Bengals: Bengals mid-term grade ...

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Bengals mid-term grade ...

USA Today has graded every NFL team at midseason. It gave the Bengals a ...

D

-- Where they are: Injuries to Rudi Johnson and the defense have hurt; the self-inflicted injuries have hurt more.
-- Where they're going: The Bengals have some hard decisions to make, on the field and in the front office.

Your grade for the Bengals at midseason and why?

18 Comments:

at 11/08/2007 10:09 AM

Anonymous said...

C.

Positives:
Offense - The Bengals have been without many of their key players (Rudi Johnson, Chris Henry, Chris Perry, Willie Anderson, the list goes on...) and they have still managed to put up some decent numbers offensively. They have also been able to stay out of trouble for quite some time now.
Defense - Hall is showing some promise, even though we are still seeing some rookie mistakes, they are becoming less significant.

Negatives:
Offense - Third down percentage is awful, as is the running game. While Watson has filled in ok, they still have to be better on the line.
Defense - The defense is disgusting. Injuries and suspensions have really sucked the life (Brooks, Thurman) out of the core of any good defense, the linebackers. Half of our D-line should be replaced (Smith and Thornton) and the biggest player has been moved (Geathers).

at 11/08/2007 10:26 AM

Anonymous said...

Mark - I give them a D as well. Other than the passing offense, which hasn't been great, this team is sub par at best. The defense is painful to watch, and lacks basic fundamentals. I don't understand why Chuck B still has a job. Why did Marvin play Rudi so much against the Bills? Watson is clearly a better RB. I think they should consider trading Chad in the offseason because he's dropping balls that a highschooler would catch. We could trade him straight up for someone like Briggs that would help shore up our joke of a defense.

at 11/08/2007 10:43 AM

Anonymous said...

Mark,
As much as i once loved Marvin..(I called him Marvin Tressel) -- now I think I was wrong. His ideas about conditioning and team rules are all wrong...with few exceptions...Those efforts have led to more injuries than any other club (to key Players) stupid remarks from his players..chad, Henry..and now he has totally lost the team (pittsburgh game) -- so i give the team an F. I give Owners Mike Brown an F-. I give the legacy the Bengals and the brown family leave a doulble F----------
I wish i could root for another team.
George In Zanesville

at 11/08/2007 10:51 AM

Anonymous said...

I would agree with the grade of D as the 2 victories are the only thing keeping the Bengals from flunking the NFL course!

at 11/08/2007 10:57 AM

Anonymous said...

On the surface, it would be F, based on the talent level.

Taking injuries into account, I would give a D+.

Injuries are a factor for all teams. Conditioning needs to be better.

Also, they seem to be a team without a sense of direction at this point.

at 11/08/2007 11:08 AM

nathan said...

I give the Bengals a C- and why is it not lower. . because that defense, oh that defense. You are relying on guys that wouldn't make the practice squad of many teams and two corners that have potential, but (hopefully) are still too young.

As for the offense, i dont have the stats, but I assume the offense is on the field close to the least amount of time in the NFL. Tying this time of possession to the defense, you don't give the defense time to rest and with the lack of personel already, having them on the field the majority of each game, they are set up to be bad.

at 11/08/2007 11:11 AM

Anonymous said...

The Bengals as a team C-... the injuries have been problematic.

The Bengals Front Office/Coaches etc. F... I have a bigger problem with the way things have been handled than the players.

Overall I agree with the D grade, although I could see it being lower.

at 11/08/2007 1:37 PM

russ said...

I would definitely grade them as an F. There have been some guys playing on the Oline because of injuries and so on that are getting no push in the running game at all and give us no hope for fixing that anytime soon. The lack of depth at WR has been a problem all year. Defensively they are far below league average in terms of talent at every position except maybe safety, where they lead the league in underachievement. The Defensive Coordinator seems to be the only person on Earth who doesn't understand that the Bengals D is hopeless without the blitz. The Special Teams are abysmal in every facet. Teams have injuries, just ask the Bills. That's not an excuse for not winning. I suppose the only reason for giving the Bengals a D is because the Dolphins, Rams, and Jets are somehow worse.

at 11/08/2007 2:41 PM

BDC said...

F.

Say what you want about the injuries, but this season was lost the moment they franchise tagged Justin Smith and sat out free agency. The team's fragile psyche was exposed at the end of last season and team management stood pat. Burying your head in the sand and hoping things get better doesn't work in this league. This team doesn't develop young players and they clearly can't confidently evaluate talent, young or old. Why on Earth did they keep a washed-up Ed Hartwell around the entire pre-season when the guy is so far gone he can't even help them now with the sorry state of their linebacker corps. Even if signed players come back healthy next season the team is closer to rebuilding than contending. Without MAJOR offseason changes next season will be even worse.

at 11/08/2007 4:02 PM

Anonymous said...

