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Bengals trade deadline grade: CIN gives fans permission to check out
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- Bengals trade deadline grade: CIN gives fans permission to check out
The Cincinnati Bengals are content to stay the same for the remainder of the season, which signals to fans it's just fine to check out.
Those Bengals started the march to the bye week with Zac Taylor defending his coaching staff and saying there won't be any changes .
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That remained mostly true at the NFL trade deadline, where the only change was losing a defensive captain via trade while shipping Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys .
No blaming fans for checking out now, really. This is a Bengals team that remains stubbornly stuck in its ways and without so much as minimally trying to improve by modern means.
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This says it all:
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The Bengals have scored 38-plus points five times over the last two seasons, yet are 1-4 in those games.
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The rest of the NFL is 62-4-1 in those games.
The Bengals didn't make a single move at the trade deadline in an effort to improve a laughably bad unit. Not even something small like say, a rotational pass-rusher.
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Hanging on to Trey Hendrickson is shrug-worthy, really. They were never going to get a good return and hold the leverage because they can tag him next offseason. But it does lock in another year of offseason drama with him.
Choosing to believe in rookie linebackers Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter is fine, too. Let them take their lumps and develop. They should probably only get better as their first seasons continue.
But not even bothering to improve the trenches in front of those linebackers is doing those rookies a disservice.
And ultimately, doing nothing continues to be a red flag for the fanbase. Yes, Joe Burrow is on track for a mid-December return. And yes, a few missed tackles here and there go the other way and the Bengals probably have a very different record right now. Zac Taylor's offense can sling it with any team. And yes, the AFC is bad.
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But they didn't make those tackles. Al Golden seems lost in the coordinator spot and year after year of miserable drafting by Duke Tobin's small scouting department isn't helping. They're 3-6. The defense is on pace to be the worst of all time, numbers-wise.
Frankly, the Bengals aren't moving like a team that wants to be better if and when Burrow returns. And that's just putting his long-term health at risk, crossing the fingers that he can mask all of these problems again.
The only points the Bengals get at the trade deadline are hanging onto Hendrickson, because why let another All-Pro walk when the scouting department can't draft well anyway?
Bengals trade deadline grade:D
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Grade:D RELATED: Bengals weapon rips defense after pathetic showing vs. Bears
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals trade deadline grade: CIN gives fans permission to check out
