Arkansas Bengal Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Andrew Whitworth among those who believe Bengals need swagger reclamation CINCINNATI -- Andrew Whitworth has played a key role in the attitude adjustment that has occurred in the Cincinnati Bengals' locker room in recent years. His leadership has helped the Bengals go from perennial league laughingstock and daily fodder for police blotters, to a better behaved, regular postseason contender. But as much positive change as he has seen the past 10 years, the Pro Bowl offensive tackle believes something is missing. "We need some -- young kids now call it swagger -- but we need some of that ability to have a confidence in us that says, 'You know what? It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from or how good the football team is we're playing, we're really good, too, and we're going to bring it and you better stop it,'" Whitworth said. "We need a little of that attitude." If he says it, it must be true. Although the Bengals have made it to the wild-card round of the playoffs the past four years, 24 have passed since the franchise won a playoff game. In that time, Cincinnati has had just six winning seasons. Five came with Marvin Lewis serving as head coach, and four happened under Whitworth's watch. During many of those losing years, the locker room was replete with individual swagger. T.J. Houshmandzadeh for example, a receiver on the 2001-08 teams, relished letting his cornerbacks know they couldn't beat him in practice. "When I came in it was sort of learn on your own, a do-what-you-want-to-do type of thing," said Houshmandzadeh, who joined the coaching staff last week for a two-week internship. Whitworth spent three seasons with Houshmandzadeh and remembered the receiver's practice chatter as a tactic he used to boost his confidence, and in turn, his play. A seventh-round draft choice, expectations weren't universally high for Houshmandzadeh. "A lot of the guys we have have always had the skill set to play in the NFL, but are they going to play tough enough and gritty enough and be relentless with the competition?" Whitworth said. "That's the way T.J. was. Every day in practice was almost a fight because he was going to get that football and he was going to get open and he was going to fight for position every single snap. "The fire and tenacity he played the game with is something that definitely can carry on." Make no mistake, the Bengals currently have players who play with fire and tenacity, but the locker room confrontations are less frequent. Aside from a couple of notable exceptions, players now aren't as brash in the way they hold each other accountable. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson has been on a mission the past two years to reclaim a touch of that abrasiveness. He got A.J. Green speaking up a little more last year, and encouraged Andy Dalton to be more vocal offensively, too. He also encouraged Jeremy Hill's touchdown celebrations, and wanted Rex Burkhead's gritty practice habits replicated. "Hue's touched on grit and adversity and toughness and being able to adapt," Whitworth said. "The real thing you can adapt to is the football game, and rise to the occasion when a great play needs to be made. Or make a great play when you're tired and you have to grit it up and make the next play exhausted." Whitworth believes that style of play can be learned, but "at some point a guy has to click it on and say, 'That's what I want to do.'" Can the Bengals reclaim their old swagger while also building upon recent success? That's a question Whitworth, among others, hopes will be answered affirmatively. http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/17621/andrew-whitworth-among-those-who-believe-bengals-need-swagger-reclamation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Our defense once had swagger, but I don't remember the offense having swagger for an entire season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalBacker Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Damn guys, I really hate to do this, don't want to turn it into a Dalton thread, but here it goes. I've always supported him. I think he's been MUCH better than we had any right to expect. His accomplishments probably make him the most successful QB we've EVER had. That being said, Whit is right, and it has to start with the QB. Everyone on offense takes their cue from the QB, he sets the tone. He's obviously found Jesus, he needs to tap into Satan just a little bit. I don't want to hear him say "dang it" when he's mic'd up and he misses a throw, or someone misses the catch. I want to hear him say "FUCK". "YOU HAVE TO CATCH THAT FUCKING BALL GOD DAMN IT!" I don't want to hear him to say in the tunnel before a playoff game, "let's go have fun". I want to hear him say "LET'S GO RIP THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF AND KNOCK THEIR DICKS IN THE DIRT!" I think he should shave that Frisch's Big Boy hair off his head, grow out his beard, and become the Red Menace instead of the Red Rifle. He needs to get pissed about all the trash that's talked about him and he needs to get mean and prove everyone wrong. Even if this new approach doesn't technically improve his game, it will inspire and improve everyone around him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I don't think the offense has had swagger since Boomer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I don't care what Whit calls it, they just need to get the shit done in the post season. Sounds like it's in their heads, which isn't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkansas Bengal Posted June 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I don't think the offense has had swagger since Boomer. When they had Chad and Housh, they definitely had some swagger. I remember them calling out Joey Porter before the Pissburgh game and then Housh shining his shoes with their piss rag after the win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|westside bengal| Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Marvin