Archive for January, 2011

Bob Bratkowski’s 10-year reign as offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals was doused with some well-deserved water today, giving the fans a small morsel of pleasure after a season of pain. Joe Reedy offers up some early speculation and many believe quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese to be the frontrunner. For me, the replacement is largely irrelevant. For now anyway. It was the exodus that was all important. Ding-dong.

BRATKOWSKI IS GONE!!!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!! It had to be done. Which is why we all figured Mike Brown wouldn’t do it. By no means does this fix anything. But it will at least allow for some changes and perhaps a few fixed problems. It’s likely Carson Palmer is happier today. Maybe Cedric Bensons can be retained. Fans will certainly be happy. I know I am.

As this year’s mock drafts start to roll out, consensus is building that the Bengals will take Georgia WR A.J. Green. nate has linked to several such mock drafts. While his speed and skills are certainly tempting, we at StripeHype continue to preach that drafting him at #4 is not best for the Bengals. I won’t say that drafting Green would be a mistake. (Drafting Jake Locker at #4 would be a mistake.) He would certainly be an asset for a long time. He would be a good pick, but there are other picks who would be better.

CNNSI.com’s Don Banks gives the Bengals Georgia receiver A.J. Green in his latest mock draft. The Bengals could use some receiver depth at some point, but I’d prefer the team looked elsewhere in the first round. With Jerome Simpson, Andre Caldwell, Jordan Shipley, and Jermaine Gresham around, Cincinnati has several receiving threats. I think it would be wiser to address other needs (offensive/defensive line, secondary), than to grab a player who would start out as a backup. Plus, there’s that quarterback thing to worry about, but I think it makes more sense to address that need after the No. 4 [...]

Joe Reedy passes along some news from WKNR in Cleveland that the Bengals could be considering Bernie Kosar for some sort of position with the team. Yikes. Kosar is down in Mobile at the Senior Bowl at the request of some unknown team. The Bengals are in desperate need of change, but I’m not sure an arena football executive with some NFL experience and reported financial difficulties would excite the fan base. Wow. In another interesting tidbit from Reedy’s blog, 60-percent of people polled would rather place the franchise tag on cornerback Jonathan Joseph than Cedric Benson, who finished with [...]

“A real fan sticks with their team through the bad times. No matter what. No matter how long. No matter how bad. If you give up on the Bengals, you aren’t a real fan. You won’t catch me jumping off the bandwagon like you.” Ever heard UberFan say something like that? Did you want to laugh at him too? Actually, UberFan isn’t a ‘real’ fan at all. Here’s why…

Cincy Jungle passed along a nice tidbit from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Mike and Mike in the Morning. Schefter reportedly called Bengals owner Mike Brown “maybe the most stubborn executive in all of football.” I normally don’t encourage Mikey’s mannerisms, but this is one instance that demands his stubborness. Unless a respectable trade offer arrives (which Brown probably wouldn’t take anyway) before the labor contract expires in March, the Bengals have no backup plan behind Palmer. There’s his brother Jordan at No. 2, who might have NFL size but doesn’t seem ready to be an NFL quarterback. (Anyone else wondering [...]

“We are close to being the kind of team we can be,” Brown said. “I think continuity will give us the best shot at becoming that team.” (Mike Brown, Jan. 4, 2011) In Mike-Brown-land, stability is the key to running an NFL franchise. Don’t do anything rash. Don’t rock the boat. Steady as she goes. Let’s examine that theory a bit, with a little stat help from the good folks at pro-football-reference.com.

The Bengals have followed up a disappointing season with an offseason that has deteriorated into a full-blown soap opera. The quiet, stoic son (Carson Palmer) wants to move out. His brash brother (Chad Ochocinco) is trading verbal insults with the father (Marvin Lewis). And the stubborn old grandfather (Mike Brown) seems to tick off his audience every time he opens his mouth. Then there’s all of us, watching the embarrassing drama unfold right before our eyes. This show mustn’t go on. I’m re-writing the roles for all of these actors and doing my best to keep it from getting canceled. [...]

Joe Reedy gives us some of Mike Brown’s response to Carson’s request for a trade. After the Lewis presser, I’ll gladly just read his comments through Joe. I hope I never have to hear Brown’s voice again.