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Zimmer off the pedestal


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Last year our D was great or was up till the later part of the season and hasn't been that good since. We're not in the top 10 in ANY category except INTs, hell,14th isn't going to win many championships, but pretty close to the top 10 in tackles at 12th which is NOT a good one to be in because it means the D is on the field FAR to long.
This begs the question just how much is Zimmers head into this team? Almost none at all anymore ever since his wife died. I like Zimmer, don't get me wrong, but like and think he should be HC is quite a different thing. Dave Shula is probably a helluva nice guy too, but HC material he aint and neither is Zimmer. Our D is sinking quick and being held together with talented players alone, but the coaching is leaving a lot to be desired.
Instead of browbeating Brat for the O, which by the way is 9th in YPG it's time to start questioning Zimmer and stop giving him the perennial free pass until the D is perennially great! It's NOT. Right now the D sucks.. They've given up more points than the offense has scored. They're in the top 10 in 1 category, INTs where we're tied for 5th with 7 other teams..I think it's time to begin giving Zimmer the heat. He's leading a really poor D right now.
And people want us to make Zimmer the HC.. [size="7"][b]WHY? [/b][/size]
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Two things come to mind off the top of my head.

1. Saying the defense has allowed more points than the offense has scored is less of an indictment on the defense than it is on the offense.

2. The defense has been forced to blitz more this year than last it seems. Peko and friends aren't rushing the QB near as well this year as they did last year. I haven't done a case by case study of this, but watching the games, this has been my impression.
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The defense hasn't been awesome or anything.... but how many points has the offense given opposing defenses... two pick sixes and there is also a kick return for a TD in there...

I think the defense has been better than the offense.. not as many stupid mistakes and penalties...
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[quote name='StripedCrusader' timestamp='1286997635' post='930621']
Maybe so, but giving Zim the free pass while Brat is browbeaten relentlessly is plain silly..
[/quote]

Zimmer gets a free pass because he does not have a track record of failure (with the Bengals) a mile long [b]or is [/b]associated with being part of the problem for as long as Brat.
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does anyone feel like looking into time of possession stats vs last season?

I bet the D has spent some more time on the field per game this year than last

although not playing excellent, i think the D has put the team in position to win games, but the offense couldnt follow through (besides the raping that occured in week 1)
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[quote name='mullichicken25' timestamp='1286998192' post='930627']
does anyone feel like looking into time of possession stats vs last season?

I bet the D has spent some more time on the field per game this year than last

although not playing excellent, i think the D has put the team in position to win games, but the offense couldnt follow through (besides the raping that occured in week 1)
[/quote]

[url]http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/average-time-of-possession-net-of-ot[/url]

[quote](2009)31:38 (2010) 32:15[/quote]

Apparently, we have a higher Time of Possession this year than last year.

Bengals ranked 8th in 2009 and currently rank 5th in 2010.
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[quote name='Numbers' timestamp='1286999883' post='930638']
[url="http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/average-time-of-possession-net-of-ot"]http://www.teamranki...ssion-net-of-ot[/url]



Apparently, we have a higher Time of Possession this year than last year.

Bengals ranked 8th in 2009 and currently rank 5th in 2010.
[/quote]

:lol:

I wouldn't put too much stock into TOP for our offense this season...heck, we had a 16 play drive against either the Browns or Panthers that resulted in...a punt.

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TOP is meaningless. We are throwing more than last year so our TOP should go down a little.

D line is the problem on D. Zimmer can not get ANY pressure on the QB unless he blitzes. Sooner or later any half decent O coordinator will call the right play and burn us for a big gain. Not sure what he can do different. We rush 4 and their QB has all day to throw. We blitz and there are gaps and single coverage issues. Keep in mind if our blitzing players are picked up we are really exposed and that happens all too frequently.
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A big piece of the problem is that the D-line isn't doing its job either in the run or the pass. A quick Football Outsiders stat comparison:

2008
Opponents' power success: 64% (12th best)
Adjusted sack rate: 3.6% (31st)

2009
Opponents' power success: 74% (29th)
Adjusted sack rate: 5.4% (28th)

2010 so far
Opponents' power success: 90% (32nd)
Adjusted sack rate: 3.9% (30th)

Source: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl
Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer.

