FIRE BRATKOWSKI!

Since I didn't get to watch the game this weekend, I can't comment on the actual X's & O's this week, but I can comment on this: I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF BRATKOWSKI'S BULLSHIT PLAY CALLING & LEWIS FALLING ON THE SWORD FOR HIM.

Following the game on my iPhone thanks to ESPN’s Game-tracker on my drive home from Virginia Beach, for three quarters, it looked like things were going pretty well: a couple of nice long scoring drives, but it didn’t look like I was missing anything too dramatic outside of the TO TD, and Benson's performance. Then we get to the fourth quarter, and "SQUIRREL!" 

First of all, Lewis’s excuse that they were being aggressive is complete horseshit, and the media needs to call him out on this. The play calling speaks for itself.

Starting with the second drive of the forth quarter, Bengals ahead 21-14, starting on the Bengals’s 6 with 8:51 to play: 1-10, Benson run; 2-6, Benson run; 3-1, Benson run; 1-10, Palmer 4 yard pass to TO; 2-6, Benson run; & 3-2, Leonard run for a loss of two yards. REAL AGGRESSIVE PLAY CALLING ASSHOLE.

Bucs get the ball back on starting on their own 20 with 4:51 left in the game. Zimmer forces them into three downs and out, and the Bengals get the ball back starting on their own 41 with 3:17 left to play. They are only 60 yards away from ending the game with a statement, or if they can just get a couple of first downs and we walk off the field with another unconvincing win. 

Brat comes out guns blazing on first down: Benson up the gut for zero yards; 2-10, Benson off LT for a 2 yard gain.

Before I go any further, if you are attacking the Bucs to end the game by being aggressive as Lewis claimed, you don’t come out with two running plays most likely against eight men in the box. I am assuming the Bucs put eight in the box since they most likely knew the Bengals were going to try to run out the clock (please correct me if I am wrong about this). If you are aggressive, you come out and call a play action pass to take advantage of the defense looking for the run. I would have been 100% in support of being aggressive and taking this risk because it could have put the game away with one play. Instead, the Bengals were basically running against a wall that our OL is not good enough to break through. Forget the idea that we were averaging over 6 yards a carry for the game, it doesn't apply when the opposing defense stacks the deck to shut down the run. Sure enough, we tried to run out the clock and we weren't able to move the ball against a defense looking for it. REAL AGGRESSIVE PLAY CALLING ASSHOLE.

Next play is a false start on Gresham, pushing it to 3^rd & 13 with 2:28 to play. From the highlights, the Bucs bring out what looks to be their dime package. Brat decides to still go for the first ignoring the potential disaster. Unfortunately Palmer doesn’t check down into his favorite laizze fare running play that has probably only netted us 10 yards in the past three seasons. Sure enough Palmer forces the throw into tight covereage and its behind TO. Results in 7 points for the Bucs. 

This had to be the stupidest play call I have ever witnessed, second to Belicheck’s crazy forth down play call a couple of years ago. This “aggressive” play is nothing but a culmination of his incompetent decisions. You don’t throw the ball when the Bucs are expecting it, have their dime package on the field, and there is less then two and half minutes to play with only a seven point lead. In this case, there is too much to lose so do the always unsuccessful draw play and punt the ball to make the Bucs drive 80+ yards with less than 2 minutes left. 

Ironically, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I called for his head because Bratkowski was too conservative against the Ravens and it almost cost us the game. I would have been perfectly fine with that approach Sunday. 

If you want to be aggressive and attack the defense, then DO IT WHEN THEY AREN'T EXPECTING IT! Unfortunately, Mike Brown is not going to mess with his hand picked staff and this dumb ass is staying put to make my Sundays suck.

I would accept a Brian Billick hiring over continuing with this asshole, and from the looks of it TO would tend to agree since it sounds like he doesn’t like Brats route trees either. The video's cut right to the good stuff.  My favorite part is his statement that he's been around some "great football minds"...the implication being he's not exactly seeing the same thing from his offensive coaching here.

