Bengals and Jets to Face Off in Jungle for a Rematch in Playoffs

Following Sunday’s 37-0 loss to the New York Jets, the Cincinnati Bengals will be opposing the Jets for a second weekend in a row in the heart of the Jungle down at Paul Brown Stadium. Kickoff for the game will be around 4:30 PM as the home team Bengals are the quick 4 1/2 point favorites following their blowout loss.

Last night’s game didn’t provide a lot of game film for the Jets to look at, but basically rolling over for the team when the third seed was in grasp is not something I would encourage. Carson Palmer was completed one pass in 11 attempts for zero yards while throwing an interception in a little over two quarters. While defensive end Robert Geathers, defensive tackle Domata Peko and linebacker Rey Maualuga did not play due to injury, running back Cedric Benson sat to rest up for the playoffs to allow back ups Bernard Scott and Larry Johnson to rack up 58 yards combined. Head Coach Marvin Lewis is doing and going to do what is best for this team. Whether we like it or not, he is the coach, not the fans, and he has put the time in to earn his title, fans have not.

Although Lewis has not had to sit through and watch what the fans have over the last two decades, he is currently in his 7th season as Head Coach of our Cincinnati Bengals and trying to save the ship. In his tenure, Lewis has had to deal with criminals, deaths, a gut-wrenching and flag deserving hit on Carson Palmer, heart-breaking, nail biting wins and losses to go along with three .500 seasons, two sub-.500 seasons, and two playoff seasons as our Head Coach. But at some point, rolling over on purpose when our NFL laughing stock Bengals are playoff bound is unfathomable and unacceptable.

We as Bengals fans believe no game, no matter the record, is worth laying down for the sanctity of playing the same team the following week. But let me tell you what Marvin Lewis is thinking. Given the chance to take the same game back home, where a packed home crowd will rock the Jungle against a team with a rookie quarterback sounds pretty good. Extra motivation and momentum aside, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has thrown 20 interceptions this year. Fourteen of those interceptions have come in the fourth quarter and six of his interceptions this year have been on third down. With the additions of Geathers and Peko back into the defensive line mix, the Jets won’t be able to run as well as they did Sunday.

Sanchez wasn’t that great last night, completing just 50% of his passes (8 of 16) for only 63 yards. But then again, he did not have to be exceptional with the way Brad Smith, the wide receiver that runs the wildcats, Thomas Jones, the NFL’s third rushing leader and Shonn Greene ran the ball last night. The Bengals were reeling last night, missing Rey Maualuga’s presence and ability to stop the run while the Jets as a team racked up a total of 257 yards on the ground.

Come Sunday, the Bengals will need a lot of help when it comes to stopping the run as well as the pass, because Mark Sanchez has the ability to make plays with his arm and shouldn’t be taken lightly just because of the amount of interceptions he throws. The talent that New York possesses on the receiving end with wide receivers Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery, Brad Smith and David Clowney along with tight end Dustin Keller is second to none.

At the same time, even though the Jets have the eighth best rush defense in the league, they will have to face off against Cedric Benson. This season, the Jets have faced Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Johnson, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Of those, Jones-Drew ran for over 100 yards, Johnson for 97 yards, Williams with 40 and Stewart with 35. Williams and Stewart occurred in the Jets’ 17-6 win against the Carolina Panthers. Benson, who has rushed for 1,251 yards on 301 carries this season, has six rushing touchdowns and is looking to help keep the ball rolling on offense against the stingy Jets’ defense.

For the Bengals to win this game, offensively, quarterback Carson Palmer will need to be more accurate, the offensive line will need to win the battle up front and protect Palmer, the tandem of running backs will need to find the holes and take them when the offensive line gives them, and the receivers need to do a better job of catching the ball and running their routes and for both Palmer and the receivers, they need to be on the same page. Defensively, the Bengals need to make tackles, disallow big plays, win the battle for the line of scrimmage, and act like the team that has one of the best defenses in the league. Due to injuries, safety Tom Nelson has been thrust into the starting role, and although he’s looked overmatched, especially last night, I trust that defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will help Nelson fix his problems.

However this week plays out, a one-and-done playoff team is not going to help Mike Brown win back fans. A deep playoff run is needed to help bolster not only this club, but help fans regain their trust in Marvin and the players.

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.

Review and Preview, Bengals Keep on Rolling

The Cincinnati Bengals have hit gold.  The entire team is made up of guys who went undrafted, guys who were run out of their former city, or guys who haven't made a name for themselves yet.  An entire crew of players that were outplayed, outwitted, and outcast to another city, another team.  Guys like Tank Johnson, Cedric Benson, Laveranues Coles, and yes, Larry Johnson, although just for the first game so far.  As I said before, and I shall say again, whether or not this marriage works out, the addition of Larry Johnson was not only beneficial to Larry, but to Cedric Benson, Bernard Scott, and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals.

The offensive line for the Bengals is not nearly as good as it will be in the future.  This is a very young, and very talented line that will continue to grow and get better the more snaps they perform together.  The entire team is young and talented, and although the O-line is not exceptional, but rather, the entire group of 300 plus pounders are playing exceptionally well.  There will be bumps in the road the rest of the season, and seasons to follow for that matter.  But what is important, is that after a 4-11-1 season, and a 8-3 start to a season that, according to ESPN, was doomed from the first OchoCinco tweet of the offseason, this team isn't letting any player, or team for that matter decide their fate for them. 

