Cody Core and the Systemic Plague

[|High School Harry|]

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2018/11/20/18101622/the-bengals-trusting-cody-core-is-a-reflection-of-deeper-issues

 

The Bengals trusting Cody Core is a reflection of deeper issues

The Bengals’ third-year receiver is a representation of what is wrong with the Bengals. 

By Nick Manchester@NickManchester9  Nov 20, 2018, 1:31pm EST

 

The 5-5 Bengals have won just one out of their last four games, thanks in part to their defense that is the NFL’s worst in most statistical categories. 

 

To fix that, they fired their defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, head coach Marvin Lewis assumed the defensive responsibilities, and they brought in Hue Jackson to help manage the sideline.

 

So, even though the Bengals gave up 400 yards, they held the Ravens to just 24 points. But their offense needed a conversion to keep the game in reach. Down 24-21 on their own 37-yard line, the Bengals needed three yards on fourth down. 

 

Typically, the Bengals would go to A.J. Green here and trust the future Hall of Famer to come down with the ball. But he was out with an injury. 

Without Green, who does Andy Dalton pass the ball to on this crucial play? Is it Tyler Boyd, the team leader in receptions? Is it John Ross, who already has a spectacular touchdown reception on the day? Is it C.J. Uzomah, who is the Bengals’ only tight end from the opening day roster to remain healthy? Or Matt Lengel, who also has a touchdown on the day? Or even Auden Tate, the physical freak? Or Giovani Bernard, one of the best receiving running backs in the NFL?

 

It was Cody Core.

 

Cody Core, who had zero catches in 2017. Cody Core, who had five catches all year, three of which came in garbage time against the Chiefs in Week 7. Cody Core, who ranks 10th on the team in receptions per game and yards per game.

And what does Cody Core do? He drops it. Ravens win. Bengals drop out of the playoff picture.

Bengals fandom was reasonably upset.

 

Why would the Bengals go to Cody Core when there were so many better options available?But more importantly, why do the Bengals give second chances to people that clearly don’t can’t handle them?

 

Not only was Core the targeted receiver on a crucial fourth down, but Hardy Nickerson was wearing the green dot on the defensive side of the ball. Not only was he on the field, which is more than his merit has shown he can handle, but he was calling the plays. Alex Redmond is allowing an alarming amount of pressures at right guard, but he keeps going right back out there. Bobby Hart gets called for at least one key penalty a game and is still one of the worst tackles in football, but his job is in no danger whatsoever. 

The frustrating thing is, the Bengals have the same problems every week. Dalton faces too much pressure from the right side of the line. Core keeps dropping passes whenever he rarely gets targeted. The linebackers can’t cover anybody, and the defense in general remains very slow to react. 

 

Despite all of this, Marvin Lewis waltzes into the press conference every week and insists he is trying to get a world championship.

When the Bengals have personnel issues, they trade their day two draft picks for day three draft picks. When the Bengals have holes in their lineups, they forgo free agency or go sign lower-tier players like Hart, Brandon LaFell, or Kevin Minter. 

When the Bengals have their best wide receiver out with an injury, they opt not to make a trade at the deadline or sign a free agent (how painful was it that the Bengals could have signed Dez Bryant, only for him to go their opponent that week?).

But the Bengals insist that they can win games with the players they have. Then they lose. They insist Core can help the team win, then he drops a three-yard pass.

 

In conclusion, Core’s dropped pass on fourth down doesn’t just represent a dropped pass, or even a loss. It represents the entire systemic plague that has infected the Bengals since the death of Paul Brown. That’s why the Bengals haven’t been able to put anything together since Brown’s departure. They keep trying to do things the way they always do them, even when it doesn’t work.

 

So, yes, it is frustrating that Core was the focal point on what could be the most important play of the season. It is even more frustrating knowing why he was there in the first place, and why he will remain in the picture as this season continues to spiral out of control.

[|SF2|]

Pretty much spot on. 

[Shebengal]

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

[BengalFanInTO]

The whole last series was called so poorly by Lazor. The Bengals are 2nd and 3 at their own 37 coming out of the two minute warning. They then proceed to throw deep to Ross, deep to Uzomah and lastly on 4th and 3...to Cody Core. What the fuck was that?!? They only needed a FG to tie and had 2 minutes on the clock and THAT'S what they call? Unbelievable.

 

I agree with the overall premise in the article and it all comes back to one person...Marvin Lewis and his stubborn, fucking smug ways. Hart, Redmond, Core, the inability to utilize Ross, the lack of touches for Mixon and Bernard...it's all him. But, he just sits there, loss after loss, in the press conference shaking his head at all of the "idiots" in the stands and in the media telling us how we don't understand the finer points of the game.

