Josh over at CincyJungle.com had the great idea to bring the Bengals bloggers together to get their thoughts on this years Bengals heading into the offseason.

Check the article out here

WhoDeyFans was represented as well as WhoDeyRevolution, StripeHype, Bengals zone and of course CincyJungle.

WhoDey


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A win is still better than a loss. Today I am going to talk about the Chiefs game and tomorrow I will go over what I want to see in the next couple of days.

Yesterday there was a good turnout for the tailgate and the game. My better half and father in law came to the game decked in their KC gear. (Both are from Kansas City) so it was also a good day to rub it in their faces.

The Bengals were playing one of the worst teams in the NFL. The KC offense is anemic and the D is one of the worst in the league. That being said, Cedric Benson once again proved why I want to keep him around next year.

He racked up another 100+ yard game while the team had more than 200 on the ground. The defense also played fairly well, the only Chief who was having real success was Tony Gonzales. (and a few good plays from Bowe).

Without the number 1 QB and two starting wide receivers the Bengals played with Chris Henry as the veteran on the field. Andre Caldwell filled in nicely for TJ and I think he will be a good addition to this team for years to come.

Things I learned from this game were:

1. The fans are still behind this team. Most were still in the seats at the game end and they were making noise the whole time.

2. $4.25 for a bottled water should be a crime.

3. It should be an interesting offseason.

4. Sometimes, you can over do it on Bloody Mary's.




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Leon Hall is hands down the player of the game. While he was still playing much to far off the receiver he was covering, this allowed him to be in the perfect spots to pick off Ken Dorsey 3 times. Even returning one for a TD. Congrats Leon, this is the kind of game you could enjoy all year if the Bengals decide to focus on the D line and put pressure up front on the passer. For now though, you need to only enjoy this kind of success when playing the mistake on the lake.


Cedric Benson has also done enough this year that I think he should be the starting running back for the Cincinnati Bengals next year. I like the way he runs and attacks the holes in the offensive line. I for one will be upset if (when) the Bengals waste a high draft pick again on a running back.


Chris Henry, this is another guy that I hope comes back. He is a talented wide receiver. Just think if he can keep his nose clean and compete for a whole season. This is a legitimate starter on most teams in the NFL. He is our current 3rd wide out.


I will go over more after this weeks game what I hope to see in the offseason but for now I will just enjoy another Bengals victory.

WhoDey


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The kick us in the nuts freezer bowl is this Sunday pitting the awesome Cincinnati Bengals Vs. the stellar Cleveland Browns. It is an outrage that a game of this magnitude is not televised nationally.

In reality this is a matchup of two under achieving horrible football teams. All I am hoping is that these two browns fans enjoy themselves. Nothing like a bottle of Charles Shaw and two cans of hairspray to get me fired up for a Sunday tailgate.



Lets try and spot how many things are awesome at this particular tailgate.

1. Her hair
2. The fancy glass the stud is drinking out of
3. The matching sweatshirts
4. The matching stone washed jeans
5. The record player

Yep look close, a record player. That is classing it up.

Whodey


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Even with the sorry state of the Bengals this year winning still feels good on Monday morning. It feels especially good to me thanks to the Redskins fans I was sitting next to yesterday at the game. Their drunken belligerence was enough to still make me smile. I think the guy still does not understand that even though his number has been reassigned, the Bengals did not bring back Rudi Johnson.

The game in general was good. Good weather, good play, good times.

The Bengals showed life and actually didn't seem to put it into autopilot when they had the lead. There were still some moronic fans around us, like the guy who continued to scream "Carson Who!".

3 Things about the game were awesome. I will call them the 3 C's.

1. Chris Henry - Not only does the guy score a td. He breaks up two sure interceptions and hauls ass to block down field for our next C...

2. Cedric Benson - I am a believer, if the Bengals can get a decent center and beef up the O line, this guy could be awesome. He showed yesterday why he was a top draft pick.


3. Chris Crocker - seriously, he comes out of nowhere and makes plays. He loves blasting people in the secondary and caused the first quarter fumble to set the Bengals in the right direction.

