The combination of today’s clubbing by Baltimore and a rare Kansas City victory (over Oakland) has moved the Bengals into the No. 2 slot in next April’s draft. With a best (im)possible record of 5-10-1, the Cincinnati Bengals are guaranteed a top 12 selection.

Bengals Draft Pick Watch

Pick
Team
Record

1
Detroit Lions
0-12

2
Cincinnati Bengals
1-10-1

3
Kansas City Chiefs
2-10

4
St. Louis Rams
2-10

5
Seattle Seahawks
2-10

6
Oakland Raiders
3-9

7
San Francisco 49ers
4-8

8
Cleveland Browns
4-8

9
San Diego Chargers
4-8

10
Jacksonville Jaguars
4-7

11
Houston Texans
4-7

12
Green Bay Packers
5-7

Jacksonville and Houston play tomorrow night. Teams in italic are ones the Bengals still have to play.
Note that I have not figured out all the tiebreakers for teams with the same record, so this is not an [...]

Technical difficulties have slowed stripehype to a crawl today, but regulars didn’t miss much. It was a laugher today in Cincinnati, where the Baltimore Ravens rolled over the Bengals 34-4. As has been the case in other games this season, the Bengals defense kept it close in the first half, allowing just 13 points, but the offense could do nothing. Before an 89 yard drive for a FG just prior to the end of the half, the Bengals’ offense had 20, count ‘em, 20 net yards on the day. In the end, they managed 155 net yards for the game, [...]

Bengals offensive line/assistant head coach Paul Alexander is apparently in the mix for the head coaching job at Syracuse University. Alexander was watching from Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross’ box as the University of Cincinnati Bearcats stuck a fork in the Greg Robinson era at ‘Cuse.
Alexander, a 15-year Bengals coaching veteran, was widely expected to leave when Marvin Lewis was hired, but instead was not only retained but given the additional title of assistant head coach. He has come under fire from some corners of Bengaldom for being less successful at developing talent than his predecessor, the legendary Jim [...]

The Bengals added LG Andrew Whitworth and backup OL Scott Kooistra to the injured reserve list today. The Bengals have put 16 players on IR this season, seven of them starters.
Filling their spaces on the roster are CB Geoffrey Pope, who has been bouncing between the Bengals’ practice squad and the active roster all season, and former Ohio State offensive lineman Kirk Barton, who has been bouncing between the Bears and Dolphins since being taken in the seventh round by Chicago last April.

Philadelphia’s 48-20 drubbing of the Arizona Cardinals was the only Turkey Day bright spot for Bengals fans with an eye on next April’s draft. With the Eagles now at 6-5-1, the only way they select ahead of Cincinnati is if the Bengals run the table and Philly drops all its remaining games — two highly unlikely events.
However, the slow-motion train wreck that is Detroit — and wow, are they bad — went to 0-12, maintaining the Lions’ death grip on the first overall pick. Worse, the floundering Seahawks succumbed to the Cowboys 34-9, giving them (for the moment) sole possession [...]

No, not Chad, but fullback Jeremi. Part of Marvin Lewis’ inaugural draft class in 2003, Johnson came into camp this year well over his weight limit, was placed on the PUP list, and eventually moved to IR after suffering a knee injury.
Johnson’s release reduces to two the number of 2003 draft picks remaining on the Bengals’ roster, QB Carson Palmer (first round) and backup offensive lineman Scott Kooistra (seventh round). The Bengals had nine selections in the ‘03 draft.
2004 picks Chris Perry (first) and Stacy Andrews (fourth) and 2005 pick Eric Ghiaciuc all appear headed for the exit after this [...]

It’s official: The Cincinnati Bengals are the first AFC team to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

With defensive ends Frostee Rucker and Robert Geathers going on season-ending injured reserve, and DEs Antwan Odom and Eric Henderson nursing injuries, it appears that DE/DT swingman Jonathan Fanene and DT John Thornton will be the starting ends against Baltimore this Sunday. They’ll get to go against a familiar face in Ravens right tackle Willie Anderson, who was cut by the Bengals at the end of camp when he wouldn’t take a pay cut. Anderson has since started six games for the Ravens and helped their running game improve from 16th in 2007 to 4th in 2008.
The release of Anderson [...]

No! And it’s not over until Carson Palmer says it’s over! So December 7, 2008, Palmer will throw again to determine whether he needs surgery on his elbow.
If not, it is still unclear when (or if) he would return to the field. The Bengals play the Colts on the 7th, and the Redskins the following week.
If he does need surgery, the timetable for a return is eight months.
In Chad Johnson news, Chad is dealing with a balky knee and may not play this Sunday against Baltimore. Head coach Marvin Lewis may have to make a roster move to deal with [...]

Yes, it’s that time of year again. As other teams jockey for playoff spots, the Bengals joust for the first overall pick. They aren’t there yet, but are hanging in there as the current holder of the third overall selection. With a best possible record of 6-9-1 (I know: ha ha ha) the Cincinnati Bengals are guaranteed to draft no worse than 17th overall in next April’s draft.

Bengals Draft Pick Watch

Pick
Team
Record

1
Detroit Lions
0-11

2
Kansas City Chiefs
1-10

3
Cincinnati Bengals
1-9-1

4
St. Louis Rams
2-9

5
Seattle Seahawks
2-9

6
Oakland Raiders
3-8

7
San Francisco 49ers
3-8

8
Cleveland Browns
4-7

9
Jacksonville Jaguars
4-7

10
Houston Texans
4-7

11
San Diego Chargers
4-7

12
Green Bay Packers
5-5

13
New Orleans Saints
5-5

14
Philadelphia Eagles
5-5-1

15
Miami Dolphins
6-5

15
Buffalo Bills
6-5

16
Chicago Bears
6-5

16
Minnesota Vikings
6-5

17
Denver Broncos
6-5

At 15 and 16, 6-win [...]