Did Bengals under-perform in 2016, or was it the beginning of a decline?

[oldschooler]

• Katherine TerrellESPN Staff Writer

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CINCINNATI -- We're bringing back the Bengals Twitter mailbag, offseason edition, this week. I've decided to expand on one question that has been asked often this year:

 

 

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Donald Bollman @DonaldBollman

@Kat_Terrell Do U think that the past year was an aberration, a team with a lotof talent that under performed, or the beginning of trend?

9:26 PM - 25 Jan 2017

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Cincinnati was 1-6-1 in games decided by 8 points or fewer this season, compared to 6-3 under those circumstances last year. Combine that with the Bengals' kicking problems, and it seems that they could have been much better than they were this season. For whatever reason, the offense and defense could rarely both perform up to standard on the same day.

Does this mean the team is on the decline? It's hard to say, as NFL teams vary so much from year to year with roster turnover. But the Bengals certainly have the right pieces in place. The more likely answer is that they aren't far off from being in contention again, but they just need to tweak some things.

It was a frustrating season for the Bengals, but the players clearly continued to fight even after being eliminated. That's notable because it disputes the notion that Marvin Lewis lost his locker room. While Lewis hasn't been able to take this team past the first round of the playoffs, he is still in a position to get there.

Let's examine the Bengals, position by position, as we look to the 2017 season:

An unreliable running game and struggling offensive line put undue pressure on Andy Dalton to do more with less. Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports

QUARTERBACK: Andy Dalton had an underrated season, considering what he had to work with. A new offensive coordinator and a struggling offensive line had major impacts on the Bengals offense. Cincinnati couldn't establish a reliable run game to take some pressure off the quarterback's shoulders. While Dalton's passing statistics were a bit inflated, because the team had to pass so much to account for playing from behind, his accuracy has continued to stay up and his interceptions have been cut down. Dalton has his critics, and he wasn't perfect this season, but he was also put in the position of doing more with less.

PASS CATCHERS: The team lost two of its core receivers and added two new ones in Brandon LaFell and Tyler Boyd. It's no wonder it took some time to establish chemistry here. The Bengals have one of the best receivers in the league in A.J. Green, but this is not a team that can put all of the load on his shoulders. The addition of Boyd as a slot receiver helped, but Cincinnati needs to add another piece.

The Bengals had almost no time with both a healthy Tyler Eifert and Green, which makes a big difference. Had they both been around all season, perhaps the storyline would have been different.

RUNNING BACK: For whatever reason, this was an inconsistent unit. It didn't help that Jeremy Hill dealt with a shoulder injury all season and Giovani Bernard tore his ACL. Rex Burkhead was impressive toward the end of the season, but he will likely leave in free agency instead of re-signing with Cincinnati as a backup. This position doesn't necessarily need an overhaul, particularly if the problem was the offensive line, but this area does need to be examined closely.

OFFENSIVE LINE: This unit struggled heavily and has major concerns going forward. The Bengals likely expected more out of their 2015 first- and second-round tackles. Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher were supposed to be the tackles of the future, but they haven't shown that going into Year 3. Add in the possibility of losing both Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler, and this unit could be a mess next year.

But to be on the optimistic side, Ogubehi has never had a full offseason to get settled, which could make a major difference. The Bengals still have optimism they'll see the improvement they hoped for during this season.

If Cincinnati retains Zeitler and Whitworth, and Fisher and Ogbuehi take steps forward, then perhaps this unit reverts back to what it was in 2015. That's a big "if," though. This should be the No. 1 priority for fixing, and there are just too many unknowns here.

SECONDARY: The Bengals have two solid starters at safety, in George Ilokaand Shawn Williams. Cornerback is a little more of a question. Adam Jones will be 34 when the season begins and is facing a potential suspension due to violation of the league's personal conduct policy, while Dre Kirkpatrick is about to be a free agent. The Bengals' 2016 first-rounder, William Jackson III, has never played, but the team remains high on him. It's possible Jackson could be taking one of those two positions next season.

DEFENSIVE LINE: The Bengals need to upgrade here at certain spots. Geno Atkins is one of the best defensive tackles in the league, andCarlos Dunlap is solid at defensive end, but the team needs a better pass rush. Additionally, Domata Peko is 32. The Bengals might have an in-house replacement there inAndrew Billings, who was injured this season and didn't play. But they are going to have to eye a pass-rusher either in free agency or the draft, as they simply didn't get the job done there this season. It's not a total overhaul that's required, but they do need some upgrades.

