End of Lovie Smith Era for Chicago Bears?

In 95 games as Bears head coach, Lovie Smith is 51-44, and the third winningest coach since the team was founded in 1919. 

However, after three straight seasons without a playoff birth, the fans as well as the press are calling for a change.  If the history of hiring head coaches in Chicago is any indication, nothing will improve.

In 91 years of franchise history, the Chicago Bears have NEVER hired a head coach.  They have merely hired 13 head coach candidates with no head coaching experience in the NFL.

To break it down, unless you count George “Papa Bear” Halas, who was re-appointed on three different occasions following his head coaching debut in 1920, all the Bears have done is given chances to a lot of rookie head coaches, instead of bringing in a proven winner.

If the Chicago Bears fire Lovie Smith, which at this point seems inevitable, he will go elsewhere and lead a different team to success.  If he stays in Chicago, they will falter a while longer, and Bear-Nation will be disgusted.  Fact of the matter is, Lovie Smith led the Chicago Bears to a super bowl, the closest they have come to a championship since Mike Ditka did it in 1985-86.

“I’m evaluating myself too,” Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo said in a recent interview. “But I do know this: We all share into what happened this year. I’m not going to sit here and put blame on any one thing.”

Two reasons the Bears have stumbled the past two seasons are simple; Ron Rivera was fired, and Ron Turner remains.  Yes, both can be blamed on Lovie Smith.  With no good draft picks coming up and some very questionable personnel, the Bears have found themselves once again in a building transition, or to be blunter, screwed.

Defeating a lousy Detroit Lions team Sunday will not in any way ensure a job for Lovie Smith or his staff.  If they do anything but dominate, it will only give fans and ownership more ammunition to rid the inconsistent coaching staff. 

“What’s a vote of confidence at this time? …You don’t talk about things like that during the year,” Lovie Smith said in response to questions about his status next year as coach. “(We’re) disappointed in our play, disappointed in our record. I’m the head football coach, so I’m sure a lot of people aren’t knocking down the door wanting to pat me on the back.”

It has yet to be seen if newspaper ads, billboards, or numerous blogs have swayed the Bears’ administration to vacate the entire coaching staff and management, but if it has, let’s hope for yet not another huge embarrassing failure. 

 

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I Think I Can Fix Them! NFL Teams That Is…

People speculate even where no speculation is even called for. Other times, like most days working for the District of Columbia’s NFL team, rumors and speculation run as rampant as Chris Johnson has this season.

Next season a plethora of great coaches—Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, and perhaps even for the right price, Tony Dungy—will be available to teams who are looking to hit the panic button or to throw an old system out with the garbage.

The number of potentially great “young gun” coaches is at an all-time high as well. Clarence Shelmon, the Chargers offensive coordinator, who has some major time in working with running backs; Todd Bowles, Bill Parcells’ man-crush defensive backs coach in Miami; Hue Jackson, the guy responsible for teaching Joe Flacco the ropes as Baltimore’s quarterbacks coach, has also worked in Cincinnati with Carson Palmer and even has a seal of approval from one Chad Ochocinco.

Kyle Shanahan, Mike’s kid and a terrific offensive coordinator—except as it comes to getting Steve Slaton to not fumble and Brian Schottenheimer (long distance high-five to Marty for getting his son involved in football)—who is charged with keeping Braylon Edwards from punching people and Mark Sanchez from fumbling every time a 300 pound lineman rushes him, both could be first time NFL coaches next season.

I’ll break down where I think the coaches end up, why they end up there, and what I think the outcome will be in 2010.

 

Chicago Bears 2009 coach-Lovie Smith 2010 coach-Bill Cowher

 

Dear Chicago Bears management, my friend Andre thinks you’ll be the laughing stock of the league if you don’t bring Cowher to the Windy City, and I tend to agree with him.

Cowher has the gusto to go in and tell Jay Cutler how it is. The way it is is he should still be in Denver and Mike Vick should be the quarterback in Chicago.

