The headline on Bengals.com today is “Bresnahan Looking For Answers.” Well, I’m looking for answers too, and I’m looking right at Bresnahan. I think we should fire our defensive coordinator, if not solely as a wake-up call to the defensive players and the rest of the team, but also because I’m not completely sure he’s qualified to hold his position.

I’m not alone. Another Bengals fan site has even started a Fire Chuck Bresnahan petition.

I first trained a critical eye on Bresnahan before our Week 16 game with the Broncos last season (2006). I read the Sports Guy’s 2006 Week 16 NFL Picks, and he included a pretty damning quote about Bresnahan:

Someone In The Know once told me, "Bet against Chuck Bresnahan (Cincy's defensive coordinator) against any good coach. He stinks. Smart coaches and smart QBs always have a field day against him."

At the time, I tried to ignore this quote.
1) Sports columnists aren’t to be trusted too much because they’re always puffing themselves up.
2) I guessed the Someone In The Know was a low-level assistant, like a video-coordinator or some other guy who loves football and is willing to do anything just to be on a team. These guys are happy to give quotes and run down the performance of people who are far more accomplished and qualified than they are.
3) That Denver game wasn’t lost so much because of bad defense but because Kyle Larson couldn’t hold a football.

But I couldn’t completely get this quote out of my mind, and I’ve had the sneaking suspicion that the problem with our defense starts with the coordinator. Just look at the amount of emphasis we’ve put on defense in the last few drafts. We’re getting talented people in, but that’s not improving things yet. We’ve been waiting for the play of the defense on the field to match that of the offense, and that hasn’t happened.

Here are some money quotes from Bresnahan, I’ll let him make my argument for me:

"I didn't have them ready to play. Somehow we missed very simple adjustments we've made the entire offseason. There was nothing special in the game plan and I take (the mental mistakes) personally."Italics added by DMo.

“There's just no excuse," Bresnahan said. "It's very easily corrected, but until we do it consistently, we're going to have problems." This week "we're making it a point to be disciplined in everything you do. From the meeting room to walkthroughs to practice to getting it right."

Here’s an idea: Try stressing discipline and consistency from the beginning of training camp.

The thing is, I think we all realize that there’s only so wide a window of opportunity. In 2005, we all went into the playoffs thinking we had a chance, but we were young. Last year was the time to take the next step, but our defense held us back. If that happens again this year, then what? How big is that window of opportunity? We can’t wait around for the defense any more, and I say that the turnaround needs to start with a new coordinator, and that it needs to start now.