The line is creating the same holes that Ced ran through for nine games, and now, we see that it's not just Ced  who can run the ball behind this line, but Bernard "Great" Scott and Larry Johnson can too.  We see, that through two games, Scott has racked up over 200 yeards rushing, and Larry taking the load against Cleveland, rushing for 107 yards on 22 carries.  The addition of Johnson, and the health of Ced will greatly increase the Jungle's chances of witnessing a playoff game with a better outcome than the 2005 debacle. 

Cedric can do it all, and we've seen that from him through nine games.  Bernard is our kick-off specialist, while resembling a younger Chris Johnson in doing so.  Add a fullback/halfback hybrid in Brian Leonard, who can pass protect on 3rd down and provide Carson Palmer with a receiving option coming out of the back field, and you have three great options of running backs to throw out there on Sundays.  But wait, there's more, WAY more.  The Bengals were able to sign, at a pro rated deal for half the season, former Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson, who in 2005 ran 336 times for 1,750 yards, a 5.2 yards per carry with 20 Touchdowns.  Add 33 catches for 343 yards, a 10.4 average with one touchdown, and you have a season that can't be topped...but he did.  In 2006, the year he set the NFL carries record, Johnson ran 416 times, for 1,789 yards, and 17 touchdowns along with 41 catches for 410 yards, a 10 yard average and two touchdowns.  Two great seasons, one troubled back who wasn't used the proper way in a city in which their NFL team is sinker faster than the 2008 Detroit Lions, and you have Larry Johnson in Cincinnati. 

Larry is able to plow through defenders and leave them lying on the ground crying trainer, while using the Pittsburgh Steeler-Baltimore Raven "Stuff it Down your Throat" theory that I hate.  But I'll admit when I'm wrong, and while I won't say I like it, i will say it's worked. 

As for Sunday at PBS with Detroit coming to town?  The sellout streak is in jeopardy, which doesn't surprise me, and shouldn't surprise you at all either.  Why?  It's Detroit.  I'm surprised fans wanted to go watch the Cleveland Browns come to town and lose, but, again, I was wrong.  After Detroit, the Kansas City Chiefs come to town, and that game as well will be in jeopardy of a sellout, being as how the Chiefs are quite a lackluster team.  Cedric Benson will play, while Bernard "Great" Scott might not after suffering that turf toe injury early in the second half sunday, leaving the Bengals with a backfield shaped of Ced, Larry, and Leonard.  To qoute the Ocho, Chad OchoCinco that is, and end this on a good note, I will leave you with one final word. 

This is The Easy

FROM TWITTER:

"@OGOchoCinco: The baby has been kissed, goodnight and may you all sleep with angels! Zzzzzzzzzzz"

Crazy Larry a Bengal, Crazy Larry Could Play

Earlier this week, the Cincinnati Bengals announced the signing of former Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson.  With the injury and the signing, Cedric Benson fans should not be worried that Ced may become the team's number two back.  Yes, Larry Johnson did have a history of problems in KC and at times has showed signs of having a mind full of "It's about Larry world" ideas, but that doesn't mean he's not an effective and useful back to have on the roster, even at the "old" age 30. 

Veteran Leadership:

Larry Johnson can help this team more than you think, whether or not he's taking five to ten carries a game.  Larry Johsnon did go to the playoffs with the Chiefs, and can provide some additional veteran leadership to a young team.  The Bengals are in a winning situation, and the young team is hungry and seeking a playoff run.  Given the environment, Larry Johnson can thrive and help save Ced for that late January run.   The Bengals have an exceptional and young offensive line that week in and week out exceeds expectations.  Larry Johnson did not experience that in Kansas City this year, and everyone knows that a good running back starts with a good offensive line. 

Making Room in the Backfield:

Giving Johnson the ball five to ten times a game makes perfectly good sense.  He can help take the load off of Cedric Benson, which will save him for December and the playoffs.  The Bengals plan on using Larry as an insurance policy, but trust me, a horse like Larry Johnson won't be an insurance policy for long, as he'll be seeing game time soon.  Rookie Bernard Scott has the chance to be a replica of LaDainian Tomlinson but this is his first year, give him some time.  Former St. Louis Rams running back Brian Leonard is a receiving threat coming out of the backfield and can be used deadly when in the right formation.  Give Johnson five or ten carries a game, let Leonard and Scott see about five or so snaps a game and give Benson 15 carries, and the backfield is set, with nobody wearing down. 

Strong Locker Room Leadership:

Until the last year or two, the Cincinnati Bengals have constantly been looking for that locker room leadership that you only get with the likes of the Indianapolis Colts or New England Patriots.  That's changed, as the Bengals locker room is loaded with veterans that carry themselves well off the football field.  The most obvious example, Carson Palmer.  Along with Palmer, there are at least four more leaders on the offensive side of the ball.  Included are Bobbie Williams, the 32 year old right guard, Tackle Andrew Whitworth, the anchor of the offensive line, Tackle Scott Kooistra, who can play anywhere on the line, and Tight End Reggie Kelly.  Although Kelly is out for the year, he provides lots of leadership in the locker room to rookie Chase Coffman. 

On defense, you have cast-offs from around the league that found a home and locker room to lead here in Cincinnati.  Of these players, Dhani Jones, Roy Williams and Chris Crocker are providing a lot of the leadership, as all three have been to the playoffs, and have tasted glory.  Throw in Robert Geathers, the  longest tenured defensive player at the age of 26 and Domata Peko, and you have yourself a mix of young and veteran players that are working to bring a Super Bowl to the Jungle. 

The overall point?  Larry Johnson doesn't have a chance to come into the locker room and live up to his "bad boy" act from Kansas City.  He won't even get a word out before someone, probably Carson Palmer, comes to him and tells him how it is here, and how we act here.  If Johsnon can't deal, he can leave.  He won't, he's got nowhere else to go.

The Easy