The stadium wasn't full but the fans there were excited for this game. Save all of that "Boycott the stadium" crap for other sites. I say go to the game, tailgate, have a blast. The crowd noise was up yesterday and this guy is glad he went.

WhoDey


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Since Mike Brown took over the Bengals:

Number of winning seasons: 1

Number of losing seasons: 13 (Including 2008)

Number of losing streaks of 7 or more games: 8

Number of 10 loss seasons in 18 years: 10

Number of 10 loss seasons in the first 23 years of the Bengals, including the first rough years as an expansion team: 6

Number of 10 loss seasons in the similar sized city and family owned Steelers 76 year history in total: 9

Number of playoff appearances: 1

Number of playoff wins: 0

Number of times the Bengals games after Thanksgiving were relevant: 3

Number of Division Championships: 1

Number of times the Bengals went undefeated in the Division: 0

Number of times the Bengals lost every Division game: 2 (This year they are 0-5 with @Cleveland left. The Bengals were also saved in years past when the AFC Central had 6 teams. Is a 2-8 Division record better than 0-6? Not sure about that one.)

Number of Head Coaches: 5

Years of previous head coaching experience combined for all of Mike Brown’s coaching hires: 3, Coslet with the Jets. (Why is that? People with better options do not consider the Bengals. People eager for their first job will take what they can get……And they are cheaper and less likely to push for power.)

Number of people not in the Brown family in decision making positions: 0

Number of 1st Round draft pick holdouts: 10

Number of times the Bengals started a season 0-8: 4

Number of 0-8 starts by the rest of the 32 team NFL combined: 9

Number of times Mike Brown listed in the bottom 3 in ranking of best owners in NFL: 3 - Well the article has only been written for the past 3 years, but Mike Brown has received this honor each year.
2006
2007
2008

Number of times Mike Brown has been listed as a smart or strong owner: 0

Mike Brown tries to act like he is fighting an uphill battle because Cincinnati is such a small market. Number of NFL markets smaller than Cincinnati: 10

Census Population of Cincy Metro Area: 2,133,678

Number of NFL Team Metro Areas with a population under 2,700,000: 18

Number of those 17 (Not including the Bengals) teams to reach at least one Super Bowl since 1991: 13

Census Population of Green Bay Metro Area: 301,131

Number of Green Bay playoff appearances since 1991: 11

Number of people in Cincinnati, besides members of the Brown family, that wish for Mike Brown to continue running the team: 0

Number of people who actually believed O’Dell Thurman and David Pollack would make an impact this year: 1, Mike Brown

Number of days since O’Dell Thurman’s last NFL play: 1,070

Number of days since David Pollack’s last NFL play: 815

Number of Mike Brown interviews per year: Usually 2. I understand silent owners, but General Managers should be accessible to the media and accountable for their actions. Mike Brown is running the team; therefore he should make more than one preseason interview and one midseason interview with pre-approved questions from Geoff Hobson.


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"It didn't feel easy out there..." Peyton Manning


Peyton Manning is a liar. I bet whopping the Bengals felt pretty easy. A good win for the Colts on their streak to make the playoffs.





The Bengals day looked like this:

• possession 1 Fumble
• possession 2 Punt (17 yard punt)
• possession 3 Punt (26 yard punt)
• possession 4 Field Goal (1st and goal from the 5)
• possession 5 Interception
• possession 6 End of Half
• possession 7 Punt
• possession 8 Punt
• possession 9 Interception
• possession 10 Interception

Once again play calling was suspect and the punting game was disgraceful. How do you follow up a 17 yd punt with a 26 yd punt and keep your job?

The Bengals also could not hold onto the ball. Fitz should be used to getting hit now and should know when to tuck.

Man, the Bengals stink. At least the Lions are competitive.

WhoDey


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Carson Palmer has been getting a lot of flack these days. He is being accused of putting off the surgery on his elbow for personal reasons. There are claims that he is being selfish or ignorant or stubborn. Do I need to remind you that in the playoff game in 2006 Carson Palmer's knee was shredded. Not only was this a very serious injury, some said it was career ending. The status of him playing in the regular season 2006 was doubtful.