Lewis will suck the swagger out of any team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 "Let's have fun and play together!" (Said in two octaves lower than previous years). Mission accomplished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I never really associated chad and housh with swagger per se. Agree that last offense I have seen around these parts with that was boomer and the offense in late 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Whit remains, as ever, the inflated bag of talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Same ole same ole from the same guy. With the same results. No one offers greater proof that the team needs new offensive leadership more than Whit himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I know Chad and TJ needed to celebrate their TDs more or start a check list of CBs that couldn't cover them. No swag there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I tend to associate swag with the Qb. He is what drives an offenses identity. And the last one that was that driver was boomer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Marvin Lewis will suck the swagger out of any team. Marvin likes to preach about how a team is what it's record says it is. Bengals act exactly like a team with a miserable post season record. They know they're good but they also know they're not great and they act accordingly. That said, asking Dalton and Green to assume a more vocal leadership role makes sense and in Green's example should have been done earlier. Recalling the clown shoe days of Ocho Ego it's perfectly understandable if Bengal fans have mixed feelings about encouraging TD celebrations. But most NFL players aren't wired like Chad. That said, if the Bengals are going to amp up the swagger they'll need to continue infusing their roster with young players who feed emotionally off of making a big play. For example, Dre Kirkpatrick comes to mind. Terrence Newman does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 Am I the only one hoping that the Dre/Dennard thing is less either/or but AND? It would be nice to have them as bookends. They have demonstrated both the fire and the playmaking ability that I want more of all over this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBandJoeyV Posted June 16, 2015 Report Share Posted June 16, 2015 I agree with backer but I don't think it's a dalton thing as much as it is amarvin thing. Look at Carson when he was here. He didn't have that "swagger" either and after throwing a td would just throw a finger in the air and walk off. Dalton shows a little more emotion but not much. Neither compare to the emotion Brady shows and I think it helps Brady. I think it all goes back to marvins even keeled approach of not getting too high or too low. It helps sometimes but hurts other times such as big games where other teams come Out fired up and we don't. I was hoping hue would bring some swag to the offense and hopefully we will find some this year. Hill brings some but we need dalton to bring some as well and a little from green would be nice too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhowdy54 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 2009 was a swagger year for the offense. 5 lineman + Dennis Roland at TE. There was no stopping Cedric Benson that year. Think he rushed the ball 400 times that year and swept through the division 6-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo Montoya Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Swagger is overrated, IMO. Besides, I don't see Andy and AJ turning into something they are not. Neither guy is a "rah rah" type but that isn't the problem with the offense. They need to play cleaner, smarter football across the board. It's not about confidence as much cutting down on our own mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 One unit or the other can provide the swagger for the team. Certainly, Ray Lewis and the Baltimore defense provided all of the swagger for the Ratbirds. I think Taze was starting that process here and if you add in some of the characters on defense the unit was starting to make a name for themselves in 2013. Geno gets hurt, Taze goes down and we lost it last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullichicken25 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 I could die happy never hearing the word swagger again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 I could die happy never hearing the word swagger again I'd say fantasy football & social media are about 50% of what's wrong with the NFL - the other 50% being the league itself and the guy pretending to be in charge of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dautcom08 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 If swagger equates to turning the ball over less on offense and limiting the bonehead penalties I'm all for it. Other than the head coach's ability to prep and adjust game plan, that's the only thing holding this team back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Nothing helps swagger of an offensive unit like gaining more yards and scoring more points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Fan Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 One unit or the other can provide the swagger for the team. Certainly, Ray Lewis and the Baltimore defense provided all of the swagger for the Ratbirds. I think Taze was starting that process here and if you add in some of the characters on defense the unit was starting to make a name for themselves in 2013. Geno gets hurt, Taze goes down and we lost it last year. Agreed...and I think it's best the defense use it rather than the offense. Nothing wrong with your D having an attitude to kick ass while the offense is a bit more concerned with execution than totally destroying your objective. Well at least not the guys not on the LOS, they can still kick ass and destroy :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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