The last time our run D was good was 2008. The supposedly good run D last year was due to being ahead and not allowing long runs (least amount of yards given up 10+ yards past the line of scrimmage). The pass rush has sucked generally, aside from Odom's breakout season last year before getting injured. This year Odom looks completely ineffective.

So here's the problem. What's the solution? We have two supposedly solid starters in Peko and Tank who aren't going anywhere for awhile. We have a slightly disappointing former 3rd round pick in Sims, who might be in his last season here. We have a promising undersized DT in Geno, which is the one bright spot. What about DE? At least one of Odom or Geathers better not be starting next year unless they improve significantly. Despite great athletic ability, MJ doesn't seem like a great pass rusher. We know nothing about Dunlap. Frostee and Fanene are quality backups who can fill in but if they're worse than Odom and Geathers, should they really be on the roster? We need some better D-linemen soon, and they're going to have to take the places of some of the guys who have been here awhile.
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[quote name='SlantNGo' timestamp='1287001287' post='930648']
We have a promising undersized DT in Geno, which is the one bright spot.
[/quote]

He doesn't play enough. Kid makes plays when he gets his rare chances though.

DE is a fucking disaster. We've needed a playmaking pass rusher at that position since...well, forever. And we still seem to not have one.
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[quote name='Bunghole' timestamp='1287000504' post='930644']
:lol:

I wouldn't put too much stock into TOP for our offense this season...heck, we had a 16 play drive against either the Browns or Panthers that resulted in...a punt.
[/quote]

The other reason not to put too much stock into time of possession is that we've already had 3 plays (2 pick sixes and a kickoff return TD) where we basically had "back to back" offensive possessions.

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[quote name='Bunghole' timestamp='1287000504' post='930644']
:lol:

I wouldn't put too much stock into TOP for our offense this season...heck, we had a 16 play drive against either the Browns or Panthers that resulted in...a punt.
[/quote]

A perfect example would be Dallas.

Dallas has the highest Time of Possession with 34:11 and has about an 8th ranked defense (in regards to yards allowed). However, they are still with a 1-3 record.

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[quote name='Bunghole' timestamp='1287001549' post='930651']
He doesn't play enough. Kid makes plays when he gets his rare chances though.

DE is a fucking disaster. We've needed a playmaking pass rusher at that position since...well, forever. And we still seem to not have one.
[/quote]

This guys isn't bad:

[url="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJu20.htm"]Decent DE[/url]
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[quote name='McBallerson' timestamp='1287006927' post='930679']
But he said "play making, pass rusher."
[/quote]

Whaaatt!!!?? Dude has a HUGE motor. 2 sacks in 5 games with 17 tackles is WAY better than anything on our line.
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[quote name='Bengal Cat' timestamp='1287017771' post='930739']
I agree the D-line is whats keeping this defense from being one of the best. No pass rush is the biggest thing. But for some reason they are missing more gap assignments against the run so far this year.
[/quote]

Well, we also need upgrades at MLB and Safety too.
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[quote name='SF2' timestamp='1287014514' post='930726']
Whaaatt!!!?? Dude has a HUGE motor. 2 sacks in 5 games with 17 tackles is WAY better than anything on our line.
[/quote]

if you don't remember his last year here i'll recap it. franchise tagged and paid 4 million a sack. 2 sacks in 16 games, he can't help us he's a better fit in san fran anyway
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D hasn't been quite the same since Odom went out last season.

Did Odom make it back into the game on Sunday?


The other thing that always should be considered is points from/after turnovers. Not only did our O put 7 points on the board for TB with the pick 6, but two other turnovers set up 10 more points. In other words, the D gave up one real drive that wasn't from a quick change of possession. (3 x TO = 17 points)

Our D, on the other hand, created 3 turnovers, which was turned into 11 points for the Bengals (3 x TO = 11 points (1 FG, 1 TD = 2pt conv))


So what do I take away from that? Our D does a fine job when they're not stuck coming onto the fielt to clean up the offense's fuckups. They allowed only a whopping 7 points that were not off of turnovers.


Seems to me we're back at pointing the finger at the underachieving offense. ;)

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