What were you honestly expecting from your Cincinnati Bengals before the season started. Like right after the Pre Season was over and when we started at NE this year, what were you thinking is going to happen this year? Me personally I was thinking Superbowl or Bust for me! I honestly believe and I say Believe not Believed that this team is capable of going all the way if they can get their heads outta their ARSE!!!!! Well, I don't want to get too much into what needs to be done cause that is not the topic here, but what were are still are your expectations for this team or have you changed your mind completely.

I personally thought we were gonna be awesome.

Maybe a little blind homerism, but I think the problem is guys just havent performed to the
level they are capable of and its all adding up.

I dont think its necessarily that I overvalue guys as much as I think it is that guys have
underperformed.


For example:
Carson is a pro bowl qb and he isnt playing like one. I thought in the beginning of the year he would.
Chad pretty much same thing.
Running game was great last year now up until TB it hasnt been that great. Is that because things
have changed so much since last year? No its just that we are underperforming.

Defensively we were a top 5 unit last year. I dont think there was any reason to expect we wouldnt
be again. We currently arent playing like a top 5 unit. Is that because we dont have the skill
to be a top 5 unit? I dont think so. I think we do have the skill we are just underperforming.


So to sum it up, I had high expecatations for this team, and I dont think I was overvaluing them
I just think they are underperforming.

If the team can come out and play to its potential we could still make the playoffs.

Next 3 weeks are huge, if we go 3-0 or 2-1 I think we are still right in it. 1-2 or 0-3 and its
pretty much done.

I thought our defense would be awesome this year. I thought our offense would be better, but I had concerns because 75% of the main targets for Carson are in their first year with the team. That said, I thought this team would win the division again and that the offense would be playing well enough by the end of the season to be real Super Bowl contenders.

I thought we were going to be Super Bowl contenders, not super blunders. Much of the public expected us to be a contender as well.

The talent is there. The heads of the players are not. The OLine leaves a lot to be desired and what the hell happened to the defense?

It's as if this entire team lost its focus.

Good coaches don't let that happen.

Marvin and Carson have taken this team as far as it's going to go.

Pretty much what everyone else is saying..

Super Bowl contenders...

Expected the defense to knock people the fuck out... top 5...
expected Carson to be playing at a pro-bowl level.. with the new weapons added..
expected the o-line to be a little better than last year.. thought titties would be balling at right tackle

It's not over yet... I know they can get the ship righted and get it going... they just have to start now...


WHO-DEY

Truthfully... I felt like from a skill position standpoint we were good enough to win it all...

but felt like with some of the line potential issues, concern at the kicking position, and the tough 1st place schedule we'd be right around the 10 win area and win a playoff game or two.

I didn't really believe we'd win the Super Bowl... as I think to get to that point your team has to be peaking at the right time, with the right amount of luck thrown in... that is just too hard for any team to count on.


As the season has gone... kicking game has far-exceeded my expectations, however the skill position play has not.

Going forward, I'm tempering my expectations / hopes at this point because unless something drastic happens with the play we've got maybe 6-7 wins... that way I won't be disappointed. If this team gets its collective head out of its ass and shows up and plays to the talent that they're putting out there and everyone is playing as a team and pulling the rope in the same direction this team can make hay and win plenty enough for playoffs and beyond.

I'll just keep my expectations low and if the other happens - be ecstatically surprised.

A top five offence
Carson back to being Carson
An O line that was better
and new toys at WR
Winning games before the end of the third Quarter - so we could take a knee and end the game
A deep playoff run.....
drinking more koolaid and less beer....
NOW.....
Hoping for a good last eleven games and a prayer for a Wild Card shot at the playoffs.....
oh... and drinking more beer and less koolaid......

As stated, on paper the team looked like it had positioned itself for a SB run. And, had all things fallen into place, a decent shot at it.

However, the schedule looked tough, and even tougher now.

I started to get sense of trouble during pre-season when yet again the Offense just wasn't executing well. O-line was a worry but I figured they pulled it together last year, they would do it again. CP looked ok, it was the "timing", getting used to each other and stuff that I just wasn't confident in. Now CP looks like JP out there with the poor decision making.

