The older I get, the more aware I’m becoming of the Cincinnati Bengals’ organizational failure.
I have older friends, coworkers, family, etc, who have told me for the last few years about the historical blunders from this organization. I have always been a fan and I always will be a fan, but again, being a fan doesn’t put blinders on you to not be aware of the obvious mistakes and failure of something, in this case, an organization.
To date, there are plenty of years and drafts when I’m ecstatic for the upcoming season, and I find myself defending them and making excuses, but this season has triggered something inside of me.
The earliest teams I actually remember watching had players like Carson Palmer, Rudi Johnson, Chad Johnson (Ochocinco), TJ Houshmandzadeh, Leon Hall, and so on. But with this team, I was a little kid, so I simply watched as a fan. Then it was the team of Andy Dalton and AJ Green that I began to actually understand certain aspects of the team and organization.
It wasn’t until Joe Burrow came that I really understood everything about the team and organization. This is when things really started clicking for me. Again, I will always be a fan, but you start listening to analysts and fans, and even some former players, and you begin thinking. Usually, year after year and draft after draft, one question arises: Why?
If the team lacked talent at this position, why wouldn’t they go draft that position or get someone in free agency?
If this player played well for us and their contract is up, why didn’t they re-sign him?
If defenses are stopping the Bengals’ offense consistently and they seem to know where they are going to be before the ball is snapped, why don’t they try something else?
If our defense isn’t playing well, and teams are scoring on them with ease, why don’t they switch something?
You begin to question everything. But year after year, they stick with the same solutions every time. Coaches and front office personnel say the same thing in each press conference.
What makes it worse is that you see other teams and organizations change personnel as needed. Then, in the past, when the Bengals have made changes, it gave fans a brief glimpse of relief and hope.
But it sinks back into the same reality eventually.
I read hundreds of posts and articles and watch dozens of videos, but Mo Egger hit the nail on the head in one of his recent posts describing a monumental organizational failure over the last few years.
In 2020, the team drafted a generational quarterback in Joe Burrow, and the next year they drafted Burrow’s former college teammate, who has also turned into a generational wide receiver in Ja’Marr Chase. Within two years of having both players, the team makes a surprising run to the Super Bowl.
Ever since then, it has been downhill.
For decades, the Bengals organization has been known to be cheap. This is in regard to having a weakness and either not addressing it at all, putting forth very minimal effort, or completely swinging and missing in the NFL Draft.
If you go back 10 years, it’s simply abysmal how many draft picks the Bengals have had who are either not even in the league anymore, play for another team, played for the team for a few years, and lost due to free agency or cut, or you really never heard their name after the draft.
As a fan, you can tell morale is possibly at an all-time low. The team has an offense that consistently puts up 30+ points per game, but the defense plays so badly and has no knowledge of some of football’s basic tactics like tackling or coverages. The offense can’t do anything besides doing their job and scoring points, and they have to rely on their defense to simply get a couple of defensive stops per game.
In 2021, the team had an above-average defense that performed at a high level (most of the time) in the season’s most critical moments, which was a big reason they were playing in February.
At the same time, the Bengals were lucky they had Joe Burrow under center. This is when he really showed the league truly how good and smart he was, despite being sacked and being under so much constant pressure from a disturbingly bad offensive line.
The last five years, whenever the team has a good or above-average offense or defense, the team drops the ball on resigning certain key players, such as Andrew Whitworth, Kevin Zeitler, Jessie Bates, DJ Reader, Mike Hilton, etc. The team can never find a way to take full advantage of possessing both a great offense and a great defense. They have had plenty of opportunities to seize their chance and opportunity to put a great team on the field while they possess one of the league’s best quarterbacks and wide receivers in recent history.
If you’ve been around long enough, watching the team, and listening to former players, it all comes down to one thing: The front office. In particular, Duke Tobin, the Director of Player Personnel. He has dropped the ball for years for a successful draft and a successful free agency period.
Unfortunately, the new generation of Bengals fans has learned and will continue to learn they will be disappointed week in and week out and year after year until the team decides to hire a true general manager and a true scout team to actually go scout grade A talent to put forth a great team rather than grade C/D/F talent just to a put a team on the field.
I have watched years of football, and I can say confidently that I have never seen a less talented defense. Players who can’t perform simple football plays and do not allow their team to play complementary football. Our only hope is to have the Bengals organization truly show fans and the city they actually WANT to win a championship by completely stripping their front office and spending the money they have on key players, both offensively and defensively, along with true scouts and a competent coaching staff.
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