"No jinx-o, but Marvin Lewis has done an outstanding job of"
building up this current Bengals team. I know he has yet to achieve anything of note in the post-season, but this current Bengals team has all the ingredients of becoming a potential SB contender. Don't know if this has been discussed much on here, but I thought it should be noted how great of a job Marvin has done in building this current Bengals team. Now with that said, the team is still pretty streaky and a lot of their success moving forward is dependent upon Andy Dalton's development (and the jury's still out on him).
But just looking at their current roster - especially on defense, it's pretty remarkable how quickly this team has developed and positioned itself for success in the future. The one glaring weakness is their OL, but other than that, they are pretty solid overall.
2 guys that exemplify Lewis's ability to develop talent are Vontaze Burfinct and Carlos Dunlap. Both guys were at one point pegged as 1st round talents only to see their draft stock plummet. The knock on Vontaze was that he was slow and uncontrollable. As an undrafted free agent, he's now on pace to put in a pro-bowl caliber season in just his second year. Pretty impressive to say the least. Carlos Dunlap is another guy that was pegged as a top 10 pick at one point. He too was passed on due to character issues. He's been a force force Cinci since his rookie year.
Looking at major contributors on Cinci's roster, it's pretty remarkable how many were either drafted in recent years or were basically cast-offs.
Terrence Newman and Adam (pac-man) Jones are journeymen CB's who have thrived under Lewis's system. Geno Atkins (who hopefully doesn't have a serious knee injury), who has already earned 2 All Pro selections in his first 3 seasons was drafted in 4th round. Georg Iloka was drafted in the 5th round and is already doing a decent job starting at SS as a rookie.
AJ Green, Mohammed Sanu, Marvin Jones are all good to great WR's drafted in recent years. Gresham and Eifert solid TEs. Giovanni Bernard appears to have a bright future.
Not sure how much power and influence Marvin Lewis has in player personnel, but I'd have to imagine he has plenty of say. And when you look at their current roster, it's extremely remarkable how he's built this team.
1. "Welp, looks like I may have jinxed him for tonight. But, like" In response to Reply # 0
I said, his success is unfortunately very much dependent on the development of the red headed step son, err rifle. His defense is doing a damn good job though.
Nice to see Cody Grimes make a huge play. SHIPP HAPPENS! If you're not from PA, you probably have no clue what that last sentence means.
16. "Good call on Grimes. I had his nephew in class which is" In response to Reply # 5
why I slipped with the name.
Like I said in another post, the Bengals have had some huge setbacks with injuries lately, but the team is poised to be great for a long while (provided they can resign key players and replace them thru the draft). Regardless of how they finish this year, Marvin Lewis and management deserves a ton of respect for the manner in which they rebuilt this team.
2. "Cinncy has done a remarkable building job, shame Leon Hall got hurt" In response to Reply # 0
they've drafted perfectly, those extra picks from the dumb ass raiders didnt hurt... and Burflict undrafted steal obviously... I don't even hate Dalton but if Cinncy had a legit stud qb they'd win it all easy this year I think
3. "he would look like a better coach if he gave bernard " In response to Reply # 0
more goddamn work falling behind 17-3 to a joke ass team because they featured a snail of a running back in law firm... no wonder dalton throws picks... no defense is gonna give a shit if they see a washed up RB in the backfield if that gotdamn run by gio doesnt wake lewis/gruden up....
11. "yeah that's Gio's only weakness" In response to Reply # 6
I've seen about enough of BJGE though. Other than short yardage or plays where they need the RB to pass protect, he should not be on the field over Gio. Hopefully Gio's injury isn't too serious.
>Carlos Dunlap is another >guy that was pegged as a top 10 pick at one point. He too was >passed on due to getting so drunk that he passed out in his car at a green light, with his car in gear, in the week leading up to the biggest game of the season.
*Jews you*
"this is okp tho, reading is completely optional" (c) desus
8. "am I the only one pointing the finger at Clabo for Geno's injury?" In response to Reply # 0
it wasn't intentional, but it was definitely avoidable
dude was trying to outmuscle Burfict after the play. they fell on Atkins who was under a pile and completely vulnerable. Clabo has a reputation as a "nasty" lineman. usually, those types get called out when they're involved in something like this
and why didn't anyone from NFL Network mention that Miami got away with an obvious hit to the helmet which caused an interception? like... they completely ignored that sh*t. wtf?
10. "Sounds like Geno is done for the year" In response to Reply # 0
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
Bengals have now lost their 2 most important players on D in Atkins and Leon Hall. I still think they will make the playoffs, but I can't see them being a true Super Bowl contender with these injuries.
And on the original topic, the smartest thing Mike Brown ever did was give Marvin more control over the roster. Bengals have the smallest scouting department in the league, Marvin and his staff have done a hell of a job drafting the last 3 - 4 years. If Marvin ever decides he doesn't want to coach anymore, I could see him being a good GM.
13. "I think they still have the smallest scouting department" In response to Reply # 12 Fri Nov-01-13 10:17 AM by THRILLHOUSE
Based on what I can tell from http://www.bengals.com/team/staff-directory.html looks like there are 3 scouts and 3 "scouting consultants". But yeah, until recently I think they only had 1 scout and a couple of consultants. Progress!
