Archive for September, 2010

Despite Cincinnati’s offensive struggles, the team is still 2-1 overall and that’s good enough for a respectable No. 12 ranking from the folks at ESPN. Pittsburgh is 3-0 and is sitting fat and happy at No. 1. Especially considering the Steelers have made their fast start without franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Since I’m embedded amongst the enemy in Pittsburgh, I can report that the entire town is abuzz with the Steelers’ progress. But let’s take a minute to consider their first three games. Pittsburgh beat a good, but not great Atlanta team in overtime. They won on the road in [...]

An ugly win again, but a win nonetheless. Pros -The special teams is better than it has been in a very long time. Mike Nugent continues to impress, with both distance and accuracy on his field goals and kickoffs. Kevin Huber repeatedly pinned the Panthers inside the 20-yard-line thanks to some quality punt coverage, and my hetero man-crush Brian Leonard converted a borderline crazy fake punt (and a second 4th-down conversion for good measure). -A win is a win is a win is a win. This was pig-in-a-dress ugly, but it keeps Cincinnati in good shape overall. -The defense was [...]

Here are four things to know heading into Sunday’s game at Carolina. 1. Otah is O-U-T:  ProFootballTalk passes along a report from the Rock Hill Herald that Panthers tackle Jeff Otah is out for Sunday’s game. That’s good news for a Bengals defensive front that is a bit banged up (Frostee Rucker and Antwan Odom missed some practice time this week) and a pass rush that was a no-show in the first road game. 2. Santa Claus-en?:  The Bengals have gotten a bit of a gift considering that Sunday will be rookie Jimmy Clausen’s first start. The Bengals need to [...]

James Walker’s AFC North Stock Watch has two Bengals among the risers. AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Mike Nugent is one of them. The Bengals defense is the other. To me, Nugent’s development is reason for some serious excitement. If he continues his upward trend, Cincinnati will have a nice weapon later in the year when the weather chills and field goals – sometimes even long ones – become increasingly important. Furthermore, Nugent is already showing some stones in clutch situations, something that always seemed to rattle Shayne Graham. And not to slight the defense, but people expect [...]

Someone at NFL.com was silly enough to give me a megaphone for the masses. And in my first writing on Big Brother’s site, I’ll explore why the Bengals should chase Larry Johnson, who was just cut in Washington. Stay tuned for more details.

James Walker is also sounding the alarm on Cincinnati’s self-inflicted penalties, which will single-handedly cost them a game if they’re not cleaned up. Walker has the right idea, but slightly missed the mark. The penalty problem goes far beyond last year, possibly even to the beginning of Marvin Lewis’ tenure. It’s a problem that I’d like to see Marvin pay more attention to. This may sound like a broken record, but Cincinnati really needs to clean up its penalties.The Bengals were penalized nine times Sunday, and this has been an issue that dates to last season. The coaching staff probably [...]

An ugly 15-10 win over Baltimore, but a win nonetheless. Let’s take a closer look. Pros: -This is Cincinnati’s 8th straight AFC North win. Considering where this franchise has come from and the talent-level in the AFC North, this needs to be celebrated. Marvin Lewis may have his deficiencies, but he is red-hot in the AFC North as of late. -The Nuge! I was rooting for Mike Nugent throughout the preseason because I remembered his talent and the clutch-kicks of his Buckeye days. His promise showed up today. Nugent went a perfect 5-for-5 today, hitting each kick with plenty of [...]

God bless Pete Prisco. Only the biggest bleeder of black and orange could place the Bengals in the upper echelon of NFL teams after the team’s Week One football flatulence in New England. But Prisco saw a revived Carson Palmer and plenty of reasons for hope. (I actually did too. But I’m also completely addicted to orange Kool-Aid. Look for me on A&E’s Intervention). Prisco put the Bengals at No. 10 in his latest batch of NFL rankings. In a more pessimistic outlook, the ESPN Countdown Daily crew both picked the Ravens to beat the Bengals this week. The oddsmakers [...]

Remember when Michael Johnson was all over the field in the preseason, pressuring quarterbacks and breaking up passes? That player seemed to disappear in Week One. Quite frankly, I didn’t even seem him on the field much. Johnson didn’t even produce a single statistic in last week’s game. No sacks. No tackles. Nothing. And that has to change if the Bengals hope to beat Baltimore on Sunday. Cincinnati was unable to generate any sort of a pass rush last week with its front four, so I’ll be looking for a heavy dose of Johnson in the home opener. He needs [...]

Cincinnati’s search for depth on the offensive line led them to workouts with Eric Ghiaciuc and Justin Hartwig. Ghiaciuc’s a former Bengal who struggled to replace Rich Braham and Hartwig is a former Steeler who was cut this offseason. Neither are a great starting option at this point, but both should come cheaply and aren’t bad backups to have around. Centers are typically among the smartest members of the offensive line so both players should be able to offer some veteran wisdom and experience. Hartwig especially should be able to offer some insight on the Steelers, who the Bengals will [...]