we need to play smart this year

[bengalfan4life27c]

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

We need to play smart every year. I believe the cast they have assembled fits the bill very well. A cast of young exciting talent with high football IQs.

[whodey21]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

[BigPapaKain]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

So...the Bengals have to play fundamental football?

Good observation.

[bengalfan4life27c]

2 to 3 years ago it was a total trainwreck from the players to the coaching staff. Its turned around. were not completely their yet but its going in the right direction. Im just concerned a little about a relapse. Marvin is still slightly below average with game management issues. Hes just no longer horrible. Id like him to get above average in this area.

[whodey21]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

2 to 3 years ago it was a total trainwreck from the players to the coaching staff. Its turned around. were not completely their yet but its going in the right direction. Im just concerned a little about a relapse. Marvin is still slightly below average with game management issues. Hes just no longer horrible. Id like him to get above average in this area.

Aye, there's the rub. I've posted about this particular tendency of his before. I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste, as I'm feeling a bit of weekend laziness.

Originally Posted by whodey21

[Marvin Lewis] has shown that he can be (quasi)successful, but needs to prove he can do it consistently, and nothing I've seen from him in the past ten years has shown me he can. Don't get me wrong, I love that the guy has been able to turn us around three times in the past decade, but the fact that he has yet to sustain any success is the biggest weakness this team has. You can't judge the potential of a sled team when your lead dog can't finish a race. I suppose this can be extrapolated to Mike Brown, too. Is he the musher? Whatever.

The point is, when we look our worst and expectations are the lowest, that's when Marvin turns on the magic and we start winning, but when we seem to be loaded with talent, it's like we go on autopilot and underachieve. I hope the trend breaks this year.

[BigPapaKain]

As hard as it's been for the organization to prove on a public level they've changed, if Lewis starts letting the team go on auto-pilot and underachieve then Mike Brown would be forced to pull the plug.

[bradfritz21]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

Yeah, this post doesn't even deserve the effort it takes of setting aside 30 seconds to find a Captain Obvious picture, but you get the point.

However, let's elaborate just to make it fun. We need to play smart:
-We can't be predictive in our play calling, which we shouldn't be because Gruden's a good coordinator that finds the best and most creative way to attack defenses.
-Penalties are killers and are an area that we need to improve (we were 17th in number of penalties and in yards from penalties), but you also have to consider that we were a young team and you have to assume that we will improve in that area (I can't use the shortened offseason excuse because every other team was working under the same conditions).
-Can't turn the ball over, which The Law Firm never having fumbled should help with that, and so should Dalton cutting down on picks in his sophomore year, which he only had 13 this season, so cutting down on a low number is great. We are also a team that is young but maturing, so the penalties should be at a minimum.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll post more as they come.

[Magikod]

Originally Posted by whodey21

lol'd

[Gorilla]

This is such an enlightening thread. All this time, I was thinking we needed to play stupid.

[bizi]

Originally Posted by Gorilla

This is such an enlightening thread. All this time, I was thinking we needed to play stupid.

Another intelligent, well-thought, respectful comment from you, keeping with your usual posts. Thanks for being such an enlightened member of these boards.

[TheCincinnatiKid]

This reminded me of a bit of John Madden commentary on Madden 11 on the 360; "Make sure you protect the quarterback on this play, make sure you protect the Quarterback on every play". Or something similar.

We need to play smart this year, we need to play smart every year. You can have the best team in the league, but if you play dumb and make dumb mistakes with regularity, you wont win.

Being efficient and making few mistakes puts the team in the best position to win.

[fredtoast]

This probably means bye-bye to Burfict.

But that fact is that I don't remember the Bengals having any huge issues with stupid penalties recently. I know Sims jumping offsides against the Saints probabaly cost us that game, but every team makes a bone head play from time to time.

[SunsetBengal]

Originally Posted by Gorilla

This is such an enlightening thread. All this time, I was thinking we needed to play stupid.

^ ANOTHER inconsiderate post by Gorilla...

As if the OP really needed more piling on to this thread.

[finso]

Kind of cool to know we have a couple Bengal players posting in JN.
Any inside info? Other than you have to play smart.

[Gorilla]

Originally Posted by SunsetBengal

^ ANOTHER inconsiderate post by Gorilla...

As if the OP really needed more piling on to this thread.

How do your figure? How is complimenting somebody inconsiderate?

[THE PISTONS]

Originally Posted by bengalfan4life27c

If the defense is going to be as dominant as I think it will be. We dont need to turn the ball over and give opponents short fields. Also no stupid penalties givng opponents easy first downs or giving us 2nd and 3rd and longs. Marvin needs to keep showing improvement like he did last year as far as game management goes.

In general, teams with bad defenses strive to play smart too.

*The Raiders are the exception to this rule.