Cowher will make play to Chicago’s strong points. Its killer defense, the speed of the wide-outs, and the strength of the O-Line with Roberto Garza and Olin Kreutz.

I think he brings in Hue Jackson from Baltimore to coach Jay Cutler and get his “Madonna” complex solved. Note to Jay Cutler: You aren’t, and never will be, the savior of Chicago football.

Jackson would become the head coach in waiting in Chicago and would expand the offense while Cowher runs his brick tough defense.

Bears 2010 record, assuming Brett Favre hangs around in Minnesota next season:11-5 and a wildcard birth.

 

Washington Redskins 2009 coach-Jim Zorn 2010 coach-Brian Billick

 

The Redskins need someone who can get the job done right and who will demand full control of personnel and won’t drop the ball like Clinton Portis tends to do so well.

Billick will use the draft pick to grab Dez Bryant if he’s available and turn to getting Chris Cooley more catches and try to get him into a vanilla version of Antonio Gates in San Diego.

Billick will also turn to the Wildcat and sign Michael Vick. If Billick does join Washington, expect the days of Clinton Portis to end and the Sundays of Quinton Ganther to suddenly more busy.

If Sam Bradford is available, they may try to ship Jason Campbell for draft picks and still sign Vick. If Bradford is gone, I more than expect Dez Bryant to be the answer.

Remember when Terrell Owens rejected a trade to a team that ended up winning the Super Bowl? Yeah, Billick does too. Remember, he coached that team. Owens might relish a chance to get back at the Cowboys and finally join coach Billick.

Moss and Bryant with Owens playing the slot and Cooley catching passes with Campbell and Vick playing Wildcat and Ganther hitting 1,200 yards might be the recipe for success in D.C., outside of Daniel Snyder having a heart attack.

Redskins 2010 record: 9-7, or 10-6, no wildcard birth, but it might be good enough to steal the NFC East

 

Buffalo Bills 2009 coach-Dick Jauron/Perry Fewell 2010 coach-Mike Shanahan

 

One of the worst kept secrets in the NFL. Shanahan is gonna make Fred Jackson great, but remember, he almost made Tatum Bell great.

I think 2010 is a year of rebuilding for Buffalo. Rebuilding and getting beaten twice by all three teams in their division.

Mike might go with his son as the offensive coordinator, let’s hope he lets his son kind his own gig. Buffalo might kill Kyle’s chances of being a head coach.

Bills 2010 record: 3-13, but hey, you get to draft Jake Locker in 2011. Buffalo Bills, you are on the clock for 2011.

 

Cleveland Browns 2009 coach-Eric Mangini 2010 coach-Mike Holmgren

 

Please, Mike, hit the red button that drops Mangini into Randy Lerner’s shark tank. Quit trading with the Jets and start building the kind of program that would be worthy of being called a Mike Holmgren team.

If not for the fans of Cleveland, do it for Sam Bradford, so he doesn’t end up like Brady Quinn.

Mike, please.

Browns record in 2010 -(W/Holmgren) 6-10 or 7-9, maybe even 8-8, (W/Mangini) 3-13

Carolina Panthers 2009 coach John Fox 2010 coach-John Fox

 

I don’t believe they give up on Fox yet. not this season at least. I say wait this season, and if he does horrible, then go after Tony Dungy.

I don’t think they do horrible, but I don’t think fox survives next season, not with Julius Peppers leaving.

Panthers record in 2010-9-7

 

Oakland Raiders 2009 coach-Tom Cable 2010 coach-Kyle Shanahan

 

I think Al Davis starts on the right track to recovery in Oakland by bringing in Shanahan.

Rolando McClain is looking tempting even now, and Shanahan is someone who would be willing to coach in Oakland and get them to some sort of glory. It won’t be easy, but he does have a semi-talented core and will add to that in the draft.

