PatternMaster Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 21. CINCINNATI BENGALS Bengals coach Marvin Lewis More Additions: Two of the most explosive players in this draft arrived with question marks: WR John Ross (4.22 speed but oft-injured) and RB Joe Mixon (dogged by the ugly assault of a woman in 2014). They could remake this offense if they leave their pasts in the past … Pass-rusher Jordan Willis was projected by some to go low in the first round of the 2017 draft; Cincinnati got him in the third. Subtractions: Reliable LT Andrew Whitworth left for the Rams in free agency; Jake Fisher gets the first shot to replace him … Versatile RB Rex Burkhead, wisely, jumped to New England … G Kevin Zeitler broke the bank in Cleveland … Starting LB Karlos Dansby went home to Arizona, while veteran and trusted DL Domata Peko moved to Denver. Key coaching/front-office moves: None of note. Decisive schedule span: The first five weeks, followed by the bye. If the Bengals aren’t at least 3-2 after Baltimore, Houston, at Green Bay, at Cleveland, Buffalo, it’s going to be a long year. Why I have the Bengals 21st: I’m on the verge of saying these Bengals have reached their expiration date. Fourteen years for Marvin Lewis, 8.4 wins per year, zero playoff wins in seven appearances. Andy Dalton: six seasons, 9.3 wins per year, zero playoff wins in four games, plus-61 TD-to-pick differential. Competent and competitive, year after year, and so what? But I’m going to defer my grinchiness for the moment because of something one scout told me the day Joe Mixon was drafted. “Best back I’ve scouted in the draft since Adrian Peterson,” he said. And while in San Francisco for the draft this year, I sensed how much the Niners loved John Ross. “A true separator,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “A difference-maker.” So let’s see what happens this year with two major new offensive pieces. Let’s see if one of the best line coaches in the game, Paul Alexander, can make this group play better than it did a year ago, now that it’s without its compass, left tackle Whitworth. Interesting year ahead. Most important factor to this team this year: The Bengals will score. Can the defense defend? Cincinnati allowed just 16 points a game in the second half of the season, and any playoff hopes rest on being similarly stingy after making no major personnel changes on defense. Bengals prediction of 10 words or less: A 7-9 season makes Mike Brown ponder cleaning house. https://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-pt-1-052820012.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatternMaster Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I would say this is a realistic summary, once TC starts and we can see how the oline performs without Whit and Zeitler it will be easier to predict how successful this team will be barring any injuries to key personnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeds Orange Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Quote A 7-9 season makes Mike Brown ponder cleaning house. Translation: Cutting some practice squad players and signing Marvin Lewis and Pacman Jones to extensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 12 hours ago, PatternMaster said: 21. CINCINNATI BENGALS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|schotzee| Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Fair start I suppose. Right about where we finished the rankings last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredtoast Posted June 2, 2017 Report Share Posted June 2, 2017 No one can complain about us being ranked low to start the season. Personally I think we have a decent shot to be a good team. But objectively we are a losing team that lost two of our best O-linemen in free agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted June 2, 2017 Report Share Posted June 2, 2017 PFF has us ranked closer to 21.02793 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|kennethmw| Posted June 2, 2017 Report Share Posted June 2, 2017 1 hour ago, T-Dub said: PFF has us ranked closer to 21.02793 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccartman2 Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Until our oline proves something this is a fair ranking. Personally I think Andre may do ok at guard but not sold on our left tackle position. Sent from my iPhone using Go-Bengals.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccartman2 Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Until our oline proves something this is a fair ranking. Personally I think Andre may do ok at guard but not sold on our left tackle position. Sent from my iPhone using Go-Bengals.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrid Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 I think Vegas has us at 15th. Gut feeling is we'll be better than that. Aside from question marks about the young OTs, the roster looks pretty loaded at just about every position group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincity Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 On 6/2/2017 at 2:06 PM, fredtoast said: No one can complain about us being ranked low to start the season. Personally I think we have a decent shot to be a good team. But objectively we are a losing team that lost two of our best O-linemen in free agency. yeah, but our top 3 offensive options were hurt over half the year, that left the next to best receiving options, with less than a year in the system. Both starting Tackles did not have any training camp. I think our kickers lost just as many games for us as compared to our OLine. The defense was under new coaching in every position coach, the was a big reason in the first 4 game we gave up about 5 passes over 40 yards and after the first 4 games they only gave up 2 the rest of the year. AND Tez was not healthy and missed the first four games. All o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincity Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 On 5/22/2017 at 4:07 PM, PatternMaster said: Most important factor to this team this year: The Bengals will score. Can the defense defend? Cincinnati allowed just 16 points a game in the second half of the season, and any playoff hopes rest on being similarly stingy after making no major personnel changes on defense. This is the reason why they should be ranked higher... We didn't score last year, and our defense did defend (which he pointed out)...... So there shouldn't be a question about our defense, and he just stated that our offense can score.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarkster Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 On 6/3/2017 at 0:01 PM, ccartman2 said: Until our oline proves something this is a fair ranking. Personally I think Andre may do ok at guard but not sold on our left tackle position. Sent from my iPhone using Go-Bengals.com The problem is, when you have a question mark @LT, the answer all too often is a QB injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 1 hour ago, snarkster said: The problem is, when you have a question mark @LT, the answer all too often is a QB injury. The entire OL is a ? Boling's been pretty good at times but not enough to make me think he's going to carry anybody else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 7, 2017 Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 If Football were 7 on 7 I would put our offense up against any team in the NFL. If this O-line is even league average we are going to score a LOT of points. And I think our defense has a high ceiling too, depending on how quickly the young guys develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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