WhoDeyRevolution

Wk4: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

A loss is a loss, and this one definitely sucks since it was a divisional game. Most of us expected the Bengals to at least split with the Browns this season since they are a team on the rise. The Browns will definitely surprise a few teams this season. But at least there are a couple of good things to take away from this game.

The Good:

1)  Palmer. #9 looked like I expected to see him rebound at some point this season. It was great to see it sooner than later. His passes were on target, had great velocity, and his presense looked the closest thing to 2005 we have seen in sometime. Palmer took advantage of what the Browns gave him and stayed strong in the pocket making some key throws even with guys at his feet. Leading up to this week, you would have thought Palmer needed to be sitting in an old folks home with an adult diaper full of his own steamy crap of mixed veggies.

I love how the media went from Palmer is top five QB to he is done in just a one week span. This is just another example of how the media overhypes its subject matter, whether it is politics or sports, and is too lazy to do their job: investigate and report. Where were they between 2006 and 2008 while #9 was getting raped on the field? They could have at least put pressure on Mike Brown to adequately field an OL that could protect their $100 million dollar investment. Unfortunately, they were to busy cherry picking stats that made it look like he was still on top of his game.

I think Boomer made the most observant comment this past week out out of all the talking heads (from his interview with Hob, the grand pooh-bah of cherry picking stats – third on the list of course to Shawn Hannity and Keith Olberman).

Zimmer Situation Is Looking Like Boomer in '97

After back to back statement wins against Balitmore and Pittsburgh, and three straight games of defensive brilliance, Mike Zimmer's stock has never been higher.  He is a free agent after this year, and many have him on the short list of head coaching hires going into the off-season. 

The Bengals have a decision to make.  Regardless of how this season ends up, Zimmer is going to attract a lot of attention from around the league.  He has taken a horrific defense and turned them into a unit that is playing (as of right now) tougher than anyone in the AFC, and arguably the NFL.  He did that by having a system where he identified his type of players, and then went out and got them...be it through the draft, free agency or off the scrap heap.  I truly believe the two biggest reasons why this team is 7-2 right now is because of stability at the center position and Mike Zimmer. 

Every year there are firings, and some teams will have a lot of cash to throw at Zimmer to be their next head coach.  Throw into the mix that after this year's tragedy with Zimmer's wife, it would be very understandable if Zimmer wanted a fresh start in a new city, possibly to be closer with his kids. 

Flashback to 1997, when Boomer Esiason returned to Cincinnati after stops in New York with the Jets and in Arizona.  Esiason took over for Blake-mania, and went 4-1 as a starter with a 13/2 TD to INT ratio.  The Bengals finished 7-9 after a 1-7 start, and Boomer was ready to comeback for at least one more season (if the price was right).  Mike Brown, however, didn't offer Boomer a contract, instead wanting him to the take the opportunity that ABC was affording him to become the new guy in the booth for Monday Night Football.  Brown felt that this was a great way for Boomer to start his career into broadcasting, and being on MNF was too much to pass up.  Or maybe he didn't want to actually pay him...with Jeff Blake already under contract.  Or maybe it was a little of both.  (To be fair, Brown has always paid quarterbacks, so I think it was a genuine feeling that the MNF shot was too good for Boomer to pass up, along with the fact that he was going to draft a QB in 1998 or 1999 to be the centerpiece of Paul Brown Stadium when it opened in 2000).

Regardless, Boomer did head for a forgettable run in the Monday Night Football booth with Al Michaels, and the Bengals floundered for another five seasons until Marvin Lewis's arrival in 2003.

Here's the bottom line...

Thoughts on Weeks 1-6

Hey there WDR readers, I haven't been writing much recently, did you miss me?  No?  WELL I WASN'T ASKING YOU ANYWAYS.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are my quick thoughts on the current state of Bengaldom (Hobson, Bengals.com) through the first 6 weeks of the season.

