Arkansas Bengal Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 Story by James Dator • 56m • Fans in Cincinnati were deep in their feels on Sunday afternoon with the Chiefs deciding to roll over, bench everyone of note, and let the Broncos into the playoffs as a result. It ensured the Bengals were left out of the picture, which naturally made Kansas City a point of blame. For some reason there was a significant portion of Bengals fans who thought the Chiefs should play legitimate, high-quality football against the Broncos in the most meaningless game of the season. Kansas City locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, so they rested their starters in the same manner that the Eagles, Bills, Rams, Commanders, and Texans did. However, this very common practice of resting starters in Week 18 transformed into a forced narrative that the Chiefs were “scared” of Cincinnati, and “didn’t want to see Joe Burrow” in the playoffs. It’s quaint, and football fans tend to imagine everything revolves around their team — but it’s also like this. The Bengals never belonged in the playoffs, regardless of what the Chiefs did Bengals fans only have one organization to blame for them taking an early vacation and it’s the Bengals. Years of compounding problems, myriad defensive issues, and lackadaisical play at key points this season are why Cincinnati didn’t make the playoffs. If you need a handout from the Chiefs to get in, then it’s not deserved. The worst part of all this is how badly the organization let down Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. The two players gave us one of the most astounding seasons by a QB and WR, and it was utterly wasted. In a different circumstance, there’s no doubt Burrow would be an MVP candidate with his 4,918 yards, 43 TDs, and only 9 INTs. Instead, it’ll get lost to history, or simply remembered as the best passing season to result in nothing. So what did cost Cincinnati a chance to keep playing? It comes down to four specific elements. No. 1: Treating Week 1 like it was the preseason No coach is worse at preparing his team for the start of the regular season than Zac Taylor. In his six seasons as head coach the Bengals’ record in September is an astonishingly bad 7-14-1. In the last three season, with the team actually being good, 35 percent of the team’s losses came in the opening month of the season. In 2024 this was particularly bad. The Bengals sleepwalked into the regular season and got beat by the hopeless Patriots 16-10. Win this game and they’re in the playoffs right now. Then in Week 2 the team lost by one point to the Chiefs, with a missed field goal being the difference. Win that game and they’re in the playoffs. Week 3, another loss — this time to the Commanders. You see the pattern here. The Bengals shot themselves in the foot before the season ever began by not being prepared to play football. No. 2: Lou Anarumo’s defense There are two parts to this problem. Firstly that the Bengals haven’t done anything to invest in their defense and make it better, which is a front office problem — but also when it comes to coaching it’s clear that defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo doesn’t have the talent required to make the most out of sub-par talent. On average the Bengals offense scored 27.8 points-per-game this season, one of the best marks in the entire NFL. They allowed more than 30 points in a total of six games this season — all losses. It’s a simple numbers game, and Cincinnati was 27th in the NFL in points allowed. This isn’t a sustainable way to run a football team, by asking Burrow and Co. to bail this team out every single game because you can’t stop anything. The NFL average for points allowed this year was 22.5 per game. The Bengals only held opponents under the league average six times. No. 3: This was an easy schedule Perhaps the biggest indictment of the Bengals failures in 2024 was how easy their out of division schedule was. Cincinnati had a -1.0 strength of schedule this season. Only four teams in the entire league (Eagles, Commanders, Dolphins, and Patriots) had an easier schedule than the Bengals did — and they squandered it. Despite having this easy season the team only managed a +38 point differential across the season, which goes back to problem No. 2. No. 4: Botched drafting For as much credit as the early Zac Taylor era deserves for brilliant drafting, the last two years have been a mess. Look at their top six picks and their production over the last two seasons. Myles Murphy (No. 28, 2023): Now a backup DE with a PFF rating of 56.5 this season D.J. Turner (No. 60, 2023): Injured this season, but barely above average with a 67.8 PFF ranking Jordan Battle (No. 95, 2023): Starting safety, but one of the worst in the league by PFF rating with 53.1, good for 137th out of 169 rated safeties. Amarius Mims (No. 28, 2024): Backup right tackle with a PFF rating of 57.8 this season Kris Jenkins (No. 49, 2024): Rotational DT with a PFF rating of 45.4 this season, one of the worst in the NFL among DTs. Jermaine Burton (No. 80, 2024): Finished the season with 107 receiving yards. Decent return guy, but nothing special. When you have drafts like this