Archive for August, 2008

OT Willie Anderson HB Rudi Johnson TE Nate Lawrie LB Jim Maxwell CB Deltha O’Neal LB Ahmad Brooks DE Antwon Burton S John Busing DE Eric Henderson QB Jeff Rowe G Nate Livings OT Dane Uperesa G James Blair LB Angelo Craig LB Anthony Hoke HB James Johnson WR Clyde Logan WR Maurice Purify WR Mario Urrutia Also, TE Matt Sherry has been placed on IR. Update: My thoughts on the roster moves: The marvel of ineptitude that has been the Bengals’ recent drafts continued to reveal itself in today’s cuts. To get to the mostly final 53, Cincinnati kicked [...]

The Bengals have released RB Rudi Johnson, according to his agent. They are also reportedly asking OT Willie Anderson to take a pay cut. A 3 p.m. press conference to announce all their roster moves has been pushed back. More as it develops. Update: Per Mark Curnutte, Anderson declined to take a pay cut and has been axed. Update 2: Anderson, in a bid to stay, made a counteroffer but the Bengals said no. My initial reaction? Risky, risky moves. Losing Anderson hacks deep into o-line depth, and the offensive line hasn’t exactly been kicking ass and taking names in [...]

The Bengals ended preseason with a 27-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Both sides rested — or didn’t have available — most of their starters, as is typical of the fourth preseason tilt. WR Chris Henry made his only appearance of the preseason, hauling in three balls for 20 yards. Neither T.J. Houshmandzadeh nor Rudi Johnson played against the Colts, though both are reportedly healthy and expected to go in the opener against Baltimore. Rudi keeps going on about being traded or released, but either seems unlikely to me, unless Chris Perry has suddenly learned how to pick up a [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals are often criticized as a cheap, mom ‘n’ pop operation run by an owner whose sole qualification for the job is his last name. There’s more than an ounce of truth in that, but Andrew O’Toole’s new biography, Paul Brown: The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Football’s Most Innovative Coach, makes it clear that the current owner wasn’t the first Brown to pinch pennies, muck up contract negotiations, and complain incessantly about the changing nature of the business, all while fielding a mediocre team. These days, this has been obscured by the passing of time [...]

The rumor mill is churning out Bengals gossip tonight. First up, Muckraker Mike, who passes along word from NFL.com’s Adam Schefter that Chad Johnson’s injury is actually a torn labrum. The Cryptkeeper says it’s only partially torn. The Bengals maintain it’s a shoulder sprain. Whatever the truth of the matter, his shoulder didn’t keep Chad from dropping and giving the media 21. On the heels of this report came ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, who claimed during the lead-in to this evening’s MNF game that the Bengals were shopping Rudi in an effort to trade for a veteran wide receiver. That set off [...]

Mark Curnutte asks: There has to be more to [preseason] than a chance for team owners to extort full-price from fans for fielding what even the league commissioner, Roger Goodell, admits is an inferior product. Well, Mark, actually, no, there doesn’t. Separating people from their money is, after all, the primary purpose of any business. And you ought to know there’s no shortage of Bengals fans who insist that in Cincinnati it’s not just the primary purpose, it’s the only purpose. But like you, I digress. Curnutte’s overall point — that the Bengals offense has underachieved in the preseason — [...]

The Saints marched over the Bengals 13-zip at Paul Brown Stadium last night. With little to fear from starting WRs Antonio Chatman and Glenn Holt, the Saints came hot and heavy after Carson Palmer. Palmer got dropped three times, and finally came out of the game with a bloody nose and cut lip. The offensive line put the blame on itself, but multiple failed blitz pickups by RB Chris Perry and TE Ben Utecht were at least as big a problem. On the defensive side, things were brighter. While the Saints rolled up more than 450 yards, they scored just [...]

Keith Rivers writes that he had fun in his first game at PBS. Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome is a lot smarter than Mike Brown. Not that we didn’t know that already. Backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will be a free agent after this season, is piling up some preseason highlights for his video resume. Doc praises the way Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis have dealt with Mike Brown’s decision to bring back Chris Henry. Second-round pick WR Jerome Simpson will start against the Saints. B.J. is back in the saddle at BengalsBlog. Kirkendall previews the Saints game and runs through [...]

And the winner, by a 30 percentage point margin, is… New Chris Henry poll forthcoming…

For gawd knows what reason, the guys at The Saints Blog want to talk to me tomorrow. So somewhere around 8:15 central time Thursday, I will be bloviating here: For gawd also knows what reason, any of you 2 or 3 folks who read this blog and want to call into their show, the number is 914-338-0784. Be there or be, y’know, like, octagonal. Update: Yeah, I remembered. Listen to the replay here. I come in about 15 minutes in. Thanks again, guys!