The "Real Fans" Argument: People come on this site all the time and claim that the writers and comrades of the Revolution aren't "real fans" because we want the Bengals to change their management decision-making personnel and process.  Then there are others who are angry that the team magically seems to have more "fans" whenever the team does well.  To them I say, relax.  We are talking about sports here.  This is not 'Nam.  Sports are a distraction from real life, something to enjoy. People enjoy supporting a winner.  That is why WDR exists - to try and force the Bengals to change how they do things so the team wins more often.  Let's take out the personal attacks and agree that we all want the same thing - for the Bengals to win football games. 

The "4-2 Record Means the Revolution is Over" Argument: The NFL is designed to promote parity - every team is hypothetically doing everything they can to get an edge.  The league is absurdly competitive.   Take a look at the Titans - from 13-3 last year to an embarrassingly putrid 0-6 this year.  The margin of error that results in wins and losses is razor thin.  To win, teams need to do everything they can to get an edge.  Is WDR pleased that the Bengals are 4-2?  Yes, yes and yes.    But could the Bengals be doing more to ensure that these wins continue, perhaps (GASP!) into the playoffs?  YES.

When Frank Lucas Talks, Chad Listens

From yahoo's Michael Silver comes this not surprising in the least bit article about Denzel Washington talking some sense into Chad's ear. The way I see this, and maybe I'm wrong but whatever just go with it, is that Chad is still so young at heart and mind that he probably only takes advice from fictitious role models. Now I'm not saying Denzel isn't a role model as a real person, but I don't know the first thing about his real life. Chad probably only knows him as Frank Lucas and whoever else he has played over the years. When I was a youngin', if Splinter had sat down next to me at a basketball game and told me to eat my vegetables and stop being such a whiny little brat then I would have followed his orders no questions asked. Well I probably would have asked him how he rose up out of the blue fames in TNMT 2, but after that I would have been a model kid. The same goes for Chad, Denzel tells him to stop with all the nonsense and Chad pulls a 180. Then again, for all we know Chad thinks Denzel is actually Coach Boone from Remember The Titans and whatever Denzel was saying to him all Chad heard was this speech.

Coach Boone: We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let's go to work.

Or Chad was deathly afraid that Denzel would blow his head off in the middle of Harlem in front of a whole sidewalk of people with no remorse before going back to eating his breakfast 50 feet away. One way or the other Denzel's little pep talk with Chad apparently did a lot more good than anything Marvin has ever said to him. The Bengals should create a 3-D hologram of Denzel to talk to Chad on the sidelines and during emotional halftime meltdowns.   

And along this same vein, if can we get Fat Albert or Butterbean or whoever HippopataSmith admires to get him to take less money and be on time for training camp the Bengals will be in business.

John Thornton's Real Thoughts on Bob Bratkowski

This afternoon, current free agent John Thornton let the world know his real thoughts on Bengals Offensive Coordinator Bob Bratkowski. 

Former Cincinnati Post and 1530HOMER journalist C. Trent Rosencrans said this on his Twitter account:  "Sporting News ranks Bob Bratkowski in Top 10 offensive coordinators. Interwebs crash. http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20090603/?pg=25&pm=1&u1=friend

@JohnThornton's reply: @ctrent is that recent??? :) jk

Thornton played in Cincinnati from 2003-2008.  Bratkowski's Bengals offense in 2008 was ranked dead last in the league. 

Mr. Thornton - Welcome to the Revolution.

Sporting News: Bratkowski Not On Hot Seat in 2009

The Sporting News produces an excellent on-line newsletter that gets delivered to your inbox every morning.  That being said, yesterday morning's edition made me want to throw up.

In this piece by Clifton Brown, Bengals Offensive Coordinator Bob Bratkowski is NOT listed as one of the six coordinators on the hot seat for 2009.  Now maybe Brown is smart enough to know that here in Cincinnati, we don't hold our coaches accountable for small things like play on the field and offensive performance (dead last in 2008).  But I still think this is absolutely a make or break year for Sideshow Bob.