Raiders record in 2010:8-8

 

So that concludes my list of coaching changes in 2010. I think that Jon Gruden, Brian Schottenheimer, and Todd Bowles deserve jobs in 2010, but with the exception of Gruden, they already do and they look to improve their current teams.

It’s only speculation, and I hope a few turn out to be correst, but that’s the fun of speculation.

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Oakland Raiders’ Strength Made Strong in Weakness

How can anyone anticipate a strong finish in the performance of the Oakland Raiders in 2009? I can, and I have data on which to base my anticipated outcome between the Oakland Raiders and the Baltimore Ravens.

Why wouldn’t a team that is 36 years older than its opponent, have a strong finish. The data shows that there is a possibility. Take a look:

The top curve represents the performance of the Ravens during the last six games in 2009. The bottom curve represents the Oakland Raiders.

Notice that there are more peaks in the curve for the Raiders, indicating to me that the Raiders are performing better than the Ravens during the last six games in 2009.

The overall average in the category of win-loss ratio is .518 for the Ravens, and the Raiders have .551.

Both teams lost the Dec. 27 game. However, if the extrapolation is done for the historical data over the last six games, the Raiders will come out on top.

 

Yes, the Oakland Raiders started out a bit weak during the earlier portion of the 2009 season, but the graph below shows that the Ravens have experienced a decline for one reason or another.

During the first five weeks of the 2009 season, the Ravens were stronger, but as we look at the last five weeks (before Dec. 27) for the Ravens we have L-L-L-W-L compared to a pattern of W-L-W-L-W. Note that both teams loss on Dec. 27. 

‘

If the numbers tell the story, then the Raiders have a very good chance of showing that “when most folks think they are weak, they are in fact, strong.”

What’s the moral of the story: It seems the Oakland Raiders play better when they are perceived to be the underdog, and they, somehow and someway, lose to opponent teams that are perceived to be the underdog.

What could be a piece for advice for the Oakland Raiders? Here we go again: Perceive yourself weaker (so you play harder and smarter) in each game and then because you depend on intangibles like pride, faith, transcendence, beat the opponent and send him home in a state of shock.

We did it to the Steelers, Bengals, and Broncos. We can do it to the Ravens and anyone else we play in 2010.

Article complete 3:33 pm, 1.2.2010

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The 10 Greatest Sports Moments of the Past 10 Years

The past 10 years have been filled with some great sports moments. While it was hard to narrow it down, here are 10 that stand out from the rest, in my opinion. Please feel free to dispute or add any of your favourite moments in the comments. Now, without further ado, the top 10:

10. World Cup Finals, 2006: One of the most controversial and close finishes to a World Cup tournament ever. A game that started seemingly normal, until French icon lost his temper and head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi, causing the French captain to be ejected and his retirement to be one of regret and disappointment. It also went all the way to penalties, with Italy winnig it and giving them the title.

9. U.S. Open, 2008: Ahh, the good ol’ days of Tiger. Woods came into the tournament without playing a full round in over two months, due to an ailing knee injury, but managed to hobble around the course and beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff. Woods would announce that he would miss the rest of the season due to a knee surgery just two days after the win, and would call it “the greatest tournament I’ve ever had.”

8. Michael Phelps, 2008 Olympics: Phelps’ record is still astonishing. He picked up eight golds in Beijing for his swimming dominance, and was really only challenged in one race. In all honesty, this should probably be ranked higher, but Canada’s general dislike for the smug bastard lands him here.

7. Malice At The Palace, 2004: It was arguably the greatest disaster in the NBA’s history. With about 45 seconds left in a game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, a shoving match began between the Pistons’ Ben Wallace and Pacers’ Ron Artest. It would eventually lead to a huge confrontation on the court, until fans started littering the court. One fan hit Artest in the face with a Diet Coke, causing Artest and many of the other Pacers to charge into the stands and brawl with spectators. Two spectators were taken to the hospital, and the game was declared over, even with time on the clock. Wallace and Artest’s rivalry lives on to this day. Players lost a total of over $10 million from salaries as a result of league fines.