 

Marvin Lewis is this team's albatross. Many worry we'd go back to the dark days of the 90's without him. I contend, he's the sole reason this team has not progressed despite the talent.   

[|High School Harry|]

[fluhartz]

nothing is wrong in this whole article...

 

fuck ole marv

Happy Thanksgiving 

[UncleEarl]

Mixon:  "I want to play to WIN.  I'm tired of playing not to lose." 

 

Poor guy.  What will happen to him?  Even fewer carries?  If so, he should raise a shit-fit and get traded.  It's that or let the stench of losing permiate his soul like it has the rest of the Bengals who just collect their paychecks and hope something changes.  Billy Price is being feisty too.  Poor kid.  The plague of Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis will beat him down eventually. 

 

I bet every guy on the Bengals looks at Whitworth and wishes it was them. 

[T-Dub]

3 hours ago, BengalFanInTO said:

 

 

I agree with the overall premise in the article and it all comes back to one person...

 

Mike Brown.  He could shitcan Marvin right now if he wanted to, but he doesn't and he won't.   So long as he & his entire extended family are dependent on the NFL to continue living the lifestyle to which they're accustomed this team will continue to be what it's been.  He alone sets the standard for his franchise, and that standard is whatever bare minimum keeps the money flowing.

[|High School Harry|]

14 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

Mike Brown.  He could shitcan Marvin right now if he wanted to, but he doesn't and he won't.   So long as he & his entire extended family are dependent on the NFL to continue living the lifestyle to which they're accustomed this team will continue to be what it's been.  He alone sets the standard for his franchise, and that standard is whatever bare minimum keeps the money flowing.

I wonder what will happen if they lose to the Browns Sunday at home?

[|SF2|]

3 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

I wonder what will happen if they lose to the Browns Sunday at home?

I don’t think anyone will care other than Browns fans.  It will be a whatever game for the Bengals. 

[T-Dub]

25 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

I wonder what will happen if they lose to the Browns Sunday at home?

 

Absolutely nothing.

[fluhartz]

1 hour ago, High School Harry said:

I wonder what will happen if they lose to the Browns Sunday at home?

ole marv will laugh all the way to the bank

[saphead]

4 hours ago, High School Harry said:

I wonder what will happen if they lose to the Browns Sunday at home?

Marvin will say "We need to play better, the coaches need to coach better, and it starts with me. And we'll get to work this week on our next opponent."

[|High School Harry|]

4 hours ago, saphead said:

Marvin will say "We need to play better, the coaches need to coach better, and it starts with me. And we'll get to work this week on our next opponent."

Or "it is what it is".

[Le Tigre]

Why is it that every swinging dick pundit points to that day in 1991 when the sainted PB left the planet, as the vortex for everything that has happened since? Like nothing was bad, or mismanaged, or whatever the fuck else catastrophic, didn't also occur when he was still here? It did. 

 

Simple fact: this franchise has never consistently built or won anything.

[|SF2|]

9 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Why is it that every swinging dick pundit points to that day in 1991 when the sainted PB left the planet, as the vortex for everything that has happened since? Like nothing was bad, or mismanaged, or whatever the fuck else catastrophic, didn't also occur when he was still here? It did. 

 

Simple fact: this franchise has never consistently built or won anything.

2 AFC Championships and Super Bowl appearances in 10 years beg to differ.  

 

What happened after Paul Brown died was that Mike Brown never paid attention to, planned for or adjusted to free agency.  Mike didn’t figure FA out for almost 15 years.  For some reason he felt players should just be honored to have a job with the Bengals. 

 

Meanwhile, the other teams built impressive facilities, stadiums and treated their players like Roman Generals. It is a tight knit community, word got around the team was cheap in EVERY way.  Nobody wanted to come here. 

 

 

 

 

 

[T-Dub]

6 hours ago, SF2 said:

2 AFC Championships and Super Bowl appearances in 10 years beg to differ.  

 

What happened after Paul Brown died was that Mike Brown never paid attention to, planned for or adjusted to free agency.  Mike didn’t figure FA out for almost 15 years.  For some reason he felt players should just be honored to have a job with the Bengals. 

 

Meanwhile, the other teams build impressive facilities, stadiums and treated their players like Roman Generals. It is a tight knit community, word got around the team was cheap in EVERY way.  Nobody wanted to come here. 

 

 

 

Even now, we mostly get free agents that couldn't cut it anywhere else.  They know they can still come here and get paid as starters.   Anyone else is going to look at tenured HC Marvin & know they need to go somewhere else if they want a ring.  They're not even through their first season and some of the rookies are already talking about how dysfunctional things have become.

 

 

[|SF2|]

1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

 

Even now, we mostly get free agents that couldn't cut it anywhere else.  They know they can still come here and get paid as starters.   Anyone else is going to look at tenured HC Marvin & know they need to go somewhere else if they want a ring.  They're not even through their first season and some of the rookies are already talking about how dysfunctional things have become.