With Carson Palmer at full strength, the addition of Laveranues Coles, and the celebrated drafting of Andre Smith and Jonathan Luigs, Bratkowski is out of excuses in 2009. 

Even going back to 2007, the offense started to look stale and predictable...especially towards the end of the season.  Once again, Bratkowski avoided the firing line and he has another chance to work with a great quarterback.  He's shown his uncanny knack for negative creativity when he has to work with a backup like Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Bratkowski is commonly known as the biggest 'yes' man in the organization and the only person on the staff that agreed (or failed to strongly disagree) with bringing back Chris Henry.  He has long been a favorite of Mike Brown...despite Marvin Lewis's opinions on who should be offensive coordinator.

Feel free to respond in the comments, but if the offense has another dismal year (this time with the full arsenal at his disposal), Bratkowski has to go.

Quotes you Will Never Hear from the Bengals - Shovel Pass Edition

Per PFT:

Cornerback Rhonde Barber told The Tampa Tribune that losing Monte Kiffen could be good for the Bucs' defense. 

“I have a great fondness for Monte,” Barber said. “He did a lot of great things for our defense for 12 years. But 12 years of the same thing - people start figuring you out.”

Bob Bratkowski was not available for comment.

Our Prayers Answered?

I'm starting to like this new beat writer for the Enquirer.

Joe Reedy is reporting (via the Baltimore Sun) that Marvin Lewis might dump Bob Bratkowski and bring back Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator. 

As Reedy mentions, Jackson is widely credited as being a mentor to Housh and especially Chad Johnson.  From our point of view, anything is better than the predictability of Sideshow Bob and his lack of creativity for several seasons now. 

Plus, we all know Chad loves HUE!!

Pat Bowlen's Words are Music to WDR's Ears

I know this is a few days old, but we still want to recognize an event that occurred on December 31st, 2008. 

Comrade Jacob brought this to our attention, and we here at WDR salute the words of Broncos CEO Pat Bowlen.  After firing Mike Shanahan, the man who brought him the only two Super Bowl titles in the franchise's history explains that despite their history and the fact that Shanahan is a good man, it was in the best interest for both parties to simply move on. 

As Comrade Jacob commented: "Here is a successful owner explaining why he fired a successful coach. His reasons are spoken in a foreign language to Mike Brown. Of course for our organization 8 and 8 would get you a contract extension, not fired.  I'm sure Mike Brown would consider Pat Bowlen's statements to be very expensive."

You can check out the video right here...and pray that someday the Bengals will have this determination and drive to deliver a sustained winner to the city of Cincinnati.

Quote of the day - Coach Bob Bratkowski

In an article published today by Geoff Hobson's hero, Mark Curnutte, I found a particular quote to be rather peculiar.  Coach Bratkowski said the following regarding his role in an offense that hasn't scored a touchdown in 11 quarters:

"As a coach you just play it out and what happens at the end of the year happens. There's nothing I can do about it. We're working 80-hour weeks. You don't have time to sit around and contemplate a lot of things. And there are other issues going on in my life and my family's lives that are much are more important than sitting around worrying about that sort of thing."

I just have a couple issues with this comment. First of all Bob, you don't just play it out.  You plan for success.  You find weak spots in the opposing defense and you exploit them. And you have several backup plans for when the opposing defense figures out what you are doing.  You make adjustments on the fly. These are all things that you don't do, but that are in the job description for an offensive coordinator. 

Second of all, there IS something you can do about it.  You are solely responsible for the offensive game plan of the Cincinnati Bengals.  Therefore, you have quite a bit of power, and tons of responsibility for the product on the field.  And the product right now is about as quality as a Ford Pinto.  And guess what...  The sell-out streak was predicated on two things, winning football games, and an electrifying offense.  Both of those things are absent this year, which means sell-outs are bound to cease at some point next year. In a rational world you would be out of a job after this year... But no one ever said Mike was a rational dictator.