 

TO trust me, we feel your pain.

Comments

[MikeBrownStillSucks]

In what other football organization would a dude who led a team to the 31st and 28th ranked offenses in the league be invited to keep his job when a new Head Coach is found?

Nowhere else!

But that's the situation here, where Bratworst predates Marvin Lewis in spite of his first two seasons being absolute shit.

[JM]

Next project mayhem. Hmmmm

What to do? Hmmmmm

I know! Stop supporting this Mike Brown Fuck Stick by giving him your money. Don't buy tickets to watch his inferior product.

You Dumb Fucks we havent won anything worthy of consideration, like you know, a playoff game. Stop paying this Fucking moron. He won't get the point, but......... He may be forced to sell this team and we won't have to burden out children and grandchildren with our delusional disease.

STOP PAYING THIS FUCK STICK FOR HIS IN-FUCKING-COMPETENCE!

The sell out streak has to stop.

It's our fault now. You can't blame a whore for taking the money.

It's those who pay who are to blame.

[wch]

I will say it RIGHT NOW! I will get it in NOW! If the Bungals miraculously pull off 9 straight wins, you won't say anything more about firing Bratkowski!

It is AMAZING (and pathetic) that you guys have no courage of your convictions! You were ready to burn Mikey Boy Brown on the stake at the beginning of last year and things fell the right way and you PUSSIES crawled right back in your swamp! Ever heard of 'having the courage of your convictions?

BWAHAHAHAHA

[wch]

BTW, I LOVE the non-chalant comment: "Forget the idea that we were averaging 6 yards a carry for the game."! Man it is nice to simply tell someone to forget about something that DESTROYS your opinion. Man are you that 'sold' on yourself? My Goodness!

Here's a tip, one CANNOT simply forget something (right or wrong). You have to give a logical REASON why we should 'forget'. You don't get a 'pass' here because you are one that can originate a post. That's pathetic, narcissistic and slimy -- the say the least! No, you have to be held and are BEING held to an even higher scrutiny than those you criticize so you best get your fucking ideas straight instead of trying to 'steamroll us' with your bullshit!

People on this board (right or wrong) criticize the 'homerisms' made by Geoff Hobson -- you rip him a new one at EVERY opportunity -- yet you persist in carrying on exactly as he. Disgusting.

If you want to be someone who criticizes another (person or other entity), you best have your 'ducks in a row' before doing so for it makes you look like an ass.

[MikeBrownStillSucks]

@wch: why are you being dense? The column points out how insane it was for Marvin Lewis to call it being "aggressive" when they called 7 runs and a dink pass before the critical interception on 3rd and long, exactly the only down of the 9 plays where the Buccaneers expected for sure a pass. It is an obvious point. Aggressive could have been coming out in a run formation with Benson, B Scott, TO, and a couple of tight ends, and then running a no-huddle offense to keep the Bucs dime package off the field, and then maybe throwing a pass down the middle on 2nd down. What the Bungles did was just plain stupid. Of course Brat doesn't have "deep down the middle" or "throw it to B Scott" in the friggin playbook.

[Hofbraunow]

I think Brat should step down as Bengals OC, and get a job as a substitute host for the PBS show "NOVA"

Fire Alan Alda !!!!

[Mockenrue]

I love the guys who blast the site for not calling for ticket boycotts, when that's clearly been on the sidebar of the page for quite some time.

And Wch, whose posts I no longer read in their entirety, keeps making reference to the fact that there haven't been Project Mayhem tasks as of late, as though the WDR community turned on the blinders and thought they were unnecessary. In reality, they haven't been in effect because the Bengals community at large wouldn't be receptive to them during a period of on-field success. You can speak the most stirring sermon of all time, but if the congregation is deaf, what have you accomplished?

Take your caps lock logic to the Bengals.com board and spew venom there. They might be fooled into believing you actually make sense.

[Hofbraunow]

"Dammit Pierce, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's an army surgeon moonlighting as an OC for the Bengals...now enough o' them hijinks, and have another drink!!! And that's an order !!!"