 

 

It is the exact reason Kansas football sucks so bad, their facilities are utter crap compared to Oklahoma or Texas.  Good players with options are not playing and training in facilities no better than their high school’s. 

 

Brown has to spend up to a rolling average cap every 5 years just like everyone else. What he doesn’t have to do is build an indoor training facility, supply Gatorade, big towels or pay for a competent GM and coaches.  

 

It’s the lack of the nicer things that keeps good FAs away to include coaching. 

[UncleEarl]

9 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Why is it that every swinging dick pundit points to that day in 1991 when the sainted PB left the planet, as the vortex for everything that has happened since? Like nothing was bad, or mismanaged, or whatever the fuck else catastrophic, didn't also occur when he was still here? It did. 

 

Simple fact: this franchise has never consistently built or won anything.

Other than the Bill "Tiger" Johnson/Homer Rice era, the Bengals were pretty damned good in the 70s and 80s.  Were they as good as the Stealers in the 70s?  No.  The AFC Central in the 70s was brutal with the Stealers, Oilers and Bengals.  Both Forrest Gregg and Sam Wyche had good teams.  If Wyche could have stuck to football instead of embracing every hot button topic and losing his shit he could have been here a long time.  Paul Brown had a very good eye for coaches.  When he passed and Mike Brown took over that ended.  The Bengals have had zero good coaches since. 

 

The real question is when does being a long-term Bengals fan switch from loyalty to stupidity?  I'm looking in the mirror here...

[Le Tigre]

8 hours ago, SF2 said:

2 AFC Championships and Super Bowl appearances in 10 years beg to differ.  

 

What happened after Paul Brown died was that Mike Brown never paid attention to, planned for or adjusted to free agency.  Mike didn’t figure FA out for almost 15 years.  For some reason he felt players should just be honored to have a job with the Bengals. 

 

Meanwhile, the other teams build impressive facilities, stadiums and treated their players like Roman Generals. It is a tight knit community, word got around the team was cheap in EVERY way.  Nobody wanted to come here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it was 8 years, but why not round off to the highest number? And, the qualifier was: consistently. The 12 seasons before the blip year 1981 were mostly average to bad. As were the 5 seasons between 1982 to the blip year 1988. 

 

And lol @ free agency. PB was against any form of it--and this was illustrated in his erstwhile handling of the Plan B disaster. Had he lived to be 150, he never would have "adjusted" to it. 

 

As to facilities, perhaps it is true that the modern American athletes like blingy things...and the more the better. But they still like money much more...and that is universal. I look at European footballers: many of the greatest players and teams play still play in stadia as old as the late 19th Century. But, pay them 300k euros a week, and they find a way to get by it.

[Le Tigre]

6 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

Other than the Bill "Tiger" Johnson/Homer Rice era, the Bengals were pretty damned good in the 70s and 80s.  Were they as good as the Stealers in the 70s?  No.  The AFC Central in the 70s was brutal with the Stealers, Oilers and Bengals.  Both Forrest Gregg and Sam Wyche had good teams.  If Wyche could have stuck to football instead of embracing every hot button topic and losing his shit he could have been here a long time.  Paul Brown had a very good eye for coaches.  When he passed and Mike Brown took over that ended.  The Bengals have had zero good coaches since. 

 

The real question is when does being a long-term Bengals fan switch from loyalty to stupidity?  I'm looking in the mirror here...

To each their own, as to the question. Look at it as entertainment at its best, and a fundamental waste of time at its worst. And, that goes the same when you insert "NFL" in for "Bengals". 

[|SF2|]

Plan B FA was nothing like today’s FA. The GMs of today have to be cap experts and you have to have a short and medium range plan. Besides, plan B FA started in 1989, Paul was pretty much done by then. 

[UncleEarl]

1 minute ago, Le Tigre said:

To each their own, as to the question. Look at it as entertainment at its best, and a fundamental waste of time at its worst. And, that goes the same when you insert "NFL" in for "Bengals". 

If that is what you think of the NFL, why are you still here?  Do you like being miserable?

[Le Tigre]

1 minute ago, UncleEarl said:

If that is what you think of the NFL, why are you still here?  Do you like being miserable?

Asked and answered many times. Go look it up. And, I am a very content person, if you insist on making the discussion about me. 

[UncleEarl]

26 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Asked and answered many times. Go look it up. And, I am a very content person, if you insist on making the discussion about me. 

Dude....I just asked a question.  Spare me the passive aggressive crap.  Your incessant negativity about the NFL obviously has caused many to ask the same question.  In my original post in this thread I asked myself a similar question about the Bengals, which you answered.  If you didn't want me to ask that question you should have not replied to my post.