Brat must go!

[bengalsfansince68]

Is anyone else of the opinion that we need an OC who has a clue about the importance of running the football? 13 carries for Rudi in a playoff game against the Steelers(or anyone else for that matter) is an absolute outrage to me. Please Marvin get us an OC with a clue!!

[Interceptor]

I'm with you right there all the way! We WERE controlling the tempo. So what if we botched a FG attempt? Why didn't we continue our domination of the short pass/shuffle run in the 2nd half????? That was HORRIBLE play-calling in the 2nd half. And I know that wasn't Kitna's decision to stop with the short throws.

[Kirkendall]

I'm with you right there all the way! We WERE controlling the tempo. So what if we botched a FG attempt? Why didn't we continue our domination of the short pass/shuffle run in the 2nd half????? That was HORRIBLE play-calling in the 2nd half. And I know that wasn't Kitna's decision to stop with the short throws.

I think what we're missing here is the absence mentally with the TEAM after the second half. They had just discovered the injury with Carson Palmer and now there's a big "rumor" that Chad denied, of a big fight in the locker room at half time. I think this team was doomed by half time.

Reasons I think we lost Sunday.

1. Coaches couldn't get the team ready in the second half, game plan, the ability to fire up the team.

2. There was no inspirational pride. I would have liked to have seen Palmer on the sidelines cheering on the team maybe to give the guys some inspiration.

3. Pittsburgh just took it to us and we folded.

[HoosierCat]

Yeah, Easterbrook didn't like it any more than you guys or I did...

Note 2: When things aren't going your way, often the solution is to get back to basics. Run the ball. Don't try for an improbable super-fast score, just get some positive plays, recover your rhythm, prevent panic from taking hold. Cincinnati had been ahead 17-7 and feeling good; now the Steelers had just moved into a 21-17 lead. Cincinnati gained possession on its 34 with 5:07 in the third quarter, which is all the time in the world. What mattered was to avoid panic and get the run working as it has in every Bengals victory this season. Instead, Bengals coaches acted as if there were 30 seconds left in the game and an instant score was the sole hope. First down, long pass called; sack. Now it's second-and-19 and Pittsburgh, correctly anticipating a pass-wacky overreaction by Cincinnati, came out with a two-man defensive line, two linebackers and seven defensive backs. Run! Run against these skinny guys! Four-yard pass, then a penalty makes it third-and-20. Again Pittsburgh showed a mere two DLs. Run! Sack, punt, Pittsburgh scores the other way to make it 28-17.

Cincinnati went into full-blown panic mode when there was no need, when the Bengals were only down by four points in the third quarter. From the point at which Pittsburgh took its 21-17 lead at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter, Bengals coaches called just one running play for the remainder of the game, a contest in which Cincinnati averaged 4.2 yards per rush. Falling behind 31-17 with 10:29 in the fourth quarter -- enough time to score two touchdowns using a balanced attack -- the Bengals went incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt, and TMQ wrote the words "game over" in his notebook.

[HairOnFire]

From the point at which Pittsburgh took its 21-17 lead at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter, Bengals coaches called just one running play for the remainder of the game, a contest in which Cincinnati averaged 4.2 yards per rush.

Damn.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Brat isn't the head coach.

[bengalboomer7]

ALso keep in mind, HOF, that our coach is a defensive coach, which probably gives Brat even more leeway(I AM NOT making excuses for Marvin, though, he should've said something, but, you gotta trust your guys)

I do agree that Brat went into a little "panic mode" in the second half

I want Zampese, but Brat doesn't seriously bother me, just your basic playcalling issues

[HoosierCat]

I think what we're missing here is the absence mentally with the TEAM after the second half. They had just discovered the injury with Carson Palmer and now there's a big "rumor" that Chad denied, of a big fight in the locker room at half time. I think this team was doomed by half time.