6. BCS National Championship, 2006: It was a story of two of the greatest sports teams meeting in the final—the way sports should be. Three Heisman candidates played, all of whom went on to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. Celebrities and politicians alike made their voices heard, supporting their respective alma maters. It was Texas and USC, in one of the greatest finishes a football game has ever seen. It’s hard to forget Vince Young’s sprint into the end zone with 19 seconds left, leading Texas to the National Championship, 41-38, and snapping USC’s 34-game winning streak.

5. Heritage Classic, 2003: The experiment that would later lead to the NHL’s annual Winter Classic. More than 57,000 packed Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton to watch the Oilers take on the Habs. The event started with an alumni game featuring the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur. The temperature reached -30 with the windchill, and saw Jose Theodore wear a toque over his helmet. Montreal would go on to win a close game, 4-3, proving to the NHL the brilliance of an outdoor game.

4. Super Bowl, 2008 : The New England Patriots came in with an undefeated season, that saw them 18-0 entering the championship game. The Patriots were by far the stronger team, but the New York Giants battled with them the whole way, before an unbelievable catch by David Tyree kept his team in it, and led to a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone to win the Giants the game, and spoil New England’s perfect season.

3. BALCO Scandal, 2003: One of the worst moments in American sports history. An anonymous call to the California District Attorney’s office led to the investigation of BALCO, a scientific laboratory. They were found to be making performance-enhancing drugs and human growth hormones. It led to players from many major leagues being revealed as using steroids, most notably Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Bill Romanowski. It was the cause of tougher steroid testing in sports, as well as leading to the Anabolic Steroid Act signed by President George W. Bush.

2. Usain Bolt, 2009 : Now, Bolt garnered international attention and celebrity status following his amazing performance at the 2008 Olympics. He upped that in ’09. At the World Championships in Berlin, he smashed both of his world records, setting a new one in the 100m (9.58) and the 200m (19.19).

1. American League Championship, 2004: One of the greatest rivalries in all of sports—the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Things looked pretty bad for Sox fans, as they fell in the first three games, the last one being a 19-8 blowout. The Red Sox then did the unthinkable, however, battling back and becoming the first team in MLB history to win a series after losing the first three games. Tim Kurkjlan, an analyst for ESPN called it “the greatest baseball story ever told.” It was intensified by the Sox moving on to face an outmatched St. Louis team who they swept to win their first World Series in 86 years.

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Last Call: Titans-Seahawks Battle Could Be Swan Song For Key Veterans

As far as unofficial records go, tomorrow’s matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks will probably go down as the most important “meaningless” game in the history of the NFL.

And the reason is obvious: Titans running back Chris Johnson’s pursuit of multiple yardage records has trumped the fact that both teams have virtually nothing to play for. 

Today, both teams will conduct their respective walkthroughs as they prepare for their season finale.  

By this time tomorrow, however, both teams could be experiencing the end of an era. 

For Tennessee, the potential damage is comparatively light when compared to the Seahawks’ looming sea change.  

For starters, linebacker and defensive leader Keith Bulluck is done for the year with a torn ACL. Throw in the fact that he’s 33 and in the final year of his contract, and, well, the Titans could very well have a new identity on defense next year.  

In addition, veterans Nick Harper (also on injured reserve) and Jevon Kearse aren’t exactly on solid footing either, given their ages and pedestrian performances this season.  

One question mark from earlier this year that seems to be resolved, however, is Vince Young. His career resurgence couldn’t have been timed better: it’s good for both him and the franchise.

On the other side of the field, however, things are looking to be a bit more ominous. The Seahawks recently forced out their general manager, Tim Ruskell, after years of ill-advised trades and draft picks.  

Most folks in Seattle are welcoming the front office change, given that Ruskell stubbornly kept trying to reload the burnt out, past-its-prime 2005 Super Bowl nucleus. Given the rash of losing seasons, conventional wisdom said that he should have been  rebuilding instead.  

