NFL 2017: And Now It Begins!

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

32 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Painful.

I don't know. It's not like he was good. He had one awesome play (coupled with bad defense) and that's about it. Not sure he'll be able to get over his inability to keep his eyes up in the face of pressure. Seven years later and Dalton certainly hasn't. 

Dalton has the yips. If he doesn’t get over them soon he’ll find himself on the bench and/or on a new team.

[Maithanet]

36 minutes ago, Mexal said:

I don't know. It's not like he was good. He had one awesome play (coupled with bad defense) and that's about it. Not sure he'll be able to get over his inability to keep his eyes up in the face of pressure. Seven years later and Dalton certainly hasn't. 

Yeah, like I said I'm not terribly optimistic.  But we'll see. 

[Mexal]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Dalton has the yips. If he doesn’t get over them soon he’ll find himself on the bench and/or on a new team.

Maybe but I highly doubt it happens this season. McCarron has been terrible and he doesn't do anything better than Dalton. The issues plaguing both are the same (inability to maneuver pressure in a calm way) and are only accentuated by the horrible OL.

That being said, the biggest issue on this team right now is the OC. Zampese has been horrendous. He's doing a terrible job calling plays that gets the ball to his playmakers. Eifert has like 3 targets. Green had zero targets on the final drive and like 4 all 2nd half. After Green beats a triple team, he still doesn't get the ball. Ross fumbles the ball on his first touch and never plays another snap. The RB rotation is a mess (why is Hill getting carries and better yet, why is Hill getting outside run carriers?) and as much as I love Gio, maybe use the 2nd round pick with top 10 talent who is capable of making Watt completely whiff in more than just first/2nd down in obvious run plays.

Ultimately, this is the team you'll see all year. I don't think these issues get fixed and I don't think Lewis benches Dalton for McCarron. If he does, I don't think it makes a difference. This Bengals team, despite a very good defense, may be the worst team in the league and that's with an offense that has Mixon/Bernard, Green, Eifert and Ross on the team. Says a lot about the offensive coaching. It's just nuts.

[Nictarion]

Yeah, Zampese is absolutely horrendous as an OC. There's a reason it took him like 20 years to get the chance. I really, really miss Hue.

[DanteGabriel]

Just now, Nictarion said:

Yeah, Zampese is absolutely horrendous as an OC. There's a reason it took him like 20 years to get the chance. I really, really miss Hue.

There's the previously requested scapegoat for a mid or end of season firing, and it would actually be a legit football move.

[Mexal]

1 minute ago, DanteGabriel said:

There's the previously requested scapegoat for a mid or end of season firing, and it would actually be a legit football move.

It would but it's not the Bengals way, especially in his first year as a coordinator. Guenther had some issues his first year too and they didn't do shit.

[Maithanet]

2 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Ultimately, this is the team you'll see all year. I don't think these issues get fixed and I don't think Lewis benches Dalton for McCarron. If he does, I don't think it makes a difference. This Bengals team, despite a very good defense, may be the worst team in the league and that's with an offense that has Mixon/Bernard, Green, Eifert and Ross on the team. It's just nuts.

Let's not get crazy.  I know you're staring at a potentially very bad year, but the Bengals are still at least TD favorite over the Jets, and probably better than the Bills and Colts.  So I guess you have the Bills week 5 game to look forward to?

[Mexal]

26 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Let's not get crazy.  I know you're staring at a potentially very bad year, but the Bengals are still at least TD favorite over the Jets, and probably better than the Bills and Colts.  So I guess you have the Bills week 5 game to look forward to?

Eh, we'll see. We just lost to a team, at home, who had ~15 people on their injury report, lost both their starting CBs in the game, had no TEs, a rookie QB and just got rocked by Jacksonville. If you want to say we're a bottom 3-5 team, that's fair enough, but as a fan watching a team be the first team since 1939 to fail to score a single TD in back to back home games, it's hard to feel optimistic that we're not the worst.

ETA: @sperryI'm all in on your boy. Bring me some Mayfield.

[Bronn Stone]

If a team loses both starting CB and you don't move the ball on them, that's epic failure.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Bronn Stone said:

If a team loses both starting CB and you don't move the ball on them, that's epic failure.

