As the NFL offseason
is in full swing, it’s a perfect opportunity to evaluate where each team was in
2017, and where they plan to go in the New Year. Let’s begin the review of
the Cincinnati Bengals.
2017 Season Recap:
The 2017 edition of
the Bengals had high hopes to regain their form of two seasons ago where they
went 12-4 and found themselves in the postseason. Coming off a 2016 season that
saw them fall short of returning to the playoffs coach Marvin Lewis had his
hopes to retool and drive his vision home and finally getting success in the
playoffs. Under coach Lewis and his incredible 14 year run in Cincinnati, he’s
had varying levels of success with never winning a playoff game in seven tries.
While the Bengals still house a decent team on paper, the wheels seemingly feel
off after offensive coordinator Hue Jackson accepted a job to man the ship in
Cleveland two years ago. From 2016 to 2017, the offense hasn’t resembled much
of anything compared to the one that fired on all cylinders in 2015.
The year started off
on the wrong foot as their 2017 draft class was extremely underwhelming from
jump. Taking a shot at speedster John Ross with the ninth overall selection
started the failure of their decision making process of this class. Drafting
high potential rookie Joe Mixon in the second round was the highlight and
realistically the best choice they made on draft day. Rounding out the roster,
the Bengals went into 2017 with virtually a similar squad as the year before,
which didn’t generate much success.
Opening the season
with three consecutive losses had the local media calling for Marvin Lewis’ job
much like they did after the 2016 season. Trying to right the ship and quick,
the Bengals found a way to be victorious against the lowly Browns and getting a
big win against a surging Bills team. Having their bye week early in week six,
the dysfunctional nature of the makeup of this team was about to be on display
for everyone to witness. While the defense had its moments, the offense was
absolutely dreadful down the stretch run post their bye week. Losing week 7 to
the Steelers followed by a victory to the Colts in week 8, the Bengals dropped
their next two, and followed that with victories of their two games after that.
This Bengals team very much resembled a Jekyll & Hyde unit that wasn’t
consistent what so ever. With week 12 in the books, the Bengals were still very
much alive in a weak AFC playoff race at 5-6. With five games left on the slate
there was ample opportunity for Cincinnati to pile together wins allowing them to
be in the playoff conversation. Alas, this Bengals team wasn’t able to rise to
the challenge as they dropped their next three contests to again the Steelers,
the Bears, and the Vikings. Unfortunately for the Bengals fan base, that all
but sealed their fate entering them into the offseason category with two games
remaining on the schedule.
While the Bengals were
playing out the string, week 17 gave a lot of intrigue for playoff hopeful
teams including their opponent the Baltimore Ravens. Cincinnati had the
distinct role of playing the ultimate spoiler to a divisional foe on the final
week of the regular season. As the Bengals charged to a 17-3 lead late in first
half, the Ravens found a way to claw closer by getting a last second touchdown
to tighten the game. Picking up where they left off in the first half,
Cincinnati’s defensive back Darqueze Dennard picked off Joe Flacco returning it
all the way back for the touchdown. With Baltimore holding all the tie-
breakers for postseason glory, they hit forth gear coming all the back to take
the lead 27-24 with just over 8 minutes remaining on the clock. As the game
dwindled down to the final stages, what Andy Dalton and the Bengals were able
to accomplish was absolutely phenomenal. With nothing left to play for, the
Ravens up by three and .053 seconds remaining on the clock - Andy Dalton
had the Bengals in a 4th and 12 at mid field in the shotgun
ready for what was potentially the last play of the game. As Bernard moved in
motion, Dalton snapped the ball stepped up in the pocket and threw an absolute
strike over the extended reach of the zone coverage line backer hitting Tyler
Boyd right in the bread basket. The
Ravens players could only watch as Tyler Boyd caught the ball turned
to his left and take off evading all would be Baltimore tacklers for the
TOUCHDOWN! Not only did Andy Dalton show great poise, he became an instant fan
favorite to the city of Buffalo. Even though the season didn’t go as they had
planned, to end the year knocking out your division rival in the last minute of
the game could leave fans with smiles of their faces with hope of what’s to
come.
2018 Offseason
Workbook:
Offseason Review:
As the final whistle
had blown on the Bengals season, first thought from most who follow the league,
would suggest coach Marvin Lewis would undoubtedly be relieved if his duties.
Defying everything logical and practical, the Bengals ownership rewarded Marvin
Lewis with a two year extension for his uneven work over the last two seasons.
His track record overall as the Bengals coach isn’t horrible, but again Lewis
hasn’t provided any success in the post season. This move was extremely
baffling to most in the industry. To go along with the Lewis extension, Marvin
decided to bring back offensive coordinator Bill Lazor who replaced Ken Zampese
back in week 3 of the season. Even with Lazor, the Bengals offense struggled
for most of the season putting up low end numbers. Raking near the bottom of
the barrel in almost all statistical categories - the Bengals ranked 26th
in points for (18.1 PPG), 32nd in total yards (280.5 YPG), 27th
in pass yards (195.1 YPG), and 31st in rushing (85.4 YPG), quite abysmal
to bring back the same formula Lazor employs. While the coaching staff remains
virtually the same, the Bengals did add offensive line and wide receiver
coaches to the fold with Bob Bicknell and Frank Pollack respectively.