Penalties, really! this hasn't been fixed yet. Now I believe they get "false start" called against them out of habit.

I thought the Defense was looking good, a few weakness (LB's in coverage), but that Zim's scheme and new ability to pressure and get to the QB would cover that up. Saw flasheds from the rook's that was encouraging.

Realistically, and I can't point to a post where I asserted anything, not my schtick, but it was really looking like an 9-7 season with a couple of breaks that could make it 11 wins. But they just gave up two of those. I still think 9-7 is doable, but they'll be watching the playoffs instead of being in them. To get in, they'll need to get to 10 wins, I doubt they can win 11, and hope that the rest of the mid leavel AFC teams falter down the stretch.

Playoff victories with Super Bowl potential. There's such parity, even at the top, that this wasn't a stretch. Let's hope for a big run. 13-3 is mathematically possible.

I just thought we'd be 4-1 at the bye...

I saw a 10-6, possibly 11-5 team. Better than last year, but harder schedule.


I still see all the talent there that I expected to see, but I see a team that is not currently as mentally tough as it was last year and unlike last year, a team that is still trying to find its identity. Chad even said it in an interview today.


Last year they were a pass first offense (despite what the media tells you) before Chris Henry got hurt. After he got hurt they became a very heavy run first offense. They were 5-2 going into the game Henry got hurt in. 4-5 in games after Chris Henry got hurt.

So in 2009 they were:

5-2 as a pass first offense

4-5 as a run first offense


They are still deciding what they want to be in 2010.

Thought they'd be 4-1 by now. Had 'em 12-4 for the year as AFCN champion. Bummer !

certainly never saw the o-line being so terrible with no new additions...... oh wait...

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1287012740' post='930713']
certainly never saw the o-line being so terrible with no new additions...... oh wait...
[/quote]
Yeah you were right but...

I knew the schedule would be tough but never did I dream we we would lose to the Browns and Bucs. I figured us at 10-6. I thought we would continue to run the ball and the passing game would be a little more effective. The d has taken a step back, the o-line isn't playing up to par, and Carson isn't helping matters. Add it up and if there is no turnaround someone needs to be held accountable. Who?

[quote name='Jeff Blake' timestamp='1287015720' post='930733']
[b]I knew the schedule would be tough but never did I dream we we would lose to the Browns and Bucs.[/b] I figured us at 10-6. I thought we would continue to run the ball and the passing game would be a little more effective. The d has taken a step back, the o-line isn't playing up to par, and Carson isn't helping matters. Add it up and if there is no turnaround someone needs to be held accountable. Who?
[/quote]


I never thought the Bucs and Chiefs would be 3-1, Dallas and Minnesota 1-3, Chicago 4-1, and the Jags 3-2.


Everyone left on the schedule is beatable. It's a matter of which Bengals team shows up.

Before the season started, or right after the preseason? By that point we knew Andre Smith wasn't in the mix and they looked to be struggling to throw the ball. I noticed they were throwin it a lot but figured they were trying to break in new guys. Still figured we'd win the division and at least do a little damage in the playoffs. I never really "expect" a SB shot, since for one there's a lot of luck involved (injuries etc) and for another, well.. More and more I feel like games are.. Eh, not necessarily fixed, but it seems like the big money making franchises get a little "help" along the way. Or at the very least that the Bengals and a few other teams are more useful as league punchline and whipping boy for the guys running the show. When the prevailing attitude toward the team is negative, the close calls are always going to go against us, that's known as "observer bias", we see what we expect to see rather than whats there. That's a demonstrable thing. Also I think TO & Chad are pretty much hated by the league, which is why we are seeing all these PI no-calls against them. But that's all another topic.

I'd still like to think playoffs are possible but really? Right now, this team looks like 8-8 would be a stretch.

We overachieved last year (Mainly Def) and the soft schedule made us look better then what we really were. A few games could've been loses last year but we ended up pulling it out. We even had a hard time putting bad teams away. we are no way close to being a playoff team. We can't beat the Brown nor the Bucs, you gotta be kidding me. Being from NY, if this was the JETS or the GIANTS, you would've seen some firing going on around here a long time ago.

