Random Reds Rumblings

[CincyRedsFan30]

LOL

He should be fired.

It is unlikely they will ever win a Super Bowl with this guy coaching.

I can see it.

He is the anti-Cowher and Jocketty.

I'm really pleased some Bengals fans have grown satisfied with (8-8) seasons or so though.

Mediocrity reigns.

Unfortunately those that accept mediocrity will never allow him to be fired.

At least Mike Brown accepts good old mediocrity now instead of (2-14) seasons.

[McKain]

Yeah, I am pleased with 8-8 seasons. I am very pleased with going 8-8, 8-8, 11-5, and being 5-3 or 4-4 with 8 games to play and having a good shot at the division and making the playoffs again.

Do you remember the 90s and pre-Lewis years at all? Where they went 64-144? I like my teams improving over time. Sorry that you can't accept that all teams don't go from 2-14 to 16-0 in 4 years. The Panthers situation doesn't happen too often these days.

It's a joke to be upset with the Bengals current situation if you've followed the team for more than a few seasons, seeing as how awful they were for so many seasons.

[CincyRedsFan30]

You miss the playoffs at (2-14) and (8-8), so why does it matter?

A loss here does NOT mean a good chance at winning the division. Almost none. And unlikely to make the playoffs.

Just because they were one of the worst franchises in sports history in the '90's doesn't mean mediocrity now is "good."

Lovie Smith knows how to turn franchises around. I could name off other coaches who make their teams ELITE (look at that word) much faster than Lewis. MUCH faster.

I have followed this team since around 1990 and I am upset.

They have very little young talent on defense and the offense is getting older and older.

This franchise will never get over the top with this guy as coach.

[McKain]

I can't even respect your overly-emotional opinions anymore, so I'm blocking you.

[CincyRedsFan30]

You can't respect the FACTS.

That's too bad.

I'm glad to finally see you block me.

All you've done is made sarcastic replies to me anyway, particularly when I'm proven right about Walt Jocketty and other key issues such as that.

[CincyRedsFan30]

We're (4-4) with the Chargers and Saints looming.

This could actually be a worse than mediocre season.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Can we PLEASE trade Lewis for Billick?

PLEASE?

This Ravens team is a REAL Super Bowl contender this year.

[redsfan28]

The Refs beat us, not the Ravens.

[redsfan28]

BTW, would you rather have Dick LeBeau, Bruce Coslet, or Dave Shula still as the head coach of this team?

[CincyRedsFan30]

No, I'd rather not have any of them OR Lewis.

They are all average at best.

I actually want us to have a winning franchise. Shame on me.

Instead we get (4-4) teams that could be much worse after the next two games vs. San Diego and @ New Orleans. The chances of even MAKING the playoffs are rather low at this point.

I wouldn't be stunned to see us only win a couple more games. Heck, we did that under the Coslet, LeBeau and Shula period a couple times (6-10).

What I'd like is a good coach like Lovie Smith, Bill Cowher (Super Bowl winner), Brian Billick (Super Bowl winner and a VERY good looking team this year).

I'd also take guys like Coughlin, Sean Payton, Shanahan, etc. Look what Payton has done for the not so good Saints VERY quickly.

The only reason we even made it to the playoffs last year (before losing in the VERY first round) was because we played a very easy schedule.

We can't get it done against the more talented/competitive teams.

[redsfan28]

Well, considering that 3 of our key defensive players are either on IR or suspended and our starting left tackle and center are injured doesn't really help. Carson hasn't gotten into a rhythm due to the fact he is missing 2/5 of his starting offensive line.

If the Ravens hadn't done well this season, Billick would have been fired. Cowher is on his way out of Pittsburgh, and Lovie Smith's team got beat by a far inferior Miami Dolphins team. By the way, if Cowher is such a good coach, then why do the Steelers suck this season? The same reason why the Bengals haven't been as good, INJURIES!!!

If Marvin Lewis wasn't a good coach, then how did this team go 11-5 last season? I'm not saying he's the second coming of Vince Lombardi, but he's better than 3/4 of the head coaches in the NFL right now.