-Col. Potter

[Hofbraunow]

Can someone please take that Brat pic, and photo-shop an army helmet on him (circa Korean War era), and also superimpose an I.V./glucose bag hanging nearby him, maybe with a speech balloon saying "'Morning, Frank" or, "Hello Margaret" ?

That would be better than TV Land...

[JM]

It's a good thing that we won't have to worry about the bengals running off 9 straight wins isn't it? Have they ever won 9 straight?

Dude pull the Brown family balls out of your mouth (katie's balls) and wake up. This team will not finish with a winning record. They have regressed rather than progressed. Like last time you thought you saw progress. Scary thing is they won last year off a 4-12 record. Now they play a division winners schedule.

Oh fuck, if you can't see how lost this season is after just 5 games then you aren't going to see it.

It's been 19 years. I held my breath.

Hoped for the best. Like everybody else.

The 3 worst collapses I have seen are Tampa in 06, Oakland last year, and last week. We lost the game after leading by a touchdown to a team with no time outs with less than 2 minutes left in the god damned game.

We needed a coach

Then a QB

Then a defense

Then a running back

Then receivers and an offensive line

Now we need coaches again because these ass clowns can't stop a false start week after week.

We are right back in 03.

How did that Lebeau guy turn out when working for an exemplary organization?

I can't believe it's come to that.

All of the employees have changed.

Management has not.

Couldn't, just maybe management is behind the problem?

[JM]

One more thing. It's funny to see a story about a pass interference call on Leon that may have been bullshit when...............

The winning points against Baltimore were significantly assisted by 2 bullshit calls against the Ravens.

If they lost that game and were 1-4 the "courage" guy would just post a comment saying we may when 10 in a row. I won't question your courage because being a fan of this team is proof you have it. However I've been doing this same thing every year for the last 30, 19 under Mike Brown. It never changes does it?

[Wyatt]

wch,

I'm going to ignore most of your drivel and focus on your rant about "forget the idea that we're running for 6 yards per carry" - that was blester pointing out the obvious, that the Bengals were running for 6 yards per carry and there was NO REASON for them to throw that long ball. Obviously reading comprehension isn't your strong suit (neither is writing, apparently), so maybe next time you should sit back and re-read something and make sure you understand it before you make "scathing" comments about it.

[Hofbraunow]

"that Lebeau guy" :

Now there's a great resume...

He went from:

* being the French guy on Hogan's Heroes, To

* Defensive (?) Coordinator for the Bengals, To

* doing whatever-coach-staff-job for the Steelers
(Not only did he get a ring,
but I think he got in the HOF)

You GEAU, LeBeau !!!

[Hofbraunow]

I almost forgot, Monsieur LeBeau was also the head coach of the Bengals!!!

You the Tom Brady's Hair, Mon Frere!!!

[blesterov]

Wch,
You obviously missed the point, which is this: the Bengals could have been averaging 10 ypc for the game, and they still would have only made two yards in those two attempts since the Bucs were focused on stopping the run with 8 men in the box!

Marvin said he wanted “to be aggressive” and to not play “scared.” I agree with Marvin's philosophy in attacking the Bucs since we have the weapons to do it, but that is not what Brat did. You are not being aggressive when your play calling goes: R,R,R,P (4 yd dump),R,R,R,R,P (INT) over the course of two drives. If you want to attack them, then attack them! Take a shot when you have favorable matchup, e.g. call a play-action pass on first down to get your WR's & TE's in a one-on-one situation and take advantage of the aggressive LB's that are focusing on stopping the run. Marvin would have been more accurate if he said he wanted to "gamble" on that third down play, but "aggressive" they were not.

