Low Positive

I picked the HC, because that would mean a new coaching staff across the board. This has just got to stop. It feels like McDermott has lost some of that locker room and once that happens its almost impossible to get it back.

The SB season was the 2020 season IMO. At least to get to one.

I thought they postponed that interview because a soccer player died in Charlotte?

Wasn't much of a home field with all that orange in the crowd.

That was last year on the schedule. This was supposed to be SB loss #1.

Payton wants $20 million and a warm weather team. I think he wanted that Chargers job pretty badly. I think he sits out another year waiting for Staley to get fired or McVey to walk away.

No, I am not. I am saying that McDermott is. I think we need some toughness on this team in the worst way. I know there were schematic reasons for the loss, but my main takeaway is that the Bengals are a much more physical team. They play with a palpable violence. Playing them is like playing the Titans, but with a future HOF QB and the best WR room in the NFL. They will win the SB this year and Joe Mixon is getting arrested at the after party for punching a stripper but no one here will care.

I'm not going to read through this whole thread, but Diggs was hot from the start of the game. He was pissed at Josh for a low throw (that he did catch) on the second drive of the game. Just like in the Green Bay game, I think that the Bengals were talking a lot of trash and it got under his skin. That's why he took the loss so hard; he felt emasculated by Eli Apple.

He cannot be fired. His contract is up. He would have to be renewed.

A bunch of years ago, Cowherd quoted an anonymous NFL scout saying the OL is the hardest position group to project to the NFL from college. This was due to the proliferation of single read spread offenses in college. No one is asked to hold a block while a QB runs through his progressions. The OTs that are easy to project go in the top of the first round while the others are all crapshoots.

What's funny is that Zach Taylor is the HC that led the two tank years upon which the Bengals are built.

I grt you on the losing, but Marvin Lewis is like the anti-McDermott. First of all, he couldn't win a single playoff game. He also tolerated any and all behaviors from his players. I lived here for most of the Marvin Lewis era and Bengals players were in the news with DUIs and bar fights all the time. If it wasn't Pac Man Jones, it was Chris Henry, Chad Johnson or Vontaze Burfict. Bengals fans back then dreaded the bye week because something was going to happen. They were like the NFL version of the Portland Jailblazers. This not only caused PR problems, it bled onto the field. The Bengals were on their way to winning that 2016 WC game against the Steelers until the Burfict hit on AB. This is the Marvin Lewis Bengals in a nutshell: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/03/bengals-cornerback-adam-jones-arrest

I don't know how a team playing with three backup OL can commit zero holding penalties.

You have to think this is still festering from the 13 seconds wound. I don't know what you do. It feels like Diggs is about ready to explode into full diva mode, where he demands a trade. We're stuck with the losing franchise. These guys can go play somewhere else.

They not only lost a game. They got punked on national TV. The Bengals were laughing at them. I get why he's upset.

At the beginning of the game, the ball was out of Burrow's hand in 2 seconds or under. Then they started running, because they had a guard playing tackle and his strength is run blocking. And for the whole game, the Bengals took maybe 2 deep shots. Everything was quick and short with lots of YAC. That's how you mask poor OL play.

That would be hiring Eric Wood.

If the OL is terrible, then design plays to get the ball out faster. You know, like the Bengals did yesterday.

https://www.detroitlions.com/team/coaches-roster/ben-johnson

Joe Burrow has a weekly spot on Cowherd's podcast and is on Collinsworth's podcast all the time. The man also wears actual fur coats. So no, he is not quietly doing his thing. He has a swagger that has infected the whole city and they are going to win multiple Super Bowls because of it.

I was speaking from emotion when I posted that. Of course I don't want Joe Mixon on the Bills, just like I didn't want Incognito. I just have to live here and see how the entire Bengals fan base just excuses what Mixon did. They twist themselves into knots with the whole "he was never charged," "he deserves a second chance," and "she had it coming." It really does show how tribal sports fandom is.

Good take. Too bad that game came after the bye. The Bengals made a huge offensive adjustment over the bye week where they installed all those plays that get the ball out fast to negate poor OL play. You know, all those plays we saw yesterday. Before the bye, Burrow was getting sacked because he held the ball waiting for Chase or Higgins to get open downfield. Now the ball is out in under 2 seconds. That was not just a few plays, but a change in offensive philosophy made midseason. We don't have the creative offensive minds to make those adjustments.

Back in November, someone created a thread about how the Bengals stayed in Cincinnati and worked through their bye week while the Bills hit the beach. At the time, I thought it was nonsense, but in retrospect I think that it demonstrates a difference in focus and coaching. It goes beyond simply "wanting it more" and "work ethic." The Bengals have been really hot since that bye, and it's not just momentum and effort. No, they changed offensive philosophy in the middle of the season. Early in the year, Burrow was getting sacked left and right because he was holding the ball, waiting for downfield plays to Chase and Higgins to develop (sound familiar?). The Browns sacked him 5 times on Halloween night. The Ravens played man coverage but with two high safeties and Burrow looked lost in a 19-17 loss in Baltimore on MNF. After the bye week, they started running those short passes to make up for poor OL play and to beat teams that were taking away the deep passes. So instead of the explosive big plays that Burrow and Chase were known for last year, they started running 7 minute drives. They also stopped forcing the ball to Chase and Higgins and started using all of the offensive players in the passing game. This was a huge change, because the Bengals offense last year was almost entirely deep balls to Chase. That shows the power of having a creative offensive mind at the helm of the franchise.

They can roll their eyes at you all they want, but you speak the truth. Mahomes is the creative one and Burrow is Tom Brady. The Bills are stuck, just like always, behind greatness.

Not just overrated. It’s a detriment. This is a violent game and violence wins.