With a new sheriff coming to town, and a rash of expensive, aging, injury-prone, and under-performing players littering the roster…well, suffice it to say that the ho-hum status quo will be overhauled in the Emerald City.

Deon Branch, Walter Jones, and yes, even Matt Hasselbeck are some of the more prominent question marks as Seattle finishes up yet another disappointing season.

So, Seahawks and Titans fans alike should savor this game.  

Yes, there is a chance that Chris Johnson will make history. 

Yes, there is a chance that Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, the longest tenured coach in the NFL, will get his first win against Seattle. But, keep in mind, there will be a nostalgic pall over the game as well.

In spite of both teams’ recent losing ways, they have had banner, record-setting decades with great players; players who you might not see again in your favorite uniform.  

 

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Jerry Gray, Bobby Mitchell, and the Redskins Rooney Rule

The one thing we are going to miss about Jim Zorn is his unusual candor. We could use a lot more candor in Washington from Capitol Hill to Redskin Park. Take Jerry Gray. Can we get some candor please?

As a black guy who attended his first Redskins game in 1962 because his dad thought it important that his son see in person the first black guy, Bobby Mitchell, to play in a Redskins uniform, I have conflicting feelings about Washington’s implementation of the Rooney Rule and Jerry Gray’s role in it.   

Coaches come with networks of assistants. I get it. We want coaches to come with their assistants so they can make the biggest impact on their new team the quickest. I get that, too.

Yet somehow that old boy network failed to include minority coaches in any number approaching their proportion as players, especially at the coordinator position where fresh head coach candidates arise. (that’s improving, however. Gray is part of Gregg Williams’ coaching network.)

Enter the Rooney Rule that required that owners at least talk to one minority candidate when making a head coach hire. That action breaks the cycle of hiring by name recognition and brings to the surface a list of very good assistants who are not otherwise considered.

Can we at least talk to these guys?

In a 40-year business career where I had access to senior executives, I saw the value of management bench strength. Unless the business has crashed and burned, you are better off promoting from within than outside.

Teams are better off if their Rooney Rule candidate is already in-house rather than from the outside. Jerry Gray represents management bench strength.

So why the discomfort? Because no one is being candid here.

The Washington Redskins are a train wreck. The coaching staff will be swept out, as they should be.

Carry-over coaches of four-win teams are not going to get the top job. Jerry Gray is not going to be the next Redskins head coach. Instead, he has become the Bobby Mitchell of the coaching staff.

Mitchell spent the 1962 through ’68 seasons playing for the Redskins, then from 1968 through 2003 in Washington’s front office. He ended his career as assistant general manager when black front office executives were a rarity. 

Mitchell made the Hall of Fame as a player, but never got a sniff from any team as a real GM. He could have used the Rooney Rule. When he retired, Mitchell lamented the pretense of it all.

The pretense of interviewing Gray to satisfy (subvert) the intentions of the Rooney Rule insults me.   

If Daniel Snyder had any inclination to hire from within, he would have made Joe Bugel, if not Gregg Williams or Gray, head coach last season.

If Daniel Snyder had any inclination to find the next bright outside candidate, he would be lining up a list names now, and Rooney Rule candidates would be one or two of those prospects.

By all reports, Gray and Mike Shanahan are the only two people to interview for the job. Shanahan is the potential outside hire.

Daniel Snyder has revealed himself to be the Snyder of 2000. That Snyder has a track record of hiring a famous name to coach the team to a .500 record over the following three years. Jerry Gray isn’t famous enough.

I just wish someone was candid enough to tell us what we already know.

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Looking Towards the Future: 2010 NFL Mock Draft

Some teams have locked up playoff berth,some are still in the hunt, and yet some are reserving their offseason vacations. But all 32 teams are looking forward to April 22, where their franchises next stars will be selected in the NFL Draft. This year is heavy on lineman, particularly pass rushers, but after going through each team’s needs, I decided to put most of them off to the second round (because of their abundance and lack of top-end talent, teams could wait and get one in the second round).