Palmer rehabbed like no one else and started every game the following season. Because of that, I give him the benefit of the doubt.

WhoDey


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After the most recent interview with Mike Brown I felt the need to write what I think about what he said.

Mike Brown is an arrogant man. He treats his Pro Football teams fans as children and feels that he is above them. He spends entirely to much time focusing on things unrelated to putting a winning football team on the field. He justifies his terrible management abilities with reasoning that makes no sense to the majority of conscious beings.

Mike Brown is not Paul Brown
Mike Brown is not a "Football Guy"
Mike Brown is not a good talent evaluator
Mike Brown is not a good business man
Mike Brown is an ass

Mike Brown is not Paul Brown (His Father):
Paul Brown was a revolutionary in the NFL. He had success at every level of football from High School to the Pros. He is considered the "Father of the Modern Offense". He was one of the most respected minds in football for most of his career. He went on to own, coach and run successfully the Cincinnati Bengals. Mike Brown has not shared the success of his father. By hitting the genetic lottery he was born to one of the greatest football minds ever. He failed to pick up any of this knowledge that was overflowing from his father. Mike has owned the Cincinnati Bengals since 1991. In that time he has just one winning season. In that time the Cincinnati Bengals account for 1/3 of the 0 and 8 starts in the NFL and have 8 losing streaks of 7 or more games.

Mike Brown is not a "Football Guy":
In 1999 Mike Brown turned down Mike Ditkas offer of 9 draft picks for the 1st pick of the Bengals. This would have left the Bengals with 24 draft picks over the next two years instead of the 15 they had. This could have led to later round players (and Pro-Bowlers) :

Champ Bailey
Joey Porter
Donald Driver
Desmond Clark
Rod Coleman
Jerry Azumah
Aaron Smith
Brian Urlacher
Shaun Alexander
Keith Bulluck
Marcus Washington
Laveranues Coles
Adalius Thomas

Mike Brown is not a good talent evaluator:
To add to the shame above, the player Mike Brown was so intent on choosing was one Mr. Akili Smith. After 1 good year in college he held out in a contract dispute and started 17 games in 4 years for a career 52.8 passer rating. Good thing we have that one scout to help him with the talent.

Mike Brown is not a good business man:
Mike Brown is 1 of only 2 opponents to the NFL revenue sharing system. This is the same system that 3/4 of the Bengals profits come from. In essence he does not know not to bite the hand that feeds him.

Mike Brown is an ass:
For 2 reasons
1) In 1995 Mike Brown threatened to move the Bengals franchise to Baltimore citing that the city was in breach of a lease agreement by being 1 week late on a concessions payment of 167,000 dollars. He leveraged this threat to get the taxpayers (also the merchandise, concessions and ticket payers) to increase their taxes to build Paul Brown stadium. He said the revenue from this deal would allow the Bengals to be more competitive. Since the Stadium was built the Bengals are 55–84–1

2) Early this season WhoDeyFans was forced to take down any sort of ads that it had on the site due to some loose copyright that the Bengals claim on the words "WhoDey". The official documents I was sent certified mail made it clear they meant business. While I believe that the use of WhoDey as a description of the sites content does not detract from any merchandise that the Bengals may sell and is probably covered under the "Fair Use" clause in trade mark law, sadly my pockets are not as deep as Brown and the NFL. I have since learned that for some strange reason, the Cincinnati Bengals are the only team to adamantly pursue bloggers who "impose" on their ability to make money. I wonder if this is what Mike Brown calls an NFL scout.

I own 3 lower level season tickets for the Bengals and have spent thousands on merchandise and concessions. I am not ready to jump ship quite yet but with Mikes continued arrogance and outright moronic behavior, it is going to be hard to write that check in the future.

WhoDey



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The defense was on the field to long and only showed up for half the game.

The offense did not show up at all.

This picture sums up the day. (Isn't it the db's that are supposed to rough up the receivers?)



