2016 Wild Card Round: #6 Pittsburgh Steelers @ #3 Cincinnati Bengals

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

Of course I'm salty, you literally have no idea what it's like to be a Bengals fan in the past 25 years unless you've been one. It was very devastating for all of us Bengals fans to go from the high we had last night and crash to the low within a matter of minutes. We tasted it. The streak was finally over. And it wasn't even taken from us. We let it go ourselves.

I didn't say you didn't have good reason to be salty, just comes of bad when you choose to take it out on others as a way of either satisfying yourself or making yourself feel better.

I live in Pittsburgh but am neither a Steelers fan or a Pirates fan but I do understand the feeling of not winning playoff games.

I'm a Broncos fan and post Elway, short of getting to the Super Bowl a couple years ago they have done nothing in the playoffs. The A's have lost every first round that they've made it to the playoffs in as long as I can remember.

I can empathize, and do know the feeling. Trust me.

[redsox4evur]

FWIW the Bengals are planning to the losingest coach in playoff history.

[LambertandHam]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

I know it's a football thread/forum, but Pittsburgh fans know exactly what this feels like having watched the Pirates. Their heartbreak in 1990-1992 followed by the 20+ years of not even having a winning record...I think they can empathize.

Every season they show the damn Sid Bream slide...

[10]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

Of course I'm salty, you literally have no idea what it's like to be a Bengals fan in the past 25 years unless you've been one. It was very devastating for all of us Bengals fans to go from the high we had last night and crash to the low within a matter of minutes. We tasted it. The streak was finally over. And it wasn't even taken from us. We let it go ourselves.

It's unbelievably frustrating to be a fan of this team, same for the Reds. Luckily the Bengals haven't missed their window like the Reds did (I was there for game 5 against San Francisco too...) to win a championship but it only takes one thing to go wrong for it to slam shut. On some level I'm just grateful that they have one of the best rosters in football and that they're fun to watch especially since we both know what a joke this team was from ownership to the players for a very long time.

That being said last night's game made me question why I even watch this stupid team play this stupid sport. This should have been our year. New England is still good but not as much as last year and have a lot of injuries, Denver and the rest of the conference have glaring flaws. We barely lost to Arizona on the road, beat Seattle and I'd be confident in our chances against Carolina. A series of unbelievably stupid plays (highly questionable calls too) and we're done. I shook off every other loss the last 5 years but it's going to be tough to do this time.

Also, Marvin's a good coach and they should bring him bak. His playoff record or the narrative of players not being disciplined because of him aren't good reasons to replace him. Hue and Guenther might not be improvements like I think Zimmer would've been and there's not much better out there right now

[cima]

Quote: Originally Posted by 10

It's unbelievably frustrating to be a fan of this team, same for the Reds. Luckily the Bengals haven't missed their window like the Reds did (I was there for game 5 against San Francisco too...) to win a championship but it only takes one thing to go wrong for it to slam shut. On some level I'm just grateful that they have one of the best rosters in football and that they're fun to watch especially since we both know what a joke this team was from ownership to the players for a very long time. That being said last night's game made me question why I even watch this stupid team play this stupid sport. This should have been our year. New England is still good but not as much as last year and have a lot of injuries, Denver and the rest of the conference have glaring flaws. We barely lost to Arizona on the road, beat Seattle and I'd be confident in our chances against Carolina. A series of unbelievably stupid plays (highly questionable calls too) and we're done. I shook off every other loss the last 5 years but it's going to be tough to do this time. Also, Marvin's a good coach and they should bring him bak. His playoff record or the narrative of players not being disciplined because of him aren't good reasons to replace him. Hue and Guenther might not be improvements like I think Zimmer would've been and there's not much better out there right now

I wish Marvin would just resign, he's not going to get fired. Mikey would never pin this loss on him. 0-5 in the playoffs didn't matter nor did 0-6 so why would 0-7? 0-8 won't matter either.

I'm just worried about the state of the franchise now. There are several key FAs on defense. But can this team really come back under the same leader after such a disappointing loss and be successful next year? That's tough to say. I'm all in on Andy though. I was one of the guys that wanted him gone before this year but he is the real deal. I believe he can take us to the next level but at the same time I will always have that glimmer of doubt with Lewis at the helm.

I hope Hue Jackson gets hired somewhere else, he is way too ****ing cute with his playcalling. Lost in the shuffle of the ****fest last night was his terrible playcall on the 2 PT conversion that would've given Cincy 18 points.

[10]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

I wish Marvin would just resign, he's not going to get fired. Mikey would never pin this loss on him. 0-5 in the playoffs didn't matter nor did 0-6 so why would 0-7? 0-8 won't matter either. I'm just worried about the state of the franchise now. There are several key FAs on defense. But can this team really come back under the same leader after such a disappointing loss and be successful next year? That's tough to say. I'm all in on Andy though. I was one of the guys that wanted him gone before this year but he is the real deal. I believe he can take us to the next level but at the same time I will always have that glimmer of doubt with Lewis at the helm. I hope Hue Jackson gets hired somewhere else, he is way too ****ing cute with his playcalling. Lost in the shuffle of the ****fest last night was his terrible playcall on the 2 PT conversion that would've given Cincy 18 points.