D? Anything less than .500 is an F. A complete failure.
We should have kept Steinbach and let Justin Smith go. What's he done for us the last 2-3 years to make him a 'franchise player'? The defense is not terrible due to injuries/suspensions, it's terrible due to lack of TACKLING.
We NEED a good Safety. Look at other teams like PIT (Polumalu), IND (Sanders), BAL (Reed), NE (Harrison)..they have mediocre CB's but GOOD Strong Safeties. Dexter Jackson WAS good, we need someone who IS goos. We missed our chance to get Reggie Nelson. I hope we don't miss the boat again next year.

at 11/08/2007 5:29 PM

Anonymous said...

I love how Dexter J. runs his mouth at opposing teams, gets torched, has someone else make the tackle for him while he falls on the pile, then gets up smiling like he did his job. Guys like that make up this team. For all his faults, at least J. Smith seems to bring it every game. He won't lead the league in sacks, but he is usually in the top 3 of team in tackles every year. Don't think he's worth 8.5 mil, but on a different team he would be better. Here it seems like he has to do it all himself. JJ and Hall SHOULD be better with experience and if they stay healthy, but of course, they could already be Bengalized.

The real test of this teams ownership will be this offseason. If they don't make MAJOR waves in FA and through the draft, especially on ther defensive side, it will be groundhog day for a very long time. I forsee lots of F's in the future...

at 11/08/2007 6:24 PM

Anonymous said...

Carson Palmer: C- for overthrown passes

Ocho Stinko: D for many dropped passes that he should have made, easily

TJ: A+ Effort, talent, results, all without a big mouth or huge ego or rap sheet. A real man!

Rest of the team: C lots of good plays but always penalties or let downs at precisely the wrong moment, costing the team 4 wins, if not 5, so far.

Coaches: F

They are the worst play-callers, tactics and strategy designers, and game-time clock and no-huddle managers...really just the most pathetic bunch of coaches in the league:

If they were coaching New England, NE would be 3-5. If New England's coaches were coaching the Bengals, the Bengals would be 7-1.

That's how bad the Bengals' coaches are, and how good NE's are...

Anyone responsible for last year's miserable draft also gets a D.

at 11/09/2007 7:04 AM

Anonymous said...

Mark, I agree a D; they were lucky to beat the Ravens and beat a very poor Jets team. Defense is horrible with no relief in sight.

They have proved you can score a lot of points and still lose. They are going nowhere fast until they improve their defense.

at 11/09/2007 8:16 AM

Anonymous said...

F

Record is 2-6, last place in their division. Failing.

Nuff said

at 11/09/2007 8:38 AM

Anonymous said...

You must be in a generous mood this morning Mark, i wish my college professors would have had the same bell curve you use.

With the exception of TJ and Kenny Watson the team as a whole has under achived in a big way. Caoching is atrociuos, the worst in the NFL on both sides of the ball. Defense is a joke and O-Line is being man handled.

here's the good news, next year is our year for the super bowl and here's why. We will have 5 top draft picks returning Kenny Irons and Chris Perry for the outside threat we need. david Pollack will return for our inspiration much like the Bus was for Pittsburgh. Brooks and Thurmon will be back to sure up the Linebacking core. And Henry will be back for the year if he can stay out of jail. We will have a top draft pick and numerous compensory draft picks for Simmons, Kasvaharrn, Stienbach. We'll be after some key free agents to sure up the D-line. We will have an easy schedule due to our crappy season. And if this team has any character they will learn from this year and come back ready and with something to prove. And my belief is we will have a new supporting cast of coaches for Marvin so the D will finally be put in a position to win. Thats my hope and belief, suck bad this year so we position ourselves for next year...Marvins a genius.

mattk

at 11/09/2007 11:25 AM

Jaybee said...

F

Injuries are not an acceptable excuse. Every team suffers injuries. If you are unable to coach your backups to play with football intelligence then there is no other grade deserved. The attitude of this team, from the head coach down to the practice squad, doesn't come across as a winning attitude. Instead it is an attitude of rationalization instead of accountability. And that goes all the way up to Mike Brown. This team will never be a winner until it becomes a real NFL franchise and that won't happen as long as Mike Brown thinks he knows how an NFL franchise should be run.

at 11/09/2007 12:29 PM

Anonymous said...

6:24 said: If they were coaching New England, NE would be 3-5. If New England's coaches were coaching the Bengals, the Bengals would be 7-1.

What an ignorant comment. First of all New England is so good they could coach themselves and be fine. To think that NE coaches could win with a bunch of players who don't even belong on a practice squad is just dumb. Get a clue.

at 11/09/2007 5:02 PM

Anonymous said...

Hyperbole brings out little minds to snipe, lol. The point is that our coaches are so bad they could screw up NE's massively talented roster during games. And the other point is that NE's coaches are so good they could take our junky defense and our very good offensive team, discipline them, give them a workable game plan, manage the clock competently, be aggressive, and utilize Palmer, TJ, and Chad the Mad Dad (legitimate stars) far better than our coaches, who suck. Dude, have some milk and cookies and stop taking everything so literally...

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Bengals mid-term grade ...

18 Comments: