybe .... maybe not. It should also be noted that the two teams we've lost to are rated 2nd and 3rd on defense.

All of that said ..... I liked and agreed with Palmers statement at the end of the game ..... that the Steelers weren't that much of a better team .... they simply played the better game that day. TJ is openly looking forward to the re match in Pittsburgh.

I didn't think the Steelers looked that much better than the Bengals either ...... Bengals had every chance to put them away early and just didn't get it done. Give a good team ( which the Steelers are ) that many chances .... and they're going to make you pay.

[redsbengalsbucks]

I dont want anyone fired, I want Brat to learn from this game and make a team stop what is working before changing what you are doing.

If Rudi walks away from that game with 150+ yards we win, he had 46 in the first quarter and was tearing up the field. Pitt did not stop him the play-calling did.

[walshfan]

Our offense would be ranked that high with Zampese as coordinator. The Bengals have talent, but they never score. The redzone problems are Brats fault (the ratio was horrible before Henry dropped a TD). He runs on 2nd and goal from the 10, throws on first and goal from the 1, and we never score inside of the 10. Except for that ridiculous pass to Jeremy Johnson (psuedo-screen - must be removed now) and the occasional play action.

3rd in the league in points is due to turnovers and good field position. The Bengals look like superbowl contenders in the middle of the field, and then here come the Bungles inside the 20. People are on to Brats gameplan. As a fan, i am able to predict many of the plays he calls, and this is by simple package information. Mix it up.

I'm tired of yelling at my TV because Brat can't call the right play. The best plays seem to be the ones Carson changes at the line anyway.

Finnaly, look at the defenses we've played. Third in the league could just be talent and not Brat.

I DON'T THINK BRAT SHOULD BE FIRED, but lets look at some options in the offseason. This loss may not have been his fault, but i still have some feelings about the Jacksonville game.

Im a big fan of Zampese as well.. His father was a great OC and he's passed that knowledge along to Ken...

That said, you cannot say what plays Ken would call and how happy we'd be with him because we simply do not know what kind of stategy he'd use....

[derekshank]

The Bengals have talent, but they never score. The redzone problems are Brats fault

3rd in the league in points is due to turnovers and good field position.

I'm trying to make sense of these two comments... but the fact that they came from the same post is inexplicable.

We never score... but we're 3rd in the league in points. We suck in the redzone... but the only reason we score points is because we get good field position... (which translates to being in the redzone). Hmm...

The redszone is inside the 20. The Bengals often get the ball past the 50 but before the 20. They often march to the redzone and kick a field goal. The Bengals do not convert inside the 20, but often score on long passes or fieldgoals. Think next time and you'll figure it .

We never score - means we don't drive the field and score, rather we rely on the other teams to make a mistake and give us a short field. (We have a 45 percent TD conversion in the redzone - that is awful)

3rd in the league in points is due to turnovers. Do you not see the correlation. We can't score in the redzone and have had like 40 to 50 percent of our points from turnovers. Hmm... (I hope you don't find this post as a personal attack, but i kind of found yours as a personal attack).

I did not find you're post to be a personal attack... and neither should you find mine to be that way. No offense intended... none taken.

What I was saying was that you're post didn't make sense because you clearly indicate that our offense has been productive... (and now back to the topic) but you bend the stats that back your perspective to somehow discredit Brat.

Yes... The Bengals have been less than perfect inside the redzone... and I don't have time to go research this more fully... but if memory serves correctly... we reguarly have TD drives taken away by both penalties and all around poor play... not the play calling. It is difficult to score TD's when you have it inside the 10, and then get TD called back which results in a 3rd and goal from the 14... (I've seen things like this happen on at least 3 separate occasions).

Also... I was not saying that I don't see a correlation between turnovers and points... but you were saying we were terrible in the redzone. If our defense gives us the ball in such excellent field position... and we score... that would indicate that we are productive in said redzone.

This would mean that what we are difficient in is marching the ball down the field before we get to the redzone... because we rely on the defense to get us good field position. Do you understand my point now? The stat you used is not consistent with your argument... just the opposite. That is all I was saying.

The point is, we could argue back and forth and bend stats to make Brat look like either the village idiot, or a genius. He is neither. He is an acceptable OC... and while he is not entirely innocent of the problems on offense... he is neither entirely guilty. Our offense decides to start making mistakes at the worst possible times... and no coach can have perfect stats when the players don't perform.

[Indycat]

take care of business where it counts the most with what they've got the best control over even if that cuts into the clever play variety by about 50-percent.

Good Post Sweinhart

In the first drive Rudi ran a power sweep (stretch whatever you want to call it) around the left side for 11 yards. Brat never ran that play again?? Brat, if you find a play that works it's OK to run it more than once!!

[jamesbrooks21]

And if he went back to something and it got stuffed the very same people would be on here talking "He's so predictable!" or "Is that the only play we have?"......you get the picture. It is sooo easy to criticize something like that.

Brat did not drop the ball in the endzone, he did not throw two interceptions on Pitts side of the field or right at midfield nor did his play-calling result in a hundred missed tackles or a missed field goal. If the players executed we wouldn't even be talking about this rediculous s**t.

[Stripes]

And if he went back to something and it got stuffed

This is exactly Bratkowski's problem. He either gets too flashy with his play calling, or he abandons the basics as soon as they show any remote signs of sputtering.