ESPYs, NBA Contracts, and the Home Run Derby: While We’re Waiting…
July 16, 2015State of the Indians: President Mark Shapiro on all things Tribe
July 16, 2015Note: A big part of the Cleveland Browns’ chances in any season is the outlook on teams they play two times each in their own division. This week, we will be going over the Top 5 stories from each of the Browns’ divisional rivals (like the Steelers and Ravens) as we head closer to training camp and the 2015 NFL season.
The Bengals went 10-5-1 in 2014 and they provided the Browns with one of their season highlights when the Browns crushed them on national TV 24-3 on November 6. Little did any of us know that game would be among the only remaining highlights of the year. The Bengals were also Johnny Manziel’s official coming out (and flopping) party. The way the Bengals collapsed on top of the man formerly known as “Johnny Football” had to at least partially been due to the drubbing the Browns gave them earlier in the year. That game on December 14 was brutally awful as the Bengals romped 30-0 while the Browns amassed a most ludicrous five first downs for the entire game.
The Bengals made the playoffs and were bounced by the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round. It was another playoff season and another playoff disappointment for a team that is supposed to be peaking around superstar receiver A.J. Green and a newly paid Andy Dalton.
How did they go about setting themselves up for 2015? Here are the Top 5 offseason stories for the Bengals.
1. A.J. Green’s contract extension isn’t done
A.J. Green seems fine with the fact that his deal isn’t done. He’s going to make just north of $10 million in 2015, but he’s an all-world talent at receiver and it has to make Bengals fans somewhat nervous that their best player isn’t locked up. Then again, his quotes on the matter are calming.
Just last week, he had this to say: “I don’t get into all the ‘I need a contract’ stuff. I’m not here for money. I’m not broke. So I’m fine. I can wait until the end of the year to get a contract, but I know that time is coming.”
As Green enters his fifth season, he’s coming off a down fourth, at least by the standard he’s set. Green played 13 games and just barely broke 1000 yards receiving while catching only six touchdowns, torturing Bengals fans and fantasy nerds alike. He also wasn’t able to play in the Bengals’ playoff game after suffering a concussion in the season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was on top of his other various injuries including a nagging toe injury.
Regardless, injuries happen in the NFL and it’s really difficult to imagine a scenario where the Bengals aren’t better off with A.J. Green inked to a long-term deal. He’s saying all the right things and maybe it’s all good, but it’s really tough to believe.
2. Short leash Marvin Lewis?
Marvin Lewis is such a perfect coach for the Bengals in many ways. He’s been around for a while, he’s improved their culture and he’s willing to put up with ownership, including his most recent one-year deal. It’s weird because he’s done so much for the Bengals and even while I don’t totally love what Lewis has done as Bengals coach, it seems odd to be wishy-washy about his future in Cincinnati. A short-term deal always feels like something you give to a guy while you’re trying to find something out about him. Or, you know, maybe if you’re giving him his final chance.
The Bengals are 0-6 in the playoffs under Lewis. Yes, he turned them around and garnered playoff appearances, but at some point you have to win a playoff game or risk being fired. Even Marty Schottenheimer found himself on the outs after advancing and not getting over the hump. Marvin Lewis has yet to find a way to advance at all.
Of course, we always put too much emphasis on a head coach when there are so many moving pieces that determine the outcome of seasons, especially those that end in playoff losses. And the fact that your teams are making the playoffs at all in a division like the AFC North feels like more of an accomplishment than a letdown. Regardless, I don’t love the idea of a coach starting the season on the hot seat if I’m a Bengals fan. I like many different types of players to perform well in a contract year, but coaches on contract years? Not so much.
3. Andy Dalton on a kind of contract year too
Is Andy Dalton a franchise quarterback? It’s a reasonable question for the Bengals and their fans to ask, even as he clearly would be one of the very best quarterbacks the Browns have had since 1999 if he was in their newly re-designed unis. The Bengals really hedged when they signed Dalton to his “$115 million” deal. Dalton will likely never see half of the money in his contract. It was front-loaded and ended up acting more like a two-year deal, with a year-to-year decision available to the Bengals thereafter. Marvin Lewis is 0-6 in the playoffs, with Dalton taking half of those losses.
In the draft, the Bengals grabbed two offensive tackles with their first two picks. That’s generally what I think of as smart football, assuming they picked players who can play. That’s the kind of move that will pay dividends in both better enabling a quarterback and his running game to maximize the team’s investments in those two positions. Still, it’s impossible to figure out exactly how the Bengals feel about Andy Dalton or even how they should feel about him.
I guess it all depends on the available replacements. We’ll see how far the Bengals to go looking for a replacement after this season. If Dalton spends any amount of time wondering about that or looking over his shoulder at his own fans booing him, it will seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy as the Bengals move on after the second year of Dalton’s new deal.