where you’re not able to find any meaningful talent you have a problem. It’s one thing not to find stars, but the Bengals didn’t even get decent starters. Not only did they scout players incorrectly, but they picked bad players and let better players get taken after them. Horrendous failures by the front office. There’s a silver lining to all this ... hopefully It’s sad to root for anyone to lose their jobs, but in the case of the Bengals heads have to roll to move things forward. The 2024 season has to be a wakeup call to the organization that the status quo is not working, and at this point the team is just wasting Joe Burrow’s best years. Not making the playoffs could be the best thing to happen to the Bengals future. The Bengals never belonged in the playoffs, regardless of what the Chiefs did 1 Quote
Cricket Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 Those idiot Bengal fans that say the Chiefs should have played their starters are probably the same ones that were hoping the stealers would have nothing to play for and would rest their starters vs. the Bengals. Every teams’ fan base has idiots in it…and when the reactions of those few get into the media, it makes the rest of the fan base look bad/stupid. 🦗 1 Quote
|High School Harry| Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 5 hours ago, Arkansas Bengal said: Story by James Dator • 56m • Fans in Cincinnati were deep in their feels on Sunday afternoon with the Chiefs deciding to roll over, bench everyone of note, and let the Broncos into the playoffs as a result. It ensured the Bengals were left out of the picture, which naturally made Kansas City a point of blame. For some reason there was a significant portion of Bengals fans who thought the Chiefs should play legitimate, high-quality football against the Broncos in the most meaningless game of the season. Kansas City locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, so they rested their starters in the same manner that the Eagles, Bills, Rams, Commanders, and Texans did. However, this very common practice of resting starters in Week 18 transformed into a forced narrative that the Chiefs were “scared” of Cincinnati, and “didn’t want to see Joe Burrow” in the playoffs. It’s quaint, and football fans tend to imagine everything revolves around their team — but it’s also like this. The Bengals never belonged in the playoffs, regardless of what the Chiefs did Bengals fans only have one organization to blame for them taking an early vacation and it’s the Bengals. Years of compounding problems, myriad defensive issues, and lackadaisical play at key points this season are why Cincinnati didn’t make the playoffs. If you need a handout from the Chiefs to get in, then it’s not deserved. The worst part of all this is how badly the organization let down Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. The two players gave us one of the most astounding seasons by a QB and WR, and it was utterly wasted. In a different circumstance, there’s no doubt Burrow would be an MVP candidate with his 4,918 yards, 43 TDs, and only 9 INTs. Instead, it’ll get lost to history, or simply remembered as the best passing season to result in nothing. So what did cost Cincinnati a chance to keep playing? It comes down to four specific elements. No. 1: Treating Week 1 like it was the preseason No coach is worse at preparing his team for the start of the regular season than Zac Taylor. In his six seasons as head coach the Bengals’ record in September is an astonishingly bad 7-14-1. In the last three season, with the team actually being good, 35 percent of the team’s losses came in the opening month of the season. In 2024 this was particularly bad. The Bengals sleepwalked into the regular season and got beat by the hopeless Patriots 16-10. Win this game and they’re in the playoffs right now. Then in Week 2 the team lost by one point to the Chiefs, with a missed field goal being the difference. Win that game and they’re in the playoffs. Week 3, another loss — this time to the Commanders. You see the pattern here. The Bengals shot themselves in the foot before the season ever began by not being prepared to play football. No. 2: Lou Anarumo’s defense There are two parts to this problem. Firstly that the Bengals haven’t done anything to invest in their defense and make it better, which is a front office problem — but also when it comes to coaching it’s clear that defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo doesn’t have the talent required to make the most out of sub-par talent. On average the Bengals offense scored 27.8 points-per-game this season, one of the best marks in the entire NFL. They allowed more than 30 points in a total of six games this season — all losses. It’s a simple numbers game, and Cincinnati was 27th in the NFL in points allowed. This isn’t a sustainable way to run a football team, by asking Burrow and Co. to bail this team out every single game because you can’t stop anything. The NFL average for points allowed this year was 22.5 per game. The Bengals only held opponents under the league average six times. No. 3: This was an easy schedule Perhaps the biggest indictment of the Bengals failures in 2024 was