Archive for December, 2010

Although I was originally okay with it, I think Cincinnati made a mistake in not keeping a true fullback. The team has failed rather miserably in short-yardage situations  this season (often throwing passes in them). Last week, the Bengals brought in defensive tackle Domata Peko for a completely-predictable fourth-down run that a four year old could have figured out. But today, help arrived in the form of HBO Hard Knocks hero Chris Pressley. Pressley is a bowling-ball blocker who could make a difference in Sunday’s game. He was activated from the practice squad after spending some time with the Tampa [...]

The optimist (or is it wishful thinker?) in me says that the Bengals could be catching the Steelers at an opportune time. Big-n-Ugly has a bad foot and a broken nose. Carlos Dunlap has to love that. Heath Miller — and we know how the Bengals struggle to cover tight ends — is probably out. Flozell Adams and others are still dinged up from the Ravens game. The weather could slow everything down, which could help. And after such a big win over the Ravens, could the Steelers let down against the lowly Bengals and fall to a trap game? [...]

With another game against Pittsburgh only a few days away, I got to thinking about the best Bengals/Steelers game I’ve ever witnessed. Two of them came to mind, one at home, and one at Heinz Field. In the road category, you have to go back to 2003 when Jon Kitna was quarterback and Corey Dillon hadn’t yet stormed out of Cincy. Kitna hit Matt Schobel (remember him?) in the back of the endzone to complete an improbable fourth-quarter comeback.

Joe Reedy reported yesterday that Whitworth is leading in fan voting for the Pro Bowl, ahead of Michael Oher by 31,000 votes. I knew that he had developed into a decent end, but I didn’t know that his stats looked like this, as Joe points out: According to Pro Football Focus, Whitworth has the third-highest grade among left tackles in the AFC, behind Miami’s Jake Long and Cleveland’s Joe Thomas, who were both top five overall picks. The site has him second in the AFC in pass blocking and first in blocking on screen passes but has him ninth in [...]

Here’s an interesting find from the guerillas at WhoDeyRevolution, via Lance McAlister’s blog. In a letter to a season-ticket holder, Mike Brown said he will be returning as general manager next season. And probably the year after that. And that. And that. I’m afraid you are stuck with me in my present role, and a general manager brought in from the outside is not in the plans. So for those fans waiting for Mike Brown’s curtain call, you might want to a grab a Snickers. It’s gonna be a while. In fact, as I wrote in a petition post a [...]

Obvious statement of the day: Talent is a huge part of what makes NFL teams work. If there is actually any question about that, just ask yourself whether you would rather have Justin Smith (“high motor”) or Jared Allen (actual talent) playing DE for you. That said, it takes more than talent to make an NFL team successful.

I continue to argue that, of the many problems that make up the 2010 Bengals, Carson is down a ways on the list. But I was intrigued by this comment about Carson from John Thornton on his blog, AllProBlogger.com, in arguing that the Bengals ought to draft Cam Newton: Too many changes will need to be made to get him excited about this team again.  He looks worn down, mentally and physically. Carson is always so grounded that it’s hard to know what is really going on inside. We can’t see whether he is ready to rip off one of Pat Sims’ [...]

Incompetence is now officially spelled M-I-K-E-B-R-O-W-N, now that as Joe Reedy points out, the Bengals are the losing skid-iest team of the last 20 years. But then, the owner fastest to 200 losses ever is bound to set some other records getting there. Despite my recent railings against Son-of-Paul, I don’t say this with anger, malice or venom. Mike, please, please, pleeeeeeeease, let’s try something new. The losing has passed two historic milestones this year. Show some mercy to us fans. I will judge how serious Mike Brown is about that request first and foremost by who he hires to [...]

Searching for bright spots in this 2010 season is something like finding needles in a haystack. But a few stuck out Sunday, namely defensive linemen Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins. Dunlap and Atkins put considerable heat on Saints Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, who is known for getting the ball out of his hands rather quickly. The rookie linemen have now combined for six sacks despite only seeing a limited amount of playing time. Previously, I had been in favor of the Bengals switching to a 3-4 defense, but with the emergence of these two guys, I think a 4-3 [...]

We got this gem from Terrell Owens after Pat Sims jumped offsides on 4th-and-2 and the Saints scored a final-minute touchdown to send the Bengals to their ninth-straight loss. I don’t know if we’re getting outcoached, or what the deal is. Yeah, you’re getting outcoached. When the offensive coordinator calls a plain-as-day run on fourth down that gets absolutely blown up and the head coach fails miserably with clock management (Carson Palmer put the final timeout solely on Marvin Lewis), it’s a good indicator of getting outcoached. But you’re also getting outplayed. There were drops again and inopportune penalties and [...]