Archive for October, 2010

Here are five questions supplied by FanSided’s Dolphins Blog, Phin Phanatic, and my answers. I’m not too optimistic about today’s game, but I hope I’m wrong. 1.) How safe is Carson Palmer’s job? I’ve read there are beginning to be rumblings about whether or not he’s a winner and he’s thrown some costly picks so far this year. Do Bengals fans still believe Palmer is an elite quarterback or is it time to start looking for a replacement? Carson Palmer’s job is safe. He may not be the same quarterback as he was before knee and elbow injuries, but he’s [...]

Michael Johnson had an impressive rookie season and a solid preseason, but he has been largely AWOL from the stat sheet and impact plays this season. Part of the reason I think is because the Bengals aren’t sure how to use him. According to Joe Reedy, He was only on the field for eight plays last week in Atlanta. And you could argue that he’s the team’s best pass rusher. Something tells me he would be developing quite nicely in a 3-4 system as an outside backer. Let’s hope MJ gets more plays this week and into the future. I [...]

If last week was a must-win to save the season, this week is a must-win to prevent an implosion. I was a bit surprised to find the Bengals favored by Vegas (by 2.5 points or so), and ESPN’s ScoutsInc. also predicts a Bengals winner, giving it 24-23 to the Bengals. With the Bengals banged up (the secondary and even Carson Palmer have missed some practice time), a win against Miami would be huge. A few upsets against Pittsburgh and Indianapolis – although unlikely – could turn things around. But I think we’re gonna need some more orange Kool-Aid. Stat.

When the Bengals decided to upgrade by adding T.O., Gresham and Shipley to go with EightFive, we all said that this was the year to truly judge what Carson was worth. He finally had the offensive weapons around him to work with for improving the offense again. We thought we would see something more like Carson’s early years again. Well, what do you say now? Carson has thrown for 1699 yd in 6 games, which would translate to 4531 yd for the season. He is averaging almost 7 yd/attempt, or over 11.2 yd/completion. He has completed 61.9% of his attempts [...]

I might have a face for radio, but I don’t have the voice. Even still, Andy and Nick from Who-Dey Weekly had me on again to talk about the Bengals. We talked about the letdown in Atlanta and some potential coaching candidates – both plausible and implausible – if the Bengals job were to open up. You can find this week’s podcast here or on Itunes as well.  Hopefully, next week we’ll have something better to talk about. And now for the least manly video ever posted on StripeHype.

Cincinnati’s startling comeback in Atlanta fizzled after an incomplete pass to Terrell Owens and a Cedric Benson fumble. The Bengals, who became Cardiac Cats last year after stellar play in the fourth quarter, now seem like they are suffering cardiac arrest. The defense, one of the strengths of last year’s team, is flatlining. The team is 31st in sacks and just surrendered 39 points after a bye week. The team might have reached 32 points overall, but the offense only produced three points in the first half and the defense added a touchdown as well to inflate the total. As [...]

I’ll look at the game a little deeper tomorrow when more emotions and dust have settled (including how Bernard Scott might finally be getting a bigger role. I hope), but for now let’s focus on the Bengals lack of discipline. A problem that Marvin Lewis doesn’t yet think is a, um, problem. According to Bengals.com, here’s Lewis’ quote about the 12-men penalties, one each by the offense and defense. “That’s not discipline. Discipline is personal fouls,” he said. “We’ve got little things, that’s not about a lack of discipline. We’ve got to pay attention to the detail of it. (On [...]

You know what you need in today’s NFL? Stones. Huevos. Testicular fortitude. You need the guts to look a prima donna who’s bigger and richer than you in the face and yell at him.  You need exactly what Mike Zimmer has. Zimmer went off on his former head coach Bobby Petrino in a Wednesday news conference. “When a coach quits in the middle of the year and ruins a bunch of people’s families and doesn’t have enough guts to finish out the year, I’m not a part of it,” Zimmer told Bengals.com. “And you can put that in the Arkansas [...]

If you can believe what you read on a message board (don’t answer that, move along), Chad Ochocinco has reverted to his old ways by sending the entire Falcons defense a gift and has made plans for an endzone prop Sunday. I’ve never been a big fan of Ochocinco’s extracurriculars, but if this gets him and the rest of the offense out of their malaise, I’m all for it. So go nuts Ocho. Make them kiss the baby.

Former Bengals defensive tackle John Thornton looks at the Bengals remaining games and feels basically the same as I do. The Bengals remaining schedule is tough, but it wouldn’t be impossible for the team to win eight more games. This weekend’s game in Atlanta though, is critical. Lose it and forget it. Win and there’s still some hope. The Bengals may get a break if Dunta Robinson, who was concussed last week in Philadelphia, sits out Sunday. I expect Robinson to play because the Falcons need a win too. Stay tuned.