how easy their out of division schedule was. Cincinnati had a -1.0 strength of schedule this season. Only four teams in the entire league (Eagles, Commanders, Dolphins, and Patriots) had an easier schedule than the Bengals did — and they squandered it. Despite having this easy season the team only managed a +38 point differential across the season, which goes back to problem No. 2. No. 4: Botched drafting For as much credit as the early Zac Taylor era deserves for brilliant drafting, the last two years have been a mess. Look at their top six picks and their production over the last two seasons. Myles Murphy (No. 28, 2023): Now a backup DE with a PFF rating of 56.5 this season D.J. Turner (No. 60, 2023): Injured this season, but barely above average with a 67.8 PFF ranking Jordan Battle (No. 95, 2023): Starting safety, but one of the worst in the league by PFF rating with 53.1, good for 137th out of 169 rated safeties. Amarius Mims (No. 28, 2024): Backup right tackle with a PFF rating of 57.8 this season Kris Jenkins (No. 49, 2024): Rotational DT with a PFF rating of 45.4 this season, one of the worst in the NFL among DTs. Jermaine Burton (No. 80, 2024): Finished the season with 107 receiving yards. Decent return guy, but nothing special. When you have drafts like this where you’re not able to find any meaningful talent you have a problem. It’s one thing not to find stars, but the Bengals didn’t even get decent starters. Not only did they scout players incorrectly, but they picked bad players and let better players get taken after them. Horrendous failures by the front office. There’s a silver lining to all this ... hopefully It’s sad to root for anyone to lose their jobs, but in the case of the Bengals heads have to roll to move things forward. The 2024 season has to be a wakeup call to the organization that the status quo is not working, and at this point the team is just wasting Joe Burrow’s best years. Not making the playoffs could be the best thing to happen to the Bengals future. The Bengals never belonged in the playoffs, regardless of what the Chiefs did Are they being a little hard on Mims or am I giving him too much credit? Quote
|BlackJesus| Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 1 hour ago, High School Harry said: Are they being a little hard on Mims or am I giving him too much credit? This jackass author doesn't even know Mims was the starter. So I would discount everything he wrote. 1 Quote
claptonrocks Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 1 hour ago, High School Harry said: Are they being a little hard on Mims or am I giving him too much credit? He's has immense talent He was raw with not many snaps in college Facing some beastly rushers was an eye opener to him In sure. .With this experience under his belt, I see hias a force out there next year. 1 Quote
Le Tigre Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 14 minutes ago, BlackJesus said: So I would discount everything he wrote. I approve this message. 1 Quote
claptonrocks Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 1 minute ago, Le Tigre said: I approve this message. Do you think Mims was really good or had a typical rook season for a guy that barely played much in college. I think he learned alt and will improve immensely next season .. 1 Quote
claptonrocks Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 6 minutes ago, New Jersey Bengal said: He's good May become great...in time Rookie flaws. 1 Quote
Le Tigre Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 2 minutes ago, claptonrocks said: Do you think Mims was really good or had a typical rook season for a guy that barely played much in college. I think he learned alt and will improve immensely next season .. Mims was impressive from the start, and had very few mistakes. I was certifying BJ's urging to discount everything this hack wrote. 3 Quote
sois Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 Belong is a dumb word. Bengals didn't make it. The end. Bowl will be achieved in 2025 season. 1 Quote
Cricket Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 2 hours ago, claptonrocks said: I think he [Mims] learned alt and will improve immensely next season .. …interesting typo…😎 Quote
|High School Harry| Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 1 hour ago, sois said: Belong is a dumb word. Bengals didn't make it. The end. Bowl will be achieved in 2025 season. I agree! I look at this past season as an outlier, one-off bad one. Not exactly a perfect storm but enough heavy squalls to really screw things up. Poor free agent class... Typhoid Rankin, Stone, Trent IR Brown, Over the Hill Bell... players not developing as we had hoped... Mild Murphy, Cam Taylor-Swift even Jermaine Pratt. Just some fine tuning in the off season. Cleaning out the coaching staff a good and early start. Hope they can find some good replacements who meld with the team quickly. Good draft... trade up for quality or down for quantity. Decent free agents. Get Ja'Marr, Tee and Trey re signed and happy for a few years to come. Liked the two rookie Linemen, Mims, of course, Gesicki and the young 'uns getting some OJT. Yep 2 Quote
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