4. Can the Bengals beat the Steelers?
Mostly, it’s hard to think the Bengals got better this year. They seem to have even more questions than they did a year ago, and that’s not really a good thing when you’re a youngish NFL team. That’s not to say the Bengals aren’t getting better. They very well might be, but it’s really hard to see it right now. On top of that, the Bengals couldn’t beat the Steelers last season. They did beat the Ravens twice and split with the Browns, but they have to do better against the Steelers and win the division to think they’ve got the best chance at breaking their poor playoff streak. Meanwhile they gave up 69 points against the Steelers in their two losses. It wasn’t really even close.
On the bright side, they did get rid of Greg Little; he’s now 1-6 lifetime against the Steelers as a member of any team. The one win occurred when the Browns beat Charlie Batch behind a passing TD by Brandon Weeden to Jordan Cameron, while Trent Richardson added one more on the ground. Little had one catch for six yards.
(I love talking about Greg Little now.)
5. What is the Bengals pass rush, really?
Generally speaking, I think of the Bengals defense as being good. They have some good players and a pretty good reputation over the years, but they didn’t have a particularly good season in 2014. Pro Football Focus isn’t 100 percent accurate because there’s some subjectivity to it, but I tend to believe them over the course of an entire season. Over the course of 2014, PFF thought the Bengals were one of the NFL’s worst teams on defense. In fact, PFF said that the Bengals were the worst pass rushing team in the entire league with a minus-53.1 rating. Their secondary saved them somewhat, but it’s still shocking.
Carlos Dunlap led the Bengals with eight sacks, Geno Atkins had three, and Reggie Nelson and Wallace Gilberry had 1.5 each. After that, six players had one sack apiece. The Browns weren’t amazing at rushing the passer either, but they still had Paul Kruger get 11 sacks, Desmond Bryant with five, Dansby with three, and three more players with two.
Bottom line is that the Bengals defense should be better in this category. Can they have a turnaround kind of year in the pass-rush department?
The Conclusion for Browns Fans
I’ll be honest when I tell you that the Bengals are boring to write about. I don’t think it’s just the Clevelander talking, but the Bengals — even when they’re one of the divisional favorites — are weirdly boring and neutral to talk about. Aside from a couple key moments in Cleveland sports history, I haven’t actively hated the Bengals. Marvin Lewis isn’t Sam Wyche and even when he’s referring to Johnny Manziel as a “midget” it doesn’t really do much to spark outrage, at least in my corner of the universe. Even as the Browns fail to make the playoffs, it’s pretty easy to write off the Bengals and where they are.
7 Comments
Why was Cinci defense so good for so long but faltered last year with largely the same personnel?
http://www.vikings.com/team/coaches/mike-zimmer/b0b3b912-b23b-40b4-a997-85f19269bbb5
Dalton “clearly would be one of the very best quarterbacks the Browns have had since 1999.” Yep, I’d say his typical year is generally equivalent to DA’s one decent year – pretty throws to wide open receivers and late season brain-lock interceptions where he’s just not reading the defense.
If their defense slipped, imagine how much worse they’d rank if you omit the Clueless Johnny game. Not sure what team he would have moved the ball against that day.
And 0-6 in the playoffs – yikes. Remember that for a few years Lewis was the hot assistant coach who “has successful HC written all over him,” a lot like Gary Kubiak was once viewed. But 0-6 is a decent sample size to indicate that maybe he’s not handling the win-or-go-home thing in an optimal manner.
Great article. The Ben-gals are kind of boring. One thing I don’t seem to get is how Haden always blankets A.J. Green but doesn’t have the same effectiveness against Antonio Brown. My conclusion? It is Roethlessberger here and not Dalton, who must not be helping A.J. out, Haden almost had two picks in the Thursday night game, dropping two INTs. Brown did get a lot of garbage time yards against Haden in the Week 6 contest though, huges chunks at the end of the first half for example when haden wasn’t even on Brown… Big Ben is just better than Dalton, and I hate to say it, the Browns just need a QB, Ben-gals are boring because Dalton is Boring, and I tend to wonder if Hoyer could equal Dalton, McCown may be better than Dalton…
AJ Green = 6-foot-4
Antonio Brown = 5-foot-11
Haden’s one tiny flaw is that an elite receiver with elite quickness can beat him. Antonio Brown is one of the very few. Haden does much better against the taller WRs no matter how fast and good they are.
agree. And somehow Haden seems to have gotten into Green’s head the last two years. Looks like Green doesn’t like to be hit by or yapped at by Joe, to the point where he loses his own cockiness.
The Bengals always seem to do slightly better than I except, which in recent years has been roughly an 8.5 over/under win total. They have talent but just seem like only a slightly above average team overall. If they lost their coach they’d probably sink into non-playoff mediocracy, so I doubt he goes anywhere. I’d rather have Dalton than our former/current mess but I’m certainly not jealous. He’ll probably be forced to restructure his deal after this season or will be sent packing.
People forget their defense last season ranked 6th in the league in fewest points allowed. That reflects where their new DC’s head was – “bend but don’t break.” They also got hammered with injuries to their entire receiving corps and most of their linebackers. Having them back and healthy this year, especially Jones and Eifert, and having Atkins at 100%, is going to matter a great deal. Still weak at linebacker though, relative to the division as a whole.