LINEBACKERS: The Bengals have one linebacker of the future in Vontaze Burfict, but they need to revamp the rest of the linebacking corps. Karlos Dansby was a one-year plug-in here, and Rey Maualuga seemed to take a step back. While Vincent Rey played very well when filling in for Burfict, this is definitely a position of need.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Bengals lost several games because of their kicker, and there's no doubt they need to start looking for their kicker of the future. They cannot afford to go through what they went through last season, so kicker should be a priority heading into the offseason.

 

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/26016/did-bengals-under-perform-in-2016-or-is-it-the-beginning-of-a-decline

[Le Tigre]

Kind of a water-is-wet analysis, but it's the consensus we have seen here. 

And to stay out of the expected "but..but..but the coach(es)!" retorts, this past season was an aberration and not the end. 

[fredtoast]

Bengals are close to being one of the better teams in the league, but they are also close to being a losing team again.

We don't have elite talent and coaching, but we don't have garbage talent and coaching.

O-line was the only thing that kept us from being a playoff team last year, but "playoff team" only means top 12 and we need to get better than that.

[turningpoint]

2 minutes ago, fredtoast said:

Bengals are close to being one of the better teams in the league, but they are also close to being a losing team again.

We don't have elite talent and coaching, but we don't have garbage talent and coaching.

O-line was the only thing that kept us from being a playoff team last year, but "playoff team" only means top 12 and we need to get better than that.

Pretty much this.

 

Also I think our inability to get off the field on 3rd down on defense.

[UncleEarl]

The Bengals, and pretty much every team in the league, depend upon developing or signing players to fill their holes.  As players age they have to be replaced.  As the original post points out there are several areas that need improvement.  Offensive line and LB stand out the most.  Where are these guys going to come from?  Will the young CBs step up?  They will need to as I expect either Jones or Kirkpatrick to be gone.  If the Bengals plug these holes effectively they could be right back in the hunt.  If they don't we can get used to seasons like we just watched, or worse.

[Bleeds Orange]

I don't know as much football Xs and Os and some of you guys, but having a kicker that could make reasonable kicks would have reversed two losses and one tie, so that would have put them at 9-7.  They were so very close in three other games, so win one or two of those and you're a playoff team yet again.

Again, technical aspects aside, I think it came down to lack of a kicker and lack of desire or focus at key points in the game.   I'm also not convinced there wasn't a hangover from that playoff game debacle, as well.  Get a decent kicker and regain the intensity and they'll be back.  But with Marvin Lewis as the head coach, "back" just means 11-5 and a first-round playoff disaster.  That's as good as it's going to get until there is a new head coach.

[T-Dub]

16 hours ago, Bleeds Orange said:

I don't know as much football Xs and Os and some of you guys, but having a kicker that could make reasonable kicks would have reversed two losses and one tie, so that would have put them at 9-7. 

 

The decision to suffer with Nugent for so long doomed them as much as anything. 

[Hooky]

17 hours ago, Bleeds Orange said:

I don't know as much football Xs and Os and some of you guys, but having a kicker that could make reasonable kicks would have reversed two losses and one tie, so that would have put them at 9-7.  They were so very close in three other games, so win one or two of those and you're a playoff team yet again.

Again, technical aspects aside, I think it came down to lack of a kicker and lack of desire or focus at key points in the game.   I'm also not convinced there wasn't a hangover from that playoff game debacle, as well.  Get a decent kicker and regain the intensity and they'll be back.  But with Marvin Lewis as the head coach, "back" just means 11-5 and a first-round playoff disaster.  That's as good as it's going to get until there is a new head coach.

Agree. They weren't that bad. It seems like most of their losses were similar to games that they found a way to win last season. We could rationalize that they weren't going to go all the way anyway and they get to draft in the top 10 for the first time since they picked AJ.

[omgdrdoom]

39 minutes ago, Hooky said:

Agree. They weren't that bad. It seems like most of their losses were similar to games that they found a way to win last season. We could rationalize that they weren't going to go all the way anyway and they get to draft in the top 10 for the first time since they picked AJ.

As frustrating as it was to watch all of the losses, especially how some of them happened, I'm not all that mad about this past season for that reason.

We've watched the team make the playoffs for 5 straight years and always have that low 20's pick after getting bounced from the WC round. Now we have the chance to grab a playmaker who can start immediately and make an impact on the team for next year, and we still have our "young" core together for another couple of seasons.

If this team doesn't make a serious run within a couple of years, it's going to be sad to start watching Dalton, Green, Dunlap, Atkins, Bernard, Whit, Boling, Iloka, and Burfict all leaving the team for one reason or another piece by piece and not seeing any of that talent do anything meaningful in Cincinnati.