14. "RE: Sounds like Geno is done for the year" In response to Reply # 10
sucks he's gone, but I'm not the least bit worried because Gilberry's sacks comes when he's in at tackle. He may not be an every down force like Geno, but when pressure is needed I thing Gil can replace him there a bit. Hopefully our young DTs are ready to fill in, if they do a decent job, that'll at least give Geno some time to get to 100%.
Now that we've finally gotten our starting safety opposite Nelson (Iloka has been nasty, Carrier just needs to get him turnover minded) and Marvin Jones is the closest to a legit #2 receiver, we would have to deal with injuries to our deepest positions.....fuuuuuuck!!!!
also wanna send a shout out to Marv, Zimmer, and our LBs coach for turning Mays into a Nickel LB. Made some key plays in games before he got injured.
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
15. "I never understood why Mays wasn't converted to OLB from" In response to Reply # 14
the jump. SS have to be versatile against the run and more so with the pass in today's league. Big, bulky hitters like him have been phased out over the past decade plus. He never possessed the speed and wiggle necessary to play in the secondary. He's always had the perfect frame (just add 10-20 lbs of muscle) to play OLB. With that said, it's good to see Marvin is putting him to use.
The injuries suck for now, but the future looks pretty bright. The reason I made this post is because I'm down in the dumps thinking about my Eagles and looking around the league to teams who have built themselves from scratch. Cincy really hasn't had many big free agent signings over the years. They've drafted a TON of impact players through the draft in recent years and have done an outstanding job of developing that talent. Marvin and the rest of the Bengals management deserves serious respect for that.
17. "the conversion happened out of necessity (injury, lol)" In response to Reply # 15
our original nickel LB got hurt in the preseason and Marv didn't want to bring anyone in and didn't want to have two less than average pass coverage LBs in that package so Marv, Zim, and Gunther, decided to give Mays a two week crash course on the nickel D and his assignments. He didn't like it, but he embraced it when he was able to get on the field more and make key plays in big games. Now he's fully behind it and likes it.
Like mentioned above the turning point in the franchise was when Brown let Marv have more control in the personnel and scouting department. I expected him do well on the defensive side of the ball, but what's impressed me more is his evaluation on the offensive side. The most overlooked pick he's made on that side is picking Zeitler over DeCastro. I (and the Bengals messageboard) hated it at the time, but with DeCastro having injury issues and Zeitler getting Pro Bowl consideration last year, he made himself look damn good. I'd want him to stay on as a GM or something.
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
21. "The team is still stacked. They just gotta fix the QB situation" In response to Reply # 19
And fair or unfair, that falls on the head coach. I hope Marvin is given the time to coach this team out. He's helped build up a heck of a team. Just gotta get better play at QB.
23. "It is. And like I said, bad QB play falls back on the coach. " In response to Reply # 22
Especially if the coach has been reluctant in making the necessary changes to improve in that area. Marv could be fired today and I'll understand. Personally, I still think he's a good coach and is doing a good job overall. I'd say give him the ultimatum for next year - at least 1 playoff win. But I can certainly understand why some Cincy fans want him gone. I'm just saying that when the anger subsides, I think most will realize he's probably the best option they have as the head coach - and you can't deny he's done a remarkable job of assembling talent and getting the most out of his defensive players.
26. "RE: It is. And like I said, bad QB play falls back on the coach. " In response to Reply # 23
>Especially if the coach has been reluctant in making the >necessary changes to improve in that area. Marv could be >fired today and I'll understand. Personally, I still think >he's a good coach and is doing a good job overall. I'd say >give him the ultimatum for next year - at least 1 playoff win. > But I can certainly understand why some Cincy fans want him >gone. I'm just saying that when the anger subsides, I think >most will realize he's probably the best option they have as >the head coach - and you can't deny he's done a remarkable job >of assembling talent and getting the most out of his defensive >players.
^^^^^ This was the narrative last year, this was make or break this year. Us fans (sadly) know he's the best option, but its time to cut the losses...literally
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
24. "most will say Dalton and Gruden (which I agree with also)" In response to Reply # 22
but Marv's time is up, and this was his most talented team in all of his seasons. The players love him, but sometimes you gotta retool when things aren't working.
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
This is on Andy. Dude missed a wide open receiver that would've won them the game. They got the ball two more times after that in close proximity to field goal range.
I hope they fire him so the Browns can hire him. I want y'all to hire Josh McDaniels as his replacement.
No empathy for white misery (c) BDot
"root for everybody black haters say that's crazy, wow..."
27. "yeah, the game was on Andy no doubt, but at some point 0-5 won't cut it" In response to Reply # 25
I had convo on this thread about it last year. Sooner or later getting the team (including qb) ready for a big game falls on the HC. 0-5 and only being competitive in one can't cut it.
>This is on Andy. Dude missed a wide open receiver that >would've won them the game. They got the ball two more times >after that in close proximity to field goal range. > >I hope they fire him so the Browns can hire him. I want y'all >to hire Josh McDaniels as his replacement.
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
32. "shitty QB is right, lol" In response to Reply # 31 Sun Jan-05-14 05:05 PM by MaxPtah
though I gotta respectfully disagree as far a EVERYBODY doing their job. AJ dropped a wide open pass, Gio's fumble, and the OL stunk today. But yeah it was Dalton's performance the ultimately did them in.
---------------------------------- www.maxptah.com "you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8
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