Clearly, there was a breakdown in the locker room at the haf. But they came out, took the opening kickoff, drove down into FG range...and then came the botched snap and 0 points. I think that finally tore it. They go up 20-14 there and there's at least a chance they pull it together; instead you get a 10-point swing, Brat goes into pass-happy mode (and Hair's right, Marvin ought to have said something) just like the Steelers expect and are setting up for -- and the predictable occurs.

[kingwilly]

I think Brat's playcalls in the second half were about as bad as they could get. I think he failed to change things enough once Carson went out to account for the talent discrepency between CP and JK.

As far as running the ball, Perry and Rudi should have had about 35 combined carries. The line was working and it actually would have opened it up even more.

Aprt from the first possession in the second half, that was the worst half of playcalling I;ve seen in a long time.

[Stripes]

And that's the cue for all the Bratkowski supporters to come in and shun us for complaining about his top 5 offense.

Bratkowski is a weak link on this team, he is holding back what should be the best offense in the NFL considering all the talent it has at every position excluding tight end.

[HoosierCat]

And that's the cue for all the Bratkowski supporters to come in and shun us for complaining about his top 5 offense.

Bratkowski is a weak link on this team, he is holding back what should be the best offense in the NFL considering all the talent it has at every position excluding tight end.

Well, admittedly, when Brat's O is cooking, it's a beautiful thing to see. And those 11 wins we got were largely a result of that offense. So I don't know if I'd call him a weak link. But the type of Air-Coryell-inspired scheme he runs doesn't have much use for a power back like Rudi and IMHO that colors his playcalling. I don't think he's interested in a ball-contol, grind-it-out, short passing and three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust attack; otherwise he wouldn't be an adherent of the kind of game he is. But there are times when the game clearly calls for that kind of approach, and we certainly have the weapons to succeed with it.

[Stripes]

Well, admittedly, when Brat's O is cooking, it's a beautiful thing to see. And those 11 wins we got were largely a result of that offense. So I don't know if I'd call him a weak link. But the type of Air-Coryell-inspired scheme he runs doesn't have much use for a power back like Rudi and IMHO that colors his playcalling. I don't think he's interested in a ball-contol, grind-it-out, short passing and three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust attack; otherwise he wouldn't be an adherent of the kind of game he is. But there are times when the game clearly calls for that kind of approach, and we certainly have the weapons to succeed with it.

Oh, no doubt. When his plan works, there aren't likely to be any complaints from anyone, myself included, and that is usually the case. I just feel that any average offensive coordinator would be able to have success with an offense with this much balance and talent. The coordinators that set themselves apart make the right decisions at the key junctures in games, and I just don't see Brat do that consistently. The fourth and one pitchout to Perry kind of stuff has to stop.

I guess I can't blame Brat and only Brat however. If the problem is so obvious as I and others make it sound, then Marvin or the other coaches need to step in and set things on the right course. That certainly hasn't happened either.

[cincy9275]

i think brats problem is that when his game plan get stopped or figured out he is not very good adjusting to what the defense does. he has to be able to adjust on the fly and he can't .the players we have on offense could make any offense look good so a lot of the credit goes to them. i would not be against replacing him .

[richmond_mat]

Pretty soon we're going to have a movement.....

As I have said many times, Brat's playcalling STINKS!!! I love 66 yard pass plays, but I like 5-8 yard runs just as much. Brat needs to study the Boomer offense of the 80's and learn BALANCE. and A little bit of "take what the defense is giving when you're winning" wouldn't hurt either. The second half just magnified what I've seen the last two years.

Unfortunately, I'll be surprised if he is let go. That is why I'm hoping he will move on voluntarily.

[bengalboomer7]

i think brats problem is that when his game plan get stopped or figured out he is not very good adjusting to what the defense does. he has to be able to adjust on the fly and he can't .the players we have on offense could make any offense look good so a lot of the credit goes to them. i would not be against replacing him .

I believe that to be true, but this is where Carson comes in and Kit didn't Sunday. Palmer audibles a lot, most of the time putting us in SWEET plays making Brat look good. I really believe we would have run a little more just cause I think Carson was playing well enough at the line to audible to a running play when the D shows only two lineman

We didn't just lose Carson's arm, we lost his decision making as well

Either way, I still can't fathom that we were shut out in the second half of that game

[kingwilly]

The probelm is a philosophical one.