Something major needs to change this offseason. Soul Patch needs to be fired now. I was fully expecting to see that he was in the unemployment line this morning. The Bengals are going to make changes, I just wonder if any of it will matter. What is there to look forward to this year or in the future? I don't see Palmer's return changing too much of the offense. Our line is terrible and that is killing the running and passing games. I don't expect TJ to be here next year and Chad it seems is on the decline. Benson should have earned himself another year here but Perry should be cut. The Utecht experiment has blown up. The Bengals don't seem to have a competent backup qb. There is no pressure on the QB by the defensive front.

It seems like there are to many holes to fill. I am not one to tell people what to do with their money or to boycott the games. If you are looking for cheap tickets, they are out there. If you are on a waiting list, that is probably going to be gone. If you renew tickets, you can probably move closer to the field. If you don't want to go, don't.

People bring up 2003 when Marvin was hired as one way that the fans influenced Mike Brown. Marvin brought some life to this team by having 1 winning season. ONE. A couple of 8 and 8 seasons were tossed in there also. This is still nothing to get too excited about.


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Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is a wuss. In his recent article about the Bengals and Steelers matchup he cries for a whole page about how Crockers KO of Holmes should draw a fine. (Quote below)

"Crocker rammed into Holmes 20 yards from the goal line at Heinz Field's open end, using the exact technique the National Football League swears it detests, full speed helmet-to-helmet, with evident malice. Though he didn't launch himself, which was the only reason Holmes was able to leave the field in any kind wobbly vertical attitude, Crocker should be scolded, fined and made to watch a continuous loop of the Bengals offense until he weeps."

It's football Gene. maybe you should write about interpretive dance or something if you can't stomach a good hit. For those of you that love the hits, here is the video.




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The Good:
Lets talk about Chris. The Journey man Chris Crocker last night became one of my favorite Bengals. Coming off the bench to fill in for the injured Bengals secondary he led the team in tackles with 7. None better than the hit he laid on Santonio Holmes. (All 3 of his children and all 3 of their mothers held their breath after that hit.) I don't celebrate player injuries like the ignorant Steeler fans, so I am glad he got up. But I would be lying if i didn't admit to laughing at watching him try and stand up like a new born deer just realizing he has legs.

The Bad:
Lets talk about Punters. Kyle Larson the below average Bengals punter leads the league with 70 punts. His average is an abysmal 39.7 yds a punt. (The NFL leader has an average 10 yds higher) In the game last night two of his punts went for 30 and 33 yds. Both led to Steeler points. Each week this season our punter has been putting our defense into terrible situations to try and defend. Like I mentioned in a previous article there are many more punters than jobs in the NFL. I think it is time to make a change at this position.

Glenn Holt. You gotta catch the ball man.

The Ugly:
Same story different week. Soul Patch Bratkowski can not be here next year. I know Mike Brown does not follow conventional wisdom but he has to cut ties with this idiot. The Bengals are constantly put in 3rd and unmanageable situations because of poorly timed up the gut runs, passes only to the line of scrimmage. It has become a joke. I am not sure what more can even be said.

WhoDey


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               Cincinnati                                           Pittsburgh

With the upcoming big games for Cincinnati this week (Steelers Vs. Bengals on Thursday & Bearcats Vs. Panthers on Sat) I thought I would compare Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. Below are my results.

First and foremost, I am glad we do not have this

or this

Iron City (Pitt) Vs. Christian Moerlein (Cin)
Iron City: "Drank this during the first period of game 7 of the Stanley Cup at a hotel in Pittsburgh. Iron City is just a poor excuse for a beer. Even ice cold, it doesn't taste very good. After a long drive you'd think anything would hit the spot but this stuff didn't. No hiss and an almost flat taste. Even whipping it down quick, the swill still sucked. A friend of mine once said Pittsburgh looks better through the bottom of an empty Iron City bottle - I hope he just dumped the beer" link

CM: "Rich malt aroma on the nose and palate and a great hop flavor integrated with the malt. A really well-balanced beer with great drinkability. A little citrus note on the finish with firm hop flavor and this one becomes one of my fav's.
This beer is a slam-dunk, especially on draft." link


Cincinnati Style Chili Vs. Heinz Ketchup
While I will admit Cincinnati Style Chili is an acquired taste, once it is acquired you are hooked. Native Cincinnatians can be found frequenting the local restaurants at least once a week to get their fix.