Don't even try to compare me with Hob for a second. Hob writes an entire piece trying to make a correlation between the INT's to penalty calls the plays before. Think about that for a second... it makes no fucking sense. Here's the link if you don't believe me: http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/No-two-minute-warning/fbededc7-aae7-444f-807e-b975b7e2fdca

A good journalist would point out the real reasons we threw the TO INT, which are:
1) The Bucs knew we were going to throw, so they had their dime or nickel package in to defense against it.
2) The Bucs knew we were not going to throw towards the sidelines since we wanted to keep the clock moving. So they were covering the middle of the field.
3) The Bucs knew we needed to go 13 yards to get the first. So their safeties did not drop deep. When the ball gets to TO, there are four guys right there.

The play called on that fateful play had a lower probability of success because of these factors. Again Brat was willing to overlook these factors and called a play that put the ball into the strength of their defense. Look at the replay. There are only two people going deeper then 13 yards: TO & Chad. Caldwell, Gresham & Leonard run hitches that only go 5 to 8 yards deep. Chad runs want looks to be a fade route on the far side, but Palmer never looks his way so he is basically a dummy to take away a defensive player. The play's failure is 100% Brats responsibility.

We all knew Brat would be a liability once we got into the playoffs, since he can't win the chess match against the top defensive coordinators. But I thought he would do a good enough job during the regular season to get us there. He isn't, and his inept play calling is killing us. I feel that he should be held accountable since he doesn't have the ability resolve the following issues: 1) pre-snap penalties; 2) providing a route tree that gets guys open and allows them to produce YAC's; and 3) poorly timed/ predictable play calling. Even if they go on a 9 game winning streak, I still want Brat out b/c he does not have what it takes to win the big game.

I hope this clarifies my position for you.

To add to the LeBeu comments: He only succeeded in Pittsburgh b/c Cowher was there to help improve his zone-blitz concepts. Similar to how the West Coast Offense was started here and perfected in SF, the ZB scheme was started here in Cincy but perfected in Pittsburgh under the tutelage of Cower.

[MikeBrownGreedyClown]

Has anybody noticed they use Gresham the same as Coats. His routes are all short dumps. Other teams actually throw deep to their TEs and RBs especially if they get matched up with a LB. What I just said is nuclear physics to Bratworst.

[Sleeping With Bieniemy]

Yeah - I don't remember a pass thrown to Gresham more than 5 yards downfield. Maybe there are a few that have been. I just haven't seen them.

[bguy_1986]

Thank you for making me feel like i'm not insane...

[DorsetBengal07]

this site is the best thing about being a Bengal fan

[Brian]

Amen, How many times do I have to say fire his ass. The man is not even average at best. He has had 3 winning seasons in his whole career as an offensive coordinator. How many times does this guy have to fail before he gets the ax? Aside from his piss poor play calling, and inability to be able to get playmakers the ball. He is a scout of some sort. I mean do you really think he knows what he is doing when it comes to ranking players?

[Dave]

Love this article. He's got to go...period. If you are like me, and are fed up with the way this football team is performing, join the facebook group "Grievances Against the Cincinnati Bengals." Help get the word out about how to fix this team...invite your friends and Who Dey

[bguy_1986]

Can we write a letter to TO that most of the educated fans will support him if he starts "yelling". I think that's the only way Mike will get the picture, because the media seems to be ignoring this. TO "yelling" will get it in the news.

[TigerJ@w]

About DAMN time you guys got an article up about this imbecile. I know we have been screaming for his head with deaf MFB ears, but now is time for ACTION! You could come out and say, if ML wants to keep his JOB, he better FIRE the SOB! I agree about the BS ML laid on us all about not being scared and being aggressive, I call BS! ML and Brat have never ever played this way since the both of them have been here, so why start now and you don't do it when you have a 7 point lead and they have no timeouts left with 80 yards about to stare a pitiful QB in Freeman in his face. The crowd would have been loud and Zimmer would have laid the hammer down with Blitzes and disguising ones. If anyone should be POd at ML, it should be the D and Zimmer for ML not to have confidence in them to stop Freeman and the sorry Bucs.

[Wyatt]

@bguy_1986:

I tweeted it to him. He seems to respond to Tweets, so we'll have to see what happens here.

