Elusive Tenth Win Leads to Division Title

This past Sunday, against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals clinched the AFC North Division with a 17-10 win over the now 3-12 Chiefs. The clinching win, which has given the Bengals their second 10 win season since the Bengals went to the Super Bowl in 1988 with a 12 win season, stops the Bengals recent skid. Starting in Oakland, the Bengals lost three of the five games they played prior to Sundays, giving ESPN even more reason to keep calling this team the Cardiac Cats.

In a game that most thought would end in a blowout, the Chiefs stayed with the Bengals the entire game until Leon Hall’s interception within the two minute warning to end the game. The biggest problem in the game was not that Carson Palmer was held under 150 yards passing, but that former USC and current Bengals rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga went down with a season-ending broken ankle, giving Rashad Jeanty and Brandon Johnson their chances to shine. Jeanty, who lost the starting position to Maualuga in the pre-season, is in his fourth year with the Bengals out of the University of Central Florida. Both Maualuga and Jeanty were pushing each other in the pre-season to perform and execute better. Maualuga eventually won out. Johnson has been a force on special teams and as a replacement for Keith Rivers when Rivers was injured earlier in the year.

Losing Maualuga for the final game of the year and the playoffs definitely hurts the Bengals as he had been a force with his 63 tackles and 3 forced fumbles. But if there is one man I want replacing Rey, its Jeanty. Maualuga won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the best defensive player of the year in 2008 along with the CBS Sportsline.com Defensive Player of the Year Award. Off the field issues don’t win you that award, on the field play does. Just because Maualuga had a history doesn’t write him off as being one of the biggest steals in this past year’s draft. To be able to push that type of player to be better, and lose the starting job by so little says a lot about the type of player you are.

The returns of Domata Peko and Chris Crocker on Wednesday will definitely help the defense, as Peko is one of the best tackles in the game when it comes to disrupting plays in the backfield and getting to the quarterback. Crocker is vital in the passing defense, which has lapsed since his injury. The defense this Sunday will have their hands full with the League’s third leading rusher in Thomas Jones and a collection of talent on the receiving end in Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery, David Clowney and Dustin Keller. Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall will have their hands full, but as they have been all season, they will show up to shut down.

Following Sunday Night’s Prime Time game on NBC, the Bengals will most likely know who they will be facing in the first round. The San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts have first round byes and won’t be seeing anyone until that third weekend in January. More than likely, the first game will be at Paul Brown Stadium since the Bengals have a better record than every team vying for a wild card berth. Of the teams still alive, there are seven, I like the Bengals chances against them all at home. The only match up that I believe would pose as a challenge or threat would be a third rematch against the Baltimore Ravens or Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers coming to Cincinnati for a playoff game brings back memories of the 2005 game in which Palmer went down with a destroyed knee courtesy Kimo Von Dream Killer. I would like to think that this game would be very different.

A rematch with the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans is possible if the cards all fall in the right place. If the Bengals lose to the Jets, there could also be a possibility of the Bengals and Jets playing two weekends in a row. Still in the hunt, but with a lot of help needed are the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Jets and Baltimore Ravens control their own destiny as if they win they’re in. There are ten different ways the Broncos can get in, three different ways for the Steelers and Texans to get in, five different ways the Jaguars can get in and only one way the Dolphins can get in. For the now 10-5 Bengals to clinch the AFC #3 seed, they need a win and a New England Patriots loss.

Back to Sunday’s game, the Jet’s have a blitz happy defense and the offensive line will need to protect Carson Palmer better than they have been, because this team can’t afford to lose their franchise quarterback the week before the playoffs. At the same time, Carson will need to be more efficient as throwing for 139 yards may not cut it against the Jets. He completed a high percentage of his throws, 17 of 25 which is a 68% completion percentage, but 139 yards passing as a former Heisman-winning franchise quarterback is unacceptable. Whether it is the inability to stretch the field or the lack of depth and skill at the wide receiver position besides Chad OchoCinco, the passing game needs to be on the same page as the running game.