Pittsburgh offers up ketchup. Exciting. While Cincinnati throws around a whole different style of food that people crave, Pitt comes in with a condiment that is an after thought.


Mount Washington Vs Mt Adams
Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh is a scenic area where visitors can take a box up the side of the Mountain and see some trees. Then they can eat at a crappy restaurant on the top of the hill.

Mt. Adams in Cincinnati can be traversed by car, foot or bike. Once at the top visitors can choose from several different restaurants serving some of the finest food in Cincinnati. After that they can hit one of the many bars and spend the night with the good people of the Nati.

Famous People:
Pitt:
Christina Aguilera - Famous for a song about Pittsburgh titled "Dirty"
Charles Bronson - undeniable badass
Ted Danson - Of Cheers fame and nothing else
Fred Rogers - Hated Pittsburgh so much had to create an alternate reality world of freaky looking puppets and weird castles.


Cin:
Henry Heimlich - Of the Heimlich maneuver, keeping Steeler fans alive when choking on uncooked hot dogs and whole pizzas.
George Clooney - Great actor making the jump from TV to movies.
Carmen Electra - Eye Candy
Woody Harrelson - Badass in movies like Natural Born killers




In conclusion, it is easy to see Cincinnati has better people, places, food and beer. I now understand why it seems Steeler fans are everywhere. As soon as people can they leave that shit hole of a city, they do.


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I have encountered many Bengals fans over the years whose ignorance has made me wonder how dumb some people can be. All of that has been eclipsed by the moron I had a conversation with on Sunday at the Bengals Eagles game. Like me and most of Bengal nation, this guy was angry at Mike Brown. However, his reason for being so angry was because Mike Brown has been making terrible play calls during the game. I tried to explain to this drunk hillbilly that Mike Brown does not ever make play calls for the game and he screamed (or hollard) at me that I obviously don't understand football and I shouldn't call myself a Bengal fan.


I know some people don't get it, but this guy takes not getting it to a new level.

Here is a little lesson. The guy pictured above is the enemy. I am baffled that this guy is still getting a paycheck. It is kind of like an employee at McDonald's deciding they are only going to server cheeseburgers. Sometimes when the customer orders a cheeseburger they look like they are doing a good job. But the majority of the time when someone just wants some damn McNuggets, this guy is doing a terrible job. Bob (soul patch) Bratkowski is the same as that McDonald's employee. There is not a lot of logic behind his play calls. When they string a couple decent plays in a row it looks like he knows what he is doing. When he calls running plays against the team who is stuffing the run all day on 3rd and 6, he is a moron.

2005 was a a fluke year. The O Line and offensive players were so talented, Bob got away with calling just about any play he wanted. This has allowed him to keep his job. Bob is a huge problem with the Bengals right now and should be step #2 in improving this team. (Step 1 is obviously to hire a GM)

I hate as much as anyone what Mike Brown has done to the Bengals. However, I am going to go ahead and give him a pass on the offensive play calling. I understand that is out of the realm of what he does on his Sunday's. Now, if he keeps soul patch past this season, then he is just as much to blame.

Side Note: The defense played another solid game. They are pressuring the QB and the secondary is ball hawking. To bad the O can only muster 13 points in 75 minutes. TJ was the bright spot on offense. He caught everything near him and had a great day.

WhoDey


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What a dumb fight song. Of course Eagles fly, they are birds. You are cheering for something doing what it is supposed to. Not only that, you get the oldest guys in Philly to sing the song.