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NFL End of the Year Awards

It’s that time of year again. The football season is just about over and it’s time to decide who are the best players in the league and most deserving of these awards. I have included: defensive rookie of the year, offensive rookie of the year, coach of the year, breakout player of the year, defensive player of the year, offensive player of the year and of course MVP.

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Mile High Meltdown: Josh McDaniels Gets An “F” As Head Coach

After reading this morning that Brandon Marshall is being benched by Coach McDaniels, I couldn’t help but wonder; what the “hell” is going on in Denver.

In the first place, Mike Shanahan never should have been fired. He’s a Hall of Fame coach and an offensive genius. Besides from winning two Super Bowls, he revolutionized the game with his use of zone blocking with an undersized offensive line. It was so effective, that for a long time it seemed like any running back could be put in the backfield and he was guaranteed at least a 1,000-yard season.

In Shanahan’s last year in Denver, he put together an offense that was ranked second in the league and poised to take the next step to elite status. Had he stayed, the Broncos might have had the number one offense in the league this year.

It is true that he made some mistakes over the past few years. The worst sin he committed in Denver, was firing Larry Coyer, who is quietly working miracles in Indy this year, just like he did in Denver.

However, those aren’t the kind of mistakes that you fire a Hall of Fame coach for is it?

My take has always been that Mr. Bowlen should have taken the general manager duties away from Shanahan and kept him as head coach. Instead, the Broncos’ shocked the world when they fired Shanahan and took a huge risk hiring another one of Belichick’s coordinators.

If you stop and think about it, every coordinator that has worked for the Patriots has been successful, that is until they went to another team.

In fact, name one coordinator that has gone from the Patriots to be the head coach of another franchise, or college team, and been successful? That’s right you can’t, because there haven’t been any. Everyone of them has been unsuccessful and been fired.

Maybe Mr. Bowlen should have paused and thought about the success rates of ex-Patriots coordinators before he capriciously fired Shanahan and hired McDaniels.

From the minute McDaniels arrived in Denver, there has been nothing but drama from the Mile High City. From the way the Jay Cutler incident was handled, to Tony Scheffler, and now Brandon Marshall just to name a few, it has felt like the Three Stooges were running the show.

There is more to coaching a team then practicing, game planning, and being an “offensive genius.”  Part of being a successful coach, is getting the team to believe in you and your vision. It doesn’t matter what style you use to achieve it, it must happen, or all of the other stuff is for not.

This quality is something Bill Belichick has and it’s been a big contributor to him being one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game. It’s also the one quality that seems to be lacking in his underlings when they leave the roost.

Tony Scheffler, after the Broncos loss to the Eagles, expresses his frustration about his reduced role this season and then a few days later, without notice from the coach, without a man-to-man talk, the guy is sent to the practice squad?

Brandon Marshall is accused of exaggerating his injury and so he gets benched? This is the same Brandon Marshall that is going to the Pro-Bowl, is only the fifth wide receiver with 100 catch seasons, and who set a record in Indy with 21 catches in the game against the Colts.

This is also the same wide receiver who played all of last year with a tear in his hip and still put up 1,265 yards and six touchdowns. This year his stats are almost the same except that he has scored 10 touchdowns.

Now, all of a sudden, Brandon Marshall is not a team player? After all that happened in the offseason, all that unnecessary drama. All that belongs squarely at the feet of management because of the way they handled the Jay Cutler situation. This guy has done nothing but go out there and produce for his team.

Coach, Brandon Marshall is right when he says don’t blame me because of the way the season is unfolding.

The Broncos are heading into a game that they need to win to have a shot at making the playoffs. They are going into that game without Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler because the coach of the Denver Broncos doesn’t know how to deal with people.

McDaniels has created a working environment based on fear. Don’t think for a minute that doesn’t effect how the players perform on Sunday.