It's certainly not a Mike Brown move to fire Marvin. For all his faults as a coach--horrible clock management, team seems to play without energy and too conservative against good teams--I think he makes up for them. He essentially built this team and turned Mike Brown from a joke to a competent owner. A lot of people would've laughed if you told them we'd be here even 15 years later. Yeah we had Palmer but this isn't lucking out on 1 player in the draft, it's the result of years of good drafting and management. Agreed on Hue, too many times they tried to be too cute and run badly timed trick plays. A 2 point conversion to go up 3 that late in the game is about the worst time possible to break that terrible play out.

The way they played after Gio got hurt was what we've been waiting for for years. Energy and aggression on both sides of the ball. Burfict and the defense were incredible all game but especially the 4th quarter. Sucks to end the way it did, seeing as we'd probably have Dalton back next week and would have just as good a shot at winning the Super Bowl as anybody in either conference.

We have a few spots to upgrade and we're going to lose a few people but our base will still be there so I think we'll be okay. Pacman will probably be back as well as Marvin Jone. I'm drawing a blank on the other free agents but Andre Smith isn't a huge loss and I'd like to see them replace Sanu with a better slot receiver anyway. A core of Andy, AJ, Gio/Hill and Eifert on offense with Geno, Dunlap, Burfict and Iloka on defense is still pretty good. Hopefully a few guys like Dre improve and I think we could use another line backer to replace the AJ Hawk/LaMur/Vinny Rey black hole and Michael Johnson wasn't nearly as good as he was before he went to Tampa. Almost all of our offense and defense is just entering their prime.

[cima]

Quote: Originally Posted by 10

It's certainly not a Mike Brown move to fire Marvin. For all his faults as a coach--horrible clock management, team seems to play without energy and too conservative against good teams--I think he makes up for them. He essentially built this team and turned Mike Brown from a joke to a competent owner. A lot of people would've laughed if you told them we'd be here even 15 years later. Yeah we had Palmer but this isn't lucking out on 1 player in the draft, it's the result of years of good drafting and management. Agreed on Hue, too many times they tried to be too cute and run badly timed trick plays. A 2 point conversion to go up 3 that late in the game is about the worst time possible to break that terrible play out. The way they played after Gio got hurt was what we've been waiting for for years. Energy and aggression on both sides of the ball. Burfict and the defense were incredible all game but especially the 4th quarter. Sucks to end the way it did, seeing as we'd probably have Dalton back next week and would have just as good a shot at winning the Super Bowl as anybody in either conference. We have a few spots to upgrade and we're going to lose a few people but our base will still be there so I think we'll be okay. Pacman will probably be back as well as Marvin Jone. I'm drawing a blank on the other free agents but Andre Smith isn't a huge loss and I'd like to see them replace Sanu with a better slot receiver anyway. A core of Andy, AJ, Gio/Hill and Eifert on offense with Geno, Dunlap, Burfict and Iloka on defense is still pretty good. Hopefully a few guys like Dre improve and I think we could use another line backer to replace the AJ Hawk/LaMur/Vinny Rey black hole and Michael Johnson wasn't nearly as good as he was before he went to Tampa. Almost all of our offense and defense is just entering their prime.

At this point, I have a hard time seeing Pacman coming back. He ****ed up bad on this one. But then again, Marvin is soft and forgives everyone so who knows. I don't want him back. I made a screenshot from the FA list and crossed out the guys I want gone.



Truth is I would like to keep Reggie Nelson but I just see him being gone. There were rumors going around anyway he wants to finish off in Florida.

[10]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

At this point, I have a hard time seeing Pacman coming back. He ****ed up bad on this one. But then again, Marvin is soft and forgives everyone so who knows. I don't want him back. I made a screenshot from the FA list and crossed out the guys I want gone. Truth is I would like to keep Reggie Nelson but I just see him being gone. There were rumors going around anyway he wants to finish off in Florida.

I agree with most of this list and what you said about Pacman but he's more or less been under control. He's good for a few incredibly dumb penalties a year but he had a huge punt return last night that set up the first touchdown and he's still a legitimate number 1 or 2 corner on almost any team. The talent is still there to justify most of his behavior for me. As mad as I was at Burfict and Pacman I still want them back. The defense with Burfict healthy is completely different. Leon and Reggie are tough calls. Both lost a step at a position where you can't really afford to. Most if not all of Reggie's interceptions came from him playing center field and having the ball thrown right at him. Leon's salary will likely be swapped for Iloka's. It's not like Denver where they have too much money tied up in a few players where they can't resign anyone. Losing Leon and Andre's contracts frees up $15 mil which is more than enough to sign a few key players.

All of those guys except Pacman, Iloka, Nelson and Marvin Jones are easily replaceable. Forgot about Dennard too before. Need him to have a breakout year. I'd love for them to get another pass rusher or safety in the draft or a slot WR with speed. They have young guys like Dawson, Williams, Fisher and Dennard that should be ready to contribute next year. They aren't going to be asked to do too much since we have solid guys at every position already.

Can't get rid of Brandon Tate and Andre Smith soon enough though.

The AFC is going to get worse before it gets better with Brady's last few years and who knows how long Denver can keep that team together or how much they're going to be willing to pay to do it. Indy is a mess outside of Luck, Houston has some good players but is lacking talent at a lot of positions, KC is a solid team but isn't great and teams that might have some potential like Oakland, Miami, Jacksonville and Buffalo are still a few years away from being serious contenders. Bengals should be able to take advantage of that, they should have a team that can win for the next 5 years at least.