[stophman66]

I can't believe I am going to say this...I like T.O. I hated him as a 49er, I hated him as a Cowboy, I hated him as a Bill. I hated the idea of Mikey Boy picking him up and becoming a Bengal.

He still drops passes, but he gets open and often hustles (despite the fact that he could have helped prevent the "Pick 6" on Sunday). I was starting to like him a little, now I like him a lot. Real Bengals fans can identify who is NOT a great mind in the organization. It's nice to see that a player can figure it out after a few months in the organization.

Let him start some shit on the sidelines. If the season is truly lost, it can't hurt us a bit. It probably won't get Brat any closer to fired, but it may draw media attention to his clear ineptness to coach football.

[Hofbraunow]

It's refreshing to see T.O. (as a Bengal) get YAC's on completions...now all we have to do is turn more of his hard earned yardages into TD's

[Hofbraunow]

I'm all for healthy women, but dang it, first everyone on the Bengals are wearing pink
(really fuschia I think, which is somewhat toward manly, but not really), and now Bye-week...what's next, Ballet-day?

...And here I thought they were just mocking the Browns/Ravens with their pink/purple accents during games...the truth is much less interesting, yet much more noble (or at least interested)...

[bguy_1986]

@Wyatt

Thanks! I thought about getting a twitter account just so I can do that... I might have to yet if this shit continues to bother me.

[Kyle]

Somebody shoot fartkowski!!!
I live too far to do it and to poor to travel there so please, someone help a brother out!

[wch]

As to the video... two grammatical savants we have here! Blind leading the blind?

[Wyatt]

Maybe we make that an UNOFFICIAL Project: Mayhem task? Everyone get a Twitter account and convince Ocho and TO to bury Bratkowski until the mainstream sports media has no choice but to pay attention? TO's on a one-year deal, and Ocho's only got a year or two left, right? They don't have much to lose, and we've got (potentially) everything to gain.

[Hofbraunow]

I don't know...in that video interview, T.O. seems too much like a Magic Johnson wannabe...all smiley, twinkley-eyed and calm-voiced, saying "why" a lot...

...makes me think they would just tell him to go back to coaching the Lakers

Plus, who is that doing the 'interviewing', Michael Irvin? I don't really think he's in any position to ask T.O. any hard questions...I would do it by panel next time...one from each gender, and at least two or more ethnicities present...otherwise the whole thing is just tainted and not credible/genuine...

But they probably won't go down that road

[Douche]

I'm saying it now. If Bob Bratkowski is still the offensive coordinator of this team come next season, I'm absolutely done. It clearly shows Mike Brown is absolutely careless as to how well this team performs. He'll continue to hire the cheapest help possible and do nothing to the coaching or scouting staff to improve the skill level on this team. I can guarantee Marvin Lewis leaves the team under his own power after this season. No way he'll accept another contract with this joke of an organization. Although I don't think he's all that great either. Unfortunately Zimmer will end up stuck dealing with the Browns until his contract is up and then he'll be off somewhere taking a team to the promise land. I'm saying it again, if Bratkowski is still here next year. I'm done. I've been a lifelong fan and can take no more of his awful play calling and Mike Browns inept mindset.

[true religion outlet]

If I go through the normal processes, like listening to music or relaxing, then I'll just read more if those things don't work. That's the best thing: keep reading. Another thing that helps is exercise or playing sports. I get a lot of ideas while running, definitely.

[replica oakley sunglasses]

Thanks! I thought about getting a twitter account just so I can do that...

[Maillots Euro 2012]

Merci pour le partage de cet ensemble merveilleux de photos. Vos élèves de regarder tellement concentré. J'aime vraiment voir tous les coulisses à coups de pratique des étudiants. Et les coquelicots! OMGoodness sont ceux qui n'ont pas les photos colorées de fleurs eyecandy que j'ai jamais vu! J'adorerais voir que vous faites un atelier de Chicago dans le futur. Toujours un plaisir de voir un nouveau poste pop up de votre part, Bea. Avoir une grande wkend.

[Veri Qual]

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