It is very likely that the Broncos will end up 8-8 again this season, not for a lack of talent mind you, but for a lack of a coach that knows how to treat players. Daniels doesn’t understand that to lead men into battle, they have to believe in you. They have to know when things get tough,their coach has their backs.

Nobody wants to fight for a guy that doesn’t take personal responsibility for his actions and his part in things. Who wants to put their life on the line (and in football that is not hyperbole), for a guy who isn’t man enough to even come talk to them when there is a problem.

Coach, if you want to turn this franchise around, then you better learn to be a man, like your mentor Bill Belichick, or guys like Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, or Jim Caldwell.

There is a reason certain teams are successful year in and year out; it has a lot to do with how they treat their players.

If you want to return the Broncos to their glory days, you better learn that soon, otherwise you’re just going to be another failed Belichick protégé.

 

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Bengals Become Cincinnati’s Last Hope as Bearcats Fall

As the Florida Gators celebrated victory in the face of adversity, the Bearcats miserable conclusion to a perfect season was complete in its “so close but yet so far” conclusion.

Yet as much as there were coaching questions with Brian Kelly’s departure to Notre Dame and the suffering play calling that followed on the Bearcat’s offense, the Bengals are suffering from either magnificent subterfuge on offense or facing a similar fate with the post season dawning on the horizon.

Let’s face it, Bob Bratkowski is no Bruce Coslet (Offensive Coordinator from 1986-89, 1993-95, Head Coach 1996-2000) as an offensive coordinator.  Sure, Bengals’ fans still remember him in his later stint as a inept coach of an inept franchise—but the franchise was long inept before Coslet had a chance to right the ship—and with little or no resources. 

Yet in 1988—the last Super Bowl season for the Bengals—Coslet put together a dynamic offensive scheme that ran hard with two productive running backs (James Brooks and Ickey Woods) and a wide receiving group that clearly was more open ended than the current limitations (Eddie Brown, Tim McGhee, and Chris Collinsworth). 

While some may argue that the addition of a consistent tight end in the 1988 Bengals (Rodney Holman) along with the three consistent wide receivers, they would be mistaken to say that 1988 had more advantages than this year’s 2009 Bengals.

Why? For one, lets look at what the Bengals brought to the table this season.  By all appearances, the trio for this year’s team was Chad Ocho Cinco, Chris Henry, and Laverneus Coles. 

Yet when Henry went down, the depth that the 1988 team lacked in the wide receiving corps were ready to fill the void—and yet: nothing.  Andre Caldwell has been inconsistent and inconsistently used.  Quan Cosby—a very productive college athlete who has shown promise—has not yet been established as the “Chris Henry replacement” though by all signs from the San Diego game—he should be.

This leaves Ocho Cinco and Coles.  Ocho Cinco has worked harder than ever—and opposing defenses have adjusted their coverage packages accordingly.  Yet with Palmer’s favorite target blanketed there has also been inconsistent signs from Coles—a veteran with a pedigree that Bengal Nation was hoping to see more utilization.

At the tight end position, one that took a tremendous amount of damage in the preseason—with the early loses of veteran stalwart Reggie Kelley and acquisition (now free agent) Ben Utecht—no single replacement has emerged in either J.P. Foschi or Ben Coats.

It would seem—from this analysis—that 1988 had the advantages at tight end but that is far from the case.  The depth enjoyed this year was not seen in ’88 and yet a spectacular run was had.

This leaves the question if the aforementioned is at least some what accurate—what is wrong or rather what are the Bengals doing and—more specifically—what is Bratkowski doing?

All fans applaud touting a strong running game and exploiting those teams that cannot stop the run—but where is the pass?  Where is it being developed?  Is there a plan b?  Why are the the passing schemes seemingly only developed for Caldwell and Foschi on the between the hash marks and Ocho Cinco outside of the hashes?  Where is Cosby after a spectacular game against San Diego?

The real question, though: Is Bratkowski saving the best for last—holding his cards—in a veritable chess match that leads to the Super Bowl?

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