Coming into the season I expected us to be 4-1 at the bye or at least 3-2. I thought we'd probably lose to the Pats and I always have concerns about Cleveland.

I expected #9 to be tan, rested and ready. With the loss of Chris Henry I was overjoyed that we got TO. I thought with Chad on one side, TO on the other and Benson in the back, also with the addition of a decent TE, that the offense would be pretty much unstoppable.

I expected the D to be a well oiled machine with JJO and Hall. I also expected Maualuga to be in gear for his second season. After the ladder climb last season I thought this year would be one super defensive season.

Every season I hope for the SB so that isn't anything new, but this year I thought we had a legitimate shot. I'm not going to put a fork in the season just yet but my expectations have dropped considerably.
MULLY

I expected playoffs just about but was worried about the lack of depth at safety and that teams would exploit the middle of the field against the defense.
That much has rung true thus far.

I also expected the oline to play even better than last year, given they're one year on and still the same personnel.
That has been a major disappointment.

I expected about 9-7 or 10-6 given the schedule.
That looks like a pipe dream right now.

On the whole, I expected a lot of good things from the team this year, but I always had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach whilst thinking it, because I know it's the Bengals.

Playoff win.

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1287015924' post='930734']
I never thought the Bucs and Chiefs would be 3-1, Dallas and Minnesota 1-3, Chicago 4-1, and the Jags 3-2.


Everyone left on the schedule is beatable. It's a matter of which Bengals team shows up.
[/quote]

I am done for awhile speaking in the past tense...as though this were March instead of October.

It's a new season every Sunday. The new season begins on October 24th. Crawl before you walk and all of that. Win it...get to 3-3. Wait for the next new season the following Sunday.

As you say...surprises happen every year. For the new season...let's be one of the positive surprises.

[quote name='EnglishBengal' timestamp='1287084487' post='930915']
I always had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach whilst thinking it, because I know it's the Bengals.
[/quote]

Not to single you out or anything - on the contrary really - because the prevalence of this attitude I think has as much to do with the team's fortunes as anything else. When everyone expects them to fail, how can everyone act so disappointed when they do?

My thinking was the same as last season. That being, the Bengals are not a good team and vastly overrated. That is the main reason why I have greatly cut back posting as I became labeled in a negative light.

First I want to again give credit to the 09 coaching staff for putting together a gimmick offense (overloaded line sets and player rotations)that masked weakness and took a poor team to the post season. That ball control O helped limit the Defense and made them look much better than they were but it ran out of gas the last 4-5 weeks as teams figured it out.

In the 2010 offseason someone decided to go and get eye candy. Blowing $8 million on Brandt, signing TO, drafting Grisham/Shipley. Yes, these are good players, maybe great players. However --- this game is now and will always be won in the trenches and no impact player was brought to sure up the oline, defensive front 7 and safety position.

The oline was bad last year especailly in pass protection and we went and signed a bunch of skill guys. Based on the signings of the skill guys and the lack of success in late 09 it could be predicted they would try to open up the offense. However, they forgot to add talent in the oline. They put all those eggs in the Smith basket and thus far have nothing but rotten eggs to show for it.

On D they do not get pressure with the Dline, the lbers are poor in coverage and safety is again an issue. Yes, we signed a safety that was lost for the year but I don't see one journeyman signing as a team actively and agressively recognizing a need and addressing it. These things were all true last season and became apparent in the last 4- 5 weeks but everyone seemed to ignor it.

At the end of the day ------- if you are not getting better, you are getting worse and this team got no better in the positions that were their weaknesses in 09 (oline, D front 7 and safety). Combine that with a first place schedule and this could get ugly.

I hope they can turn it around over the bye week. A key to getting better fast is getting Smith to become the player he was drafted to be. Can it happen? Will it happen?

[quote name='Le Tigre' timestamp='1287099075' post='930960']
I am done for awhile speaking in the past tense...as though this were March instead of October.

It's a new season every Sunday. The new season begins on October 24th. Crawl before you walk and all of that. Win it...get to 3-3. Wait for the next new season the following Sunday.

As you say...surprises happen every year. For the new season...let's be one of the positive surprises.
[/quote]
Perfectly stated!