On to the Matchups:

Coach:
The Bengals are facing another very large man in Andy Reid. He has been a fairly successful coach in the NFL but has been faced with many off the field issues from his two sons Britt and Garrett Reid. Both are currently in jail for drug related offenses. Marvin may have used this to his advantage and had Slim pick their brains when they shared a cell. Marvin Lewis is always two steps ahead.
Edge: Bengals

Quarterback:
Donovan McNabb is money. He is famous for two things, Chunky Soup and puking in the Super Bowl. (Anyone can puke in a toilet bowl, Donovan pukes in the freaking Super Bowl). I once again can not make a case for Crazy Legs Fitzpatrick, only that he is still really smart.
Edge: Eagles

Wide Receivers:
Chad Ocho Cinco is currently being praised by local media for "Good Behavior". This basically means that he is not running his mouth and acting like a normal human. Most people are on "Good Behavior" every day and they never get praised for it. (D-MO and MR. ShowBiz, thanks for your "Good Behavior"). However, they crazy stylings of Reggie Brown and the new great white hope Kevin Curtis can not hold Chad, Tj and Slims jock straps.
Edge: Bengals

Running Back:
Brian Westbrook might be the best running back in the NFL. He is great at finding holes and tough yards, and is also a stud at catching passes. Cedric Benson is definitely an upgrade for the WhoDey but not the caliber of Westbrook.
Edge: Eagles



I see the WhoDey pestering McNabb and stopping Westbrook. One bad turnover by the Eagles leads to the Bengals second straight win. For the doubters, I point out, the Bengals have not lost in three weeks (Sunday).

Bengals 24 Eagles 21

WhoDey


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Bye week is over football is back. I was just in Philadelphia last weekend and from what I saw and what I remember from the Tom Hanks movie is that about 90% of the people in Philly have the HIV. Sad.


All I have to say is you better watch out for the Eagles fan. These are some of the nastiest fans on the planet. If the Eagles were a soccer team, I think people would be getting trampled every Sunday. These A-Holes even throw snowballs at Santa Claus.

Here is what you need to watch out for. First, they lure you in with a good party:

Then the dress up as birds and super heroes and hillbillies:

Then they get angry and begin yelling and hurling insults:

Then you get punched in the face:

Lastly, they leave a huge mess for you to clean up.

No thanks Iggles fan, please stay in the dump of brotherly love.




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Our good friends at WhoDeyRevolution have advanced to step 2 of their plot to disrupt Mike Brown's reign over the lowly Cincinnati Bengals.

WDR has purchased four billboards around Cincinnati, asking that the Bengals finally hire a real General Manger.

They are asking for you to donate $18 using Paypal - or $1 for each year of Mike Brown's ownership of the team. "Just think how much of your money Mike Brown has buried in a tin can in his backyard (he doesn't trust those new fancy "banks") and contribute to a cause that is working to take back our team."


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With no Bengals game this weekend I thought I would take this opportunity to showcase a Bengals fan. We have a blast laughing at all of the other losers who choose to root for teams that are not the Bengals, lets try laughing at ourselves.

Meet Travis, he seems like a normal enough guy. That is until Bengals games come along, then he turns into a crazed cat loving, sponge bob pants wearing, ice cream eating fool.

(click the picture to see his whole album)




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Well, the Bengals broke into the W column in only the ninth week of the season. All of the fans that were rooting for an 0 and 16 are a little sad this morning. 0 and 16 would be terrible for a team that has a lot of trouble evaluating talent. The Bengals would be spending a ton of money on a roll of the dice. No thanks, I will take the first win of the season by saying it feels a lot better on Monday morning with a W instead of an L.

What I liked:
I hate giving praise because I really want the guy gone but Big Bob (Soul Patch) called a good game on Sunday. The pass opened up the run and the Bengals were able to eat up clock and yds. Cedric Benson fought for yds and made some things happen when the holes were closed. Slim was running good routes and drew double coverage on several key plays that opened up Chad and TJ. Chris Perry was used as another option in the offensive passing game and showed how good his hands are when not a feature back.

The game ball however goes to the D. They played very good and held the one two punch of the Jacksonville running game to around 50 total yds. I took mental note to call out Leon Hall. He was blanketing the wide receivers he was covering and had many pass breakups. Solid play up front pressuring the QB made it easier work for the corners, all around good game by the Defense.



What I didn't like:
This is pretty easy, first, I love what Zimmer has done with the D. On that last drive however, you need to have a sack and call some plays with some pressure. The Jags moved the ball way to easy on a potential game tying drive.

