Archive for August, 2011

    The 2011 Cincinnati Bengals’ season offers me, as a writer, a unique opportunity to chronicle Year One of Marvin Lewis’ efforts to transform a team that ESPN recently ranked dead last in its yearly Power Rankings. If I read his intentions correctly, Lewis aims to transform much more than just the roster, though personnel changes have already proven to be crucial. He knows that to build a winning franchise he must to work to change the culture of both the team and, I believe, the entire organization.  – We still don’t know all of the concessions he won [...]

Tonight the Cincinnati Bengals will play their first NFL preseason game versus the Detroit Lions. Led by rookie QB Andy Dalton, the 2011 Bengals will be one of the younger teams in the NFL, and even preseason games are valuable for gaining experience and growing as NFL players. Here are some key match-ups to watch for tonight:   Leon Hall vs. Calvin Johnson These two will likely face off for 1-2 series, and while its the preseason, it can prove as an indicator on how this match-up would be played in a regular season game. Toward the end of games, [...]

The Bengals signed journeyman Wide Receiver John Standeford. Standeford and Bengals OC Jay Gruden are quite familiar with eachother, Standeford playing the last 2 seasons for Gruden in the UFL. During that period Standeford was one of Gruden’s more talented players on Offense. (Not saying much for a minor league level talent pool I know) It can easily be assumed that Standeford already knows the offense backwards and forwards which may be an asset during a shortened off-season. Standeford stands at 6’4″ and 206 lbs making him a rather large target for Dalton. It was widely obvious when looking at [...]

It’s been made mentioned many times on this blog and all over the internet that the Bengals have rebooted their roster. To really see how much of a difference there is in the roster take the starters of last years Hall of Fame Game versus Dallas and compare them the starters this year heading into Detroit. 2010 Pos. 2011 Carson Palmer QB Andy Dalton* Cedric Benson RB Cedric Benson Chad Ochocinco WR1 Jerome Simpson* Terrell Owens WR2 A.J. Green* Andrew Whitworth LT Andrew Whitworth Nate Livings LG Nate Livings Kyle Cook C Kyle Cook Bobbie Williams RG Bobbie Williams Dennis [...]

Former Bengals TE Reggie Kelly met with the Pittsburgh Steelers Wednesday. he left the city without a contract. The Steelers later offered him a veteran minimum contract for 1 year, Kelly declined the offer and decided to retire. Kelly was known as a blocking Tight End during his career in the NFL. He may not have been a Pro-Bowler or flashy receiver, but he was a solid player his whole career. I can honestly say I’m relieved to see “R. Kelly” retire rather then play for a divisional rival. Not for the reason I fear of what he’ll do to [...]

Coming up this Friday the Dalton lead Cincinnati Bengals will be playing their first preseason game. Fortunately for them, it’s against the Detroit Lions. This game should be a great test to see where the fiery new signal caller of the Bengals offense is as a NFL Quarterback. I was lucky enough to get a hold of Zac Snyder the editor of SideLion Report. Zac was able to shed some light on what’s going on in Detroit and what to expect come Friday night.

The Bengals held their last training camp practice before their first NFL Preseason game Friday versus the Detroit Lions. The players were in shoulder pads and shorts and did mostly walk-thrus and position drills. They did do some brief offense/defense scrimmage work toward the end of practice. Here are some things of note from today: The first person out to practice 15 minutes early was RB Jay Finley. Marvin Lewis recently praised Finley for his play thus far in training camp, and he’ll get his first live NFL action Friday. Here’s what Lewis had to say in his Sirius XM [...]

The Bengals and Defensive End Jonathan Fanene have agreed to a 1 year deal. The salary amount of the contract is unknown at this point. It is assumed that it will be a moderate contract but under 5 million dollars. Fanene offers depth to the defensive line and the ability to generate more pressure on Quarterbacks. He has only had 1 truly good year which explains why he wasn’t a “hot commodity”. If Fanene can prove that he wasn’t just a one year wonder in 2009, he might be able to find a big fat contract at the end of [...]

Former Cincinnati Bearcat Basketball player Ruben Patterson is suing ex-Bengal Tim McGee. Patterson claims McGee offered him a land near McGee’s Indoor sports facility Courts 4 Sports. Patterson agreed to purchase the land and McGee then took $377,000 out of Patterson’s account. McGee then opened a Bar and Grill on that location. Geeter’s Bar & Grill is now closed and it’s rumored to be opening at that location. McGee later claimed that Patterson never bought the property. Instead of buying it, said the $337k was really a lump-sum payment of 99 of rent. Patterson later paid McGee even more money [...]

Words from Maualuga’s new right-hand man, Manny Lawson. Teammates had plenty of praise for Maualuga in some recent interviews. It sounds like the transition from Strongside Linebacker to Middle Linebacker is going even better than most had thought. Starting Strongside Linebacker Manny Lawson: “He’s young. For somebody so young, he’s experienced. He has a motor, he’s aggressive, he’s everything you want in a linebacker. Now he’s playing the middle so he’s coming downhill. I’m happy he’s on my team. I’m happy I don’t play offense. Whoever does play offense has to keep their eyes open… I’ll guarantee you we’ll be [...]