A running game isn’t anything if the passing game isn’t in sync and the ability for play action isn’t there. Same goes for the passing game if Cedric Benson and Larry Johnson aren’t able to push through the Jets defense and scrounge up yards to keep the Bengal defense off the field. However way you spin it, this Sunday night, the Jets and Bengals will be fighting for every yard, pushing for that Wild Card Spot or that #3 seed.

Bengals Receive Extension; More AFC North News

Cincinnati Bengals:
The Cincinnati Bengals announced today that they have received a 24 hour extension to sell out the remaining tickets for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions.  The extension will end tomorrow at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.  If the Bengals fail to sell the 3,500 tickets left, their 50-game regular-season and post season sellout streak will come to an end.  Taking a look at the big picture, the game probably won't sellout.  Why?  The Local Fox affiliate in Cincinnati, Fox 19, only receives two chances a year to broadcast Bengals games.  This year, the Chicago Bears were the first, and now, the Detroit Lions.  Both of them are at home, and I don't see any T.V. show producing more fan fare and couch potatoes in Cincinnati than the Bengals.  Either Fox 19 will step up and buy the tickets, or Chad Ocho Cinco will buy them and give them away.  Wait, isn't he broke?  Oh well, if you can't be at Paul Brown Stadium for the action, there's no better place than from the confines of your own home, settled in the middle of the dent in the couch. 

Just remember though, the Bengals must sell out.  Failure to do so will show ESPN that even in the thick of a playoff hunt, fans don't want to pay outrageous prices for seats, food, and drinks.  Bengals Owner Mike Brown should be used to hearing this, as Cincinati sports talk show host Lance McAlister preaches this week in and week out.  In addition, it'll show Mike Brown that not everyone has money like he does, and the economy is actually very rough on most people, and at times, unless they're free, Bengals tickets will be passed over by your blue collar fans.

Cleveland Browns:
The Cleveland Browns face off against the San Diego Chargers this week, and I'm not seeing an upset in the horizon, but a blow out.  The Browns are a team that will break your heart play after play, game after game, year after year.  Trust me, I know one when I see one, I've been a fan of one since I was a kid.  This is not the team to upset an 8-3 Chargers team, but rather a team that will lose in dramatic fashion to the Bolts.  When I say dramatic fashion I mean Brady Quinn going 8 of 39 for 65 yards and 3 Interceptions dramatic fashion.  I think this team might be worse than last years Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams.  There's that possibility that they're the worst team in football, and I wouldn't doubt it.  If there's one thing I've learned while growing up in Cincinnati, it would be this: If it's Brown, flush it down!

Baltimore Ravens:
 This week's matchup of the Baltimore Ravens and the Green Bay Packers recieves my AFC North Game of the Week Award.  The Ravens have more at stake than the Packers do, considering their 6-5 record ties them for 2nd place in the AFC North Division with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Ravens do own the tie breaker at the moment, but their week 16 matchup could decide who wins the Wild Card.  If Baltimore loses, their 6-6 and no shot of the playoffs.  One more loss for the Steelers and they're out.  Expect the Ravens to try and get up early, if that doesn't work, you'll see Joe Flacco taking the ball away from Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain and putting it in the air, which isn't always a good thing.

Pittsburgh Steelers:
The Pittsburgh Steelers matchup with the Oakland Raiders this week is my AFC North Trap Game of the Week.  You saw what happened to the Bengals in Oakland, now watch out, because they could do it to the Steelers, and in a more humiliating way.  The Raiders will definetely be coming into this game with a chip on their shoulder, knowing they can beat the Black and Gold, and beating the reigning Super Bowl Champion Steelers sounds better than beating the 7-2 Cincinnati Bengals.  I expect the Steelers to win, but not until late in the fourth quarter.  Both teams execute a rough and hard hitting style of play, and it'll take more than a miracle for the Raiders to beat the Steelers, but Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski may be the miracle Oakland's been looking for.

The Easy