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.

All I Want for Christmas is the Playoffs in Cincinnati

Do you remember the first time your parents told you about Santa Claus?  No?  Ok, how about the first time you sat on his lap and he asked you, "What do you want for Christmas?"  You do?  Good, now keep that memory in your head.  No, don't place it on the back burner, put it on the small front burner and continue with me.  Do you remember how you felt on Christmas morning, and you saw a present from Santa, and it was exactly what you wanted?  Of course you remember, what child doesn't.  The child that was on Santa's naughty list doesn't remember, but he doesn't count.

Let's fast forward to the mid to late 1990's and early 2000's.  Let's try 1991 to 2004 to be exact.  We'll even add in 2006 to 2008 for those of you who just started to become fans.  You're a Cincinnati Bengals fan, and you just want a winning team.  For some reason, you can't ever get one.  Year in, and year out, the "Bungals" continue to disappoint you.    From David Klingler to Jeff Blake.  From Jeff Blake to Neil O'Donnell and then back to Jeff Blake.  Then Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown said, "Hey, let's follow that trio with Akili Smith that lineup."  No Mike, how about we don't do that.  Well, Mike listened, and after a year, he Bengals fans Jon Kitna.  Now, I have no personal vendetta against Kitna, but no offense Jon, you're not cut out to be a Quarterback in Cincinnati.  It's those small hands of yours that bothers me. 

Don't worry though Bengals fans, because the Messiah, Carson Palmer, was on his way.  After being drafted by the Bengals in 2003, Palmer sat out the entire year as the Bengals followed a 2-14 2002 with an 8-8 record under first year Head Coach Marvin Lewis.  Everything changed in 2005 when the Bengals went to the playoffs for the first time since winning their division in 1990.  That is, until Kimo Von Dream Killer crushed any hopes of the Bengals winning the Super Bowl that year. 

Stay with me young grasshoppers, I know it's been a long flight, but I promise, we're getting close to the climax.  In '06, Palmer came back, and the Bengals finished with an 8-8 record for the 3rd time in four years.  But that was ok, because Palmer was getting his feet wet again, and in '07, the Bengals would surely be in cruise control all year into the Playoffs.  Nope, you're wrong.  A 7-9 record in '07, and a dismal 4-11-1 record in 2008, and voila, you have the Cincinnati Bengals at their finest.  Breaking hearts, and losing games. 

Like I said grasshopper, we're close to the end, as now, we're to the present in 2009, and the 8-3 Bengals are leading the AFC North Division by two games over both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Oh, and on a side note, we beat both of them, TWICE!  By the looks of their remaining schedule, if the Bengals were to lose any more games, it would probably happen in Minnesota against the Minnesota Vikings, possibly San Diego against the San Diego Chargers, and you can never count out those "J-E-T-S, NEW YORK JETS!"

Let's tie this all together now young grasshopper.  The Bengals sucked, for a lack of a better term, from 1991 to 2004.  In 2005, we were treated to Air Palmer, the Chad Johnson Show, and criminal activity.  From 2006 to 2008, the Bengals, again, sucked.  Now, in 2009, the Jungle's rockin', seats are selling out (barely), and the Bengals are winning again. 

So, what do I want for Christmas?  Well Santa, I'd sure love a Bengals team that doesn't blow it down the stretch, Lord knows the Cincinnati Reds are great at that.  I'm tired of hearing about the Shittsburgh Squeelers, I mean Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.  I want a Bengals team to beat the teams they're supposed to beat (Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, and maybe the Jets).  The Bengals need to compete with the Vikings and the Chargers.  Definetely Sand Diego because if the Bengals win that game, count them in for a first round bye. 

If you're listening Santa, and I know you are, I want the playoffs in Cincinnati, and this time, leave out the image of Number 9 sprawled out on the ground grabbing his knee.  And while you're at it, sell out the Chiefs game, because I'm sick of hearing about the possibility of a blackout.  If you want to make this Christmas better for all those that lost their jobs, then you'll give the Bengals a playoff spot, more wins, and a spot in the AFC Championship Game.  I don't mind watching the Bengals against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, whether or not they win, at least they made it there.  Don't worry, I'll be calling for help next year.  It might be for the Reds though, because I'm not sure where the light at the end of the tunnel is. 

The Easy

P.S. Don't worry Santa, I'll leave milk and cookies.