[redsfan28]

Right about now, I'd rather be 4-4 with an "awful" coach than 2-6 with a Super Bowl winning coach.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I'd rather have won the Super Bowl last year and be (2-6) this year than to have lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and be (4-4) and sinking fast this year.

That's just me though.

The injury excuse only goes so far. The Patriots have injuries/lose players for other reasons every year and yet Belichick molds a winner for the Boston area.

Only an idiot would fire Billick. He has already won a Super Bowl and looks to have another Super Bowl caliber team this year. Although one thing the possibility of his firing shows is how much HIGHER the expectations are in other NFL cities than here.

Cowher won a Super Bowl last year and his teams have been good for years, so I will give him a pass for a poor year AFTER a Super Bowl Championship.

The Bears are (7-1), so comparing the incredible job Lovie has done with that franchise over the last few years to what Lewis has done doesn't make sense. The Bears are VERY, VERY good under Lovie's drafting/coaching.

And we went (11-5) last year because we had a very easy schedule and got lucky in terms of the number of INT we had.

There are plenty of coaches I'd take over Lewis.

[CincyRedsFan30]

No secret: Chad upset
Bengals WR displeased with diminished role
BALTIMORE – Chad Johnson, frustrated at the Bengals 26-20 loss and how he has been under-utilized, blew up after the game today.

Johnson had four receptions for 32 yards and no touchdowns.

“Anybody have the stats for today?” Johnson asked at one time during his postgame interview session. “Four – that sucks. You have your best player, and you can’t even get him the (expletive deleted) ball. I just go out there and get the job done. But now, all of a sudden, there is a problem this year. How many catches did I get? Four. That (expletive deleted) sucks, too.”

He has 40 catches for 483 yards and two touchdowns at the mid-point of the season. He is on pace for 80 receptions for 976 yards and four touchdowns.

“All I can do as an individual is go out and make plays and give (his) best effort,” Johnson said. “Also, to be given the opportunity to make plays. Four for 32 – that’s (expletive deleted) ridiculous. You’ve got to be (expletive deleted) kidding me. When Christmas comes around, I might as well be a hood ornament. Because all I’ve been so far is a decoration – a decoration sitting out there all pretty, ready for people to jump on.”

Johnson wants the ball but doesn’t want to come across as selfish. He said the more he gets the ball, the more the team has a chance to win.

“What is No. 85 now, some kind of secret?” he said. “They know what the hell I can do.”

He made a non-serious reference to retiring.

“Maybe I should return like Tiki (Barber),” Johnson said of the Giants tailback. “You tell me what the problem is.”

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

[CincyRedsFan30]

Someone seems anything but impressed by the Bengals:

Another loss to Ravens shows Bengals in full meltdown mode
Nov. 5, 2006

By Clark Judge

CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

BALTIMORE -- The meltdown has begun.

For the fourth time in five weeks the Cincinnati Bengals have lost, and now there are signs of a frustrated, angry and, yes, troubled football team.

I'm talking about an irate T.J. Houshmandzadeh heaving his helmet to the ground. I'm talking about quarterback Carson Palmer chewing out teammate Chris Henry after the wide receiver quit on Palmer's last pass. I'm talking about coach Marvin Lewis standing with hands on hips, staring in disbelief at what he was seeing.

And what he was seeing was his club in a free-fall, slipping two games behind front-running Baltimore in the AFC North to hit .500 for the first time since the end of the 2004 season. That is not good, although you'd never know it listening to Houshmandzadeh.

"We're better than Baltimore," Houshmandzadeh said. "They're not better than us. They beat us, but they're not better than us. And they know they're not better than us.

"We're just a better team than they are, and we have better players than they have. We didn't win the game, so I'm sure they'll see that and laugh. But deep down they know we're better than them."

Then how come Chad Johnson doesn't know it? It wasn't so much what you saw from the Bengals that makes you wonder what's next for this rapidly disintegrating club as much it was what you heard -- or, specifically, what you heard from Chad Johnson, the Artist Formerly Known as Ocho Cinco.