Kyle Larson, pack your bags fella. 30 yard punts do not keep you in the NFL very long. There are something like 55 punters graduating a year from college football programs that would love to improve on your 34 yd punts. Way to keep your teams backs against the wall. I saw you on the sidelines practicing your holds for Ginger, maybe you should kick a few more pigskins into the net?

WhoDey


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Here is a breakdown of NFL team expenses written by Stanford University Economics Professor Roger Noll:

Player costs (amortized signing bonuses, performance bonuses, salaries, benefits): about 61 percent of revenue.

Team costs (coaches, day-of-game, travel, uniforms, training): about 5 percent.

Stadium costs (operation, depreciation/rent): Extremely varied because of different arrangements with cities. Some teams pay almost nothing. Some pay for maintenance only. Others pay rent. And others own their facility. So this expense can range from a few percent for an otherwise free publicly owned stadium to 15 percent for a self-financed stadium.

General and administrative (sales, front office, legal): This area has two components: what it really takes to run a team and what is actually paid. Typically, successful teams pay high salaries to owners who also hold managerial titles. The first number is mostly independent of team success and revenues, and ranges from $10 million to $15 million. The second can be defined differently by each team, bringing the total to about 12 to 15 percent of revenue. Also, league costs -- including officiating -- are taken off the top from broadcast and licensing income. The NFL front office takes 2 to 3 percent of total revenue for operations, but this figure can be much larger if the league is engaged in a major lawsuit.

Interest: Depends on the team's owner: whether to use the team as collateral on debt -- either for the team, such as a stadium or training facility, or for another business venture. So this number varies between 0 and 5 percent, depending on the team's capital structure.

Taxes: Mainly property, sales and income. Most, but not all, stadiums are exempt from property tax. And most, but not all, teams are either partnerships or limited liability corporations that are taxed as if they are partnerships, which means no income tax. Sales taxes typically are high, especially in publicly-financed stadiums, but, of course, this applies only to in-stadium revenues. Thus, taxes vary from 2 to 5 percent.

Profits: Adding the minimum amounts and maximum amounts in each expense category produces a wide range of profits. Each year, a few teams manage to lose money. At the top, profits can fall around $50 million (20 to 25 percent). Average for the NFL is 12 to 15 percent, but probably only about a third of the teams are in this range. The version of profit that is most commonly cited is "operating profit," which is the profit before depreciation and amortization, interest and taxes, and excludes non-football activity. This number is now around 20 percent.

Now consider the case of Mike Brown and the Bengals. The Bengals have player and team costs, because those are required by league rules. So let’s move on.

Stadium costs = $0 for the Bengals, and in fact the Bengals make money when the stadium is used for other purposes. The Bengals stadium is actually a source of income for the team.

General and admin = Consider this line from the article, “Typically, successful teams pay high salaries to owners who also hold managerial titles.” The Bengals are definitely NOT successful, but the Brown family holds every major titled position in the organization. Therefore this is not a great expense for the “team” since the positions are held by the owners. The Brown family probably claims this as an expense, but they are just paying themselves a salary from the team while also collecting team profits above their salary. A nice little double dip.

Interest should be very little since the Bengals do not have any side business or stadium expenses. There is no reason for them to be leveraging the team.

Taxes, again are very small for the Bengals due to the stadium and county agreements.
Profits, that is all of the money the Bengals bring in above expenses (Counting the salaries the Browns pay themselves as an expense), average 12% to 15% per team. So the Brown family and the Bengals franchise have no trouble when it comes to money.

Now just think about this, according to Forbes magazine, the total money brought in by the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants last season was $214million. The 7-9 Bengals brought in $205million. So much for the Bengals not being competitive due to market size. The Super Bowl Champ in the NFL’s largest market brought in only 4% more money last season. Only in the NFL does it pay well to suck.

Bottom Line: Do not expect any changes from the Brown family anytime soon. They may be trying their best to win, but they have failed miserably at their jobs. But due to NFL profit sharing, there are no consequences to being the worst people in the entire world at your given profession. Just feel good that you do not have to live with the burden that they have, knowing you are the worst in the world at what you do.

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