Defensively, Cincinnati
wasn’t terrible in all aspects but look to improve overall. Losing their
current defensive coordinator to the Raiders, Marvin Lewis might have won the
lotto in hiring former Lions coordinator Teryl Austin to take over the reins.
Austin has become a name the NFL knows very well these last few seasons, as
head coaching interviews have been on his plate often over the past couple
years. Ownership definitely approved this hire, as it could easily be viewed as
a grooming opportunity for Austin to take over the head coaching responsibilities
in the near future. To support Austin, fellow Lions defensive line coach (Matt
Rauch) has taken the role of defensive assistant for Cincinnati. Austin and
company will have their work cut out form them in the new year to improve upon
the numbers this defense was able to generate in 2017. The achilles heel which plagued
the Bengals last year was the ability to stop the run game which ranked 30th
in the NFL, (127.9 YPG). While most teams were able to do whatever they pleased
on the ground, Cincinnati was quite sound defending the pass with the 8th
best squad in the league, (211.2 YPG).
While the Bengals
roster appears to have sizable holes, they equally house talent at almost every
position group and would likely round out their depth while adding explosive
playmakers to the fold. Adding receiving talent should be a top priority as
John Ross might not fit what they had initially hoped. Tight end is another
area that will be highly sought after, as the Bengals intend to cut their
losses with the often injured Tyler Eifert. The Bengals will also be looking for
a defensive talent infusion, as correcting their run defense should also be a
top priority. With Lewis and the Bengals brain trust evaluating their current
roster to see where they can improve upon; the largest drama which they faced, was
the situation with their backup quarterback AJ McCarron. Filing arbitrational grievance
to become a free agent in 2018 was his clear agenda once the potential in season
trade to the Browns failed due to improper paper work fumbling. McCarron felt
he had just cause to file the grievance to which the arbitrator also agreed. Meeting
resolution, the Bengals have no choice but to watch McCarron walk out the door
with no compensation and another hole to fill.
Rostered Free Agents:
With a mere 11 million
in cap space, Cincinnati will have to get very creative in how they attack the offseason.
In terms of rostered free agents, the Bengals enjoy a short list of only 11
players to consider. Highlighting the priority signings would be two starting offensive
linemen - in right tackle Eric Winston and center Russell Bodine. It’s easy to
suggest, the Bengals will part ways with TE Tyler Eifert, LB Kevin Minter, and
RB’s Cedric Peerman and Jeremy Hill. It’s very clear Cincinnati needs to improve
upon their depth with cutting bait with underachieving products.
With limited cap space
and a load of high priced contracts on the books, there is potential for the
Bengals to recover funds in releasing players that no longer fit the bill.
Looking into all possibilities, it begins with star defensive tackle Geno
Atkins. He currently is on the last year of his contract and holds a cap hit of
9.5 million dollars with no dead money attached. Taking up just over 6% of the
Bengals current cap, he could be a prime cut candidate. Much the same can be
said for defensive back Darqueze Dennard as he holds a cap hit of 8.5 million
with also no dead money attached. Carlos Dunlap is seemingly in the same boat
as Atkins, where he holds a 7.3 million dollar hit with no cap penalty attached
to his deal. Adam-Pacman Jones could be another player that is easily removed
from the roster as cap savings would generate a nice 5.8 million for the
Bengals. Potentially adding two offensive players that held high ranking
positions, Giovanni Bernard and Brandon LaFell could also be placed in the cut
conversation. LaFell would instantly save 4 million while Bernard could save
another 3.1 million if cut before OTA’s. Though these are all options that
could be on the table, the potential to create 38 million dollars of additional
cap space could be more detrimental to this club for 2018 as they would have to
replace all that talent.
Moving up and down the
roster, there is great potential to save funds and in great amounts. ADF truly
believes even with this amount of potential savings, the Bengals will in most
part stay the course for this season as most of these top end salaries come off
the books in 2019. This puts into speculation that coach Marvin Lewis has one
more kick at the can to produce a winner before they cut bait and start a full
on rebuild of the Bengals. It will be very interesting to see how they approach
this.
NFL Draft:
Looking ahead to the
NFL Draft, the Bengals hold all their picks from 1 to 7 starting the draft
picking in the number 12 spot. It’s quite obvious Cincinnati will be looking to
add depth and potentiality find starting caliber talent that could lift this
team to the likes of their 2015 success. Having needs on both sides of the ball,
it will be interesting to witness what the Bengals brass chooses to go after in
this draft. With a plethora of wide receiver talent existing, we could easily
see them address this in the later rounds. Adding defensive line and line
backer help should be the top of the list as many high end pieces come up for
contract as we mentioned above. Being proactive might be the solution as they potentially
let a lot of the veterans walk next year. Also, not out of the question, it’s conceivable
Cincinnati goes after another running back to help take the load off of second
year runner Joe Mixon. Providing a credible one two punch could be invaluable to
Andy Dalton and this offense improving.
Overall for 2018:
While Cincinnati oozes
dysfunctional behavior and management throughout the entire organization, they
still have a decent opportunity to right the ship and become competitive once
again. Keys to success would include getting Andy Dalton back on track with a
system that exemplifies his performance levels while providing him with talent
outside of the great AJ Green. While Cincinnati might not be an offensive power
house in 2018, the defense sure has proper pieces to regain their form. The
best formula might be to continue to add to that side of the ball making them
once again a feared and dominating unit. It sure won’t be a surprise to us that
this season should be the final for Marvin Lewis if he can’t find his way back
to the post season.
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