That’s why I’m saying Dalton has the yips. He was missing wide open guys badly. I’ve never been that high on Dalton (even though I wanted the Vikings to draft him), but he isn’t that bad.

[Mexal]

Bengals expected to fire Zampese. Can't remember a time that this has happened. Good move though I have no idea who could replace him.

ETA: I can't remember why it hasn't happened because it has never happened in their history. Bill Lazor to take over. Think he got fired after one season during the Philbin debacle. Great.

[Mexal]

4 minutes ago, Triskan said:

Is Baker Mayfield considered much of a pro-prospect?  I admit I need to watch more and didn't see any of OU @ tOSU last week, but from what I saw last year he seemed like a really good college QB not necessarily big pro prospect.  

Not really. I think he'll be taken in the mid rounds. He does have some attributes that compares positively to Russell Wilson. I'm sure he'll get a shot. 

[Maithanet]

NFL teams are getting increasingly leery of Big 12 quarterbacks, because the systems they run are just so far from pro style.  I can come up with several first and second round busts from the big 10 just off the top of my head.  Can't actually think of any success stories, although there are probably at least a couple.  Sam Bradford is a marginal starter, but a bust as the #1 overall.  Ryan Tannehill played in the Big 12, is he considered a success?  Colt McCoy is a career backup.  Gabbert is a bust.  RG3 was a bust. 

[Kalbear]

3 hours ago, DanteGabriel said:

There's the previously requested scapegoat for a mid or end of season firing, and it would actually be a legit football move.

Maybe? Saying that plays that don't go to your stars are not supposed to seems like something really devoid of football analysis. Is Dalton not executing the plays right? Is he executing them right but not pulling the trigger? Is he gunshy now? Is he being told to take fewer chances?

Firing the OC could work out, or it could not, but simply basing that decision on how many targets guys have is probably not the right choice in a vacuum. 

[briantw]

3 hours ago, Maithanet said:

Let's not get crazy.  I know you're staring at a potentially very bad year, but the Bengals are still at least TD favorite over the Jets, and probably better than the Bills and Colts.  So I guess you have the Bills week 5 game to look forward to?

The Colts are probably the only team that, right now, looks worse than the Bengals.  

[Maithanet]

2 minutes ago, briantw said:

The Colts are probably the only team that, right now, looks worse than the Bengals.  

The Jet's terribleness was largely hidden by the fact that they were playing Buffalo, who are also a bottom 5 team.  I remain confident they'll end up with the first pick next year.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

19 minutes ago, briantw said:

The Colts are probably the only team that, right now, looks worse than the Bengals.  

Nah, they're much like the Texans in that their defense puts them in the next tier up. They've given up 33 points in 2 games. Their offense is probably among the worst, especially given how much talent they have, but overall, the team is not in the bottom 4.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

@Joe Pesci,

How do you think this weekend’s Vikings-Steelers game is going  to play out?

[DanteGabriel]

5 hours ago, Mexal said:

It would but it's not the Bengals way, especially in his first year as a coordinator. Guenther had some issues his first year too and they didn't do shit.

I thought I read something that said Zampese was in his second year?

 

1 hour ago, Kalbear said:

Maybe? Saying that plays that don't go to your stars are not supposed to seems like something really devoid of football analysis. Is Dalton not executing the plays right? Is he executing them right but not pulling the trigger? Is he gunshy now? Is he being told to take fewer chances?

Firing the OC could work out, or it could not, but simply basing that decision on how many targets guys have is probably not the right choice in a vacuum. 

I didn't mention anything about whether or not plays were going to his stars. I suspect getting shut out in the opener and failing to get any traction against a wounded Houston pass defense had more to do with his firing. This does seem a little early in the season to do something like that, but didn't the Bills fire Greg Roman after two games and then get progress on offense almost immediately after?

If Dalton is the problem and they're promoting Dalton's position coach... well, good luck. Unless Zampese has been holding those guys back, which is certainly possible.

[Mexal]

52 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

I thought I read something that said Zampese was in his second year?

He was. It was my mistake.