Brat call the plays he wants to, not the plays he should. He does not seem to be interested in exploiting weaknesses, just forcing the O to out-execute the D. Given the drop-off from CP to JK, that in an unrealistic expectation that will end up with mistakes, as evidenced by Kit's 2 picks, fumble/drop and him holding on too long and getting sacked. Is there a more pathetic image than Kitna swiveling his head around, finding everyone covered then running out and dropping the ball? Nice call brat.

The adjustments that made the most sense to begin the second half were to maintain balance and pull away by keeping the ball on the ground and limiting the possessions of the Pitt O. They did this and then promptly fudged the snap for the FG. once the FG snap went awry and Pitt scored, Rudi did not touch the ball. That is criminal. Removing one of your most consistent weapons from your playcalls and forcing Kitna to "Win" the game was a drastic mistake with 25:00 of game to go.

[richmond_mat]

But the type of Air-Coryell-inspired scheme he runs doesn't have much use for a power back like Rudi and IMHO that colors his playcalling. I don't think he's interested in a ball-contol, grind-it-out, short passing and three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust attack; otherwise he wouldn't be an adherent of the kind of game he is. But there are times when the game clearly calls for that kind of approach, and we certainly have the weapons to succeed with it.

The Coryell angle had gotten me thinking. And I'm wondering where the TE went. Didn't the chargers use Winslow extensively back then? So I'm a bit confused on how Brat is running the Coryell offense.

[HoosierCat]

The Coryell angle had gotten me thinking. And I'm wondering where the TE went. Didn't the chargers use Winslow extensively back then? So I'm a bit confused on how Brat is running the Coryell offense.

Nothing is ever an exact duplicate. Brat certainly doesn't use the TE as effectively as the Coryell Chargers did in their best years (1980-82), but then again he doesn't have The F**kin' Soldier's poppa to play with. Brat uses more WRs that the original Coryell scheme did, while keeping the TE in to block.

For example, in 1981, Winslow's first big year, SD had 2 1,000+ yard wideouts. Their No. 3 WR had 4 catches for 48 yards. In 81 and 82, their No. 3 guy was Dwight Scales, who caught for 534 yards combined in those two years, but on very few (just 25) throws. During those years, the Chargers never had a No. 4 or 5 receiver break 100 yards.

By contrast, the Bengals threw 62 times for 800 yards to their No. 3's in the last 2 seasons (Henry and Kwash). They had a No. 4 with more than 100 yards in 04 (Warrick) and a No. 4 and 5 with more than 100 yards this season (Walter & Kwash).

[richmond_mat]

The Coryell angle had gotten me thinking. And I'm wondering where the TE went. Didn't the chargers use Winslow extensively back then? So I'm a bit confused on how Brat is running the Coryell offense.

Nothing is ever an exact duplicate. Brat certainly doesn't use the TE as effectively as the Coryell Chargers did in their best years (1980-82), but then again he doesn't have The F**kin' Soldier's poppa to play with. Brat uses more WRs that the original Coryell scheme did, while keeping the TE in to block.

For example, in 1981, Winslow's first big year, SD had 2 1,000+ yard wideouts. Their No. 3 WR had 4 catches for 48 yards. In 81 and 82, their No. 3 guy was Dwight Scales, who caught for 534 yards combined in those two years, but on very few (just 25) throws. During those years, the Chargers never had a No. 4 or 5 receiver break 100 yards.

By contrast, the Bengals threw 62 times for 800 yards to their No. 3's in the last 2 seasons (Henry and Kwash). They had a No. 4 with more than 100 yards in 04 (Warrick) and a No. 4 and 5 with more than 100 yards this season (Walter & Kwash).

If we have to live with Brat next season then I do want a TE that can PLAY. Maybe then they can duplicate the great chargers offense of '79-'83. I also point out that despite all their great offense the Chargers didn't get to the super bowl.