"Are you all recording?" the star wide receiver asked as writers gathered around his locker. When they nodded, he began.

"We suck," he said, making sure to emphasize the verb. "Two losses in a row. We come in here with the same excuses after the game that things are going to get better. It's freaking Week Eight. I keep hearing the same (stuff) over and over and over. Excuses, man, excuses. We have to stop with excuses. Put up some (freaking) points. The same (stuff) after every game." While Johnson's frustration no doubt is fed by diminished numbers -- he has two TD catches all year -- he makes a good point. What the heck happened to the Cincinnati offense? In four of its last five games it failed to produce more than 20 points, which means it failed to produce more than two touchdowns in any of them.

The lone exception was that 27-point spot the Bengals put on Atlanta last weekend, and they lost that one, too.

So what's wrong? Johnson doesn't know; nor do his teammates. But there's frustration that's beginning to yield to anger ... and look out below. The club that averaged 28.5 points in its first three wins has tailed off to 20 a game over its last five starts and is headed south on third-down conversions.

It entered the game 23rd in that department, and was 1-for-10 against the Ravens. Draw your own conclusions. Me? I'm sticking with Johnson.

"We as a team are not playing well enough," said Johnson. "No beating around the bush. As a whole we are not playing well at all."

But what about what Houshmandzadeh said? You know, that stuff about the Bengals being "better than Baltimore;" that there are eight games left; and that there's no doubt in his mind you're in the thick of it at the end? Or what about what Palmer said about there being "no reason" you can't run the table from here on out and finish 12-4?

"I agree," said Johnson. "But we can't use that same optimism every week. We were better than Atlanta. We were better than Baltimore. We were better than the other two teams we lost to (Tampa Bay and New England). You can't keep saying the same (stuff) over and over. We've got to get it done. I'm not pointing no fingers."

Well, then, I am. The Bengals need to find a way to put the ball in Johnson's hands. A year ago he was one of the top receivers in the league. Now, he's not the top receiver on his own team. Houshmandzadeh is. So what happened? How come a guy who consistently made big plays last year ... and the year before that ... and the year before that ... can't get his hands on the ball?

"Anybody have the statistics?" Johnson asked reporters.

Uh, yeah, they're right here. Johnson had four catches for 32 yards, with no scores.

"Four catches?" he said. "That sucks, too. I'm supposed to be your best player, but you can't even get the guy the ball. Excuses. I don't give excuses. I just get the job done. All of sudden, there's a problem this year.

"How many catches again? Four? That sucks. I probably suck, too."

When someone suggested that maybe the Ravens' coverage might have had something to do with it, Johnson cut his questioner off.

"They play the same way they play every year since the day I was drafted in '01," he said. "What's the damn difference? But, again, I always hear excuses. Well, I don't give excuses. I just get the job done, period. But when I complain I'm selfish.

"Maybe I lost a step. Maybe I should retire like Tiki (Barber). I know damn well I haven't lost a step. You tell me what the problem is. I'm past frustration."

The problem is that he and his teammates aren't past Baltimore, and they won't get there if they don't correct problems that keep resurfacing -- namely, an offense that doesn't make clutch plays. Look, I know the Bengals' defense isn't the '85 Bears, but it wasn't a year ago, either, yet Cincinnati wound up winning the division.

And now it's not only trailing; it's starting to sink in the AFC North. And the problem isn't defense. It's an offense that entered Sunday's game ranked 18th in the league and 11th in scoring, both down significantly from where it was a year ago. I don't know if it has anything to do with Palmer. Or the offensive line. Or third downs. Or whatever.

What I do know is that Chad Johnson is steamed, and that's not good. What's worse, he's not the playmaker he once was, and he's not the playmaker he needs to be for the Bengals to make a run at Baltimore.

"You've got to be (freaking) kidding me," he said. "When Christmas comes around I might as well be a hood ornament. Because all I've been so far is a decoration -- a decoration sitting out there all pretty, ready for people to jump on."

The meltdown has begun.