Bengal Bonanza: Odds and Ends from the Queen City, Volume 2

It wasn’t a nightmare, you can’t wake up

Cincinnati really did get worked by the worst offense in the National Football League. Shaun Hill, an inexperienced quarterback who had never started a game really did dominate our defense. Marvin Lewis has assured himself the first flat out losing record of his career. That’s after three 8-8 campaigns, and one winning season.

Playoff Scenarios

While the NFC still has numerous teams competing for spots (despite 4 teams getting officially booted after last night’s game) the AFC is all but sewn up, barring any craziness. the Patriots, Colts, and Chargers are all in, with Jacksonville almost a shoo-in, and Pittsburgh and Cleveland are just a hair’s breath from clinching. Week 17 oughta be REAL exciting (sarcasm).

Unrest in the Clubhouse

There are rumors surfacing from Cincy that the locker room is an absolute mess. Apparently TJ Houshmanzadeh and Chad Johnson don’t like each other much, and neither is a fan of Carson Palmer, to the point where they contstantly scream at him. Most notable is the fact that Marvin is said to not be doing much about it.

Now, most losing teams don’t have great chemistry, but if you’re three best players all hate each other, shouldn’t the coach be stepping in and trying to bring harmony? Why would Marvin allow it to get to a situation where teammates are taking it upon themselves to leak the info? Oh yeah, cuz Marvin’s not a very good head coach.

Link Dump

Josh Kirkendall at Cincy Jungle details out the playoff race better than I did.
B.J. Bethel at Bengals Blog provides some more detail about the divisions in the locker room
Tom Mantzouranis at AOL Fanhouse details out a budding love affair between Ocho Cinco, and a certain 49ers linebacker.

That’s all for this installment of Bengal Bonanza, tune in next time…