Last Year:
They are the cream in your coffee, they are the caramilk in your caramilk bar, and they are the ketchup for your French Fries. They are the Cincinnati Bengals. Every NFL season is not complete without a chapter from the Cincinnati Bengals. The NFL?s perennial pi?ata got off to a scorching start last year losing their first four games by a combined score of 119 ? 23. It only took them five weeks to actually show up to a football game when they lost by a ?respectable? seven points to Indianapolis. After a tough loss to Tennessee, Cincinnati won its Super Bowl beating the crap out of the expansion Houston Texans. The Bengals had to wait until week 16, their last home game of the season, to get their first win at home. Drugs may have been involved, but investigations are still continuing to determine how in fact Cincinnati did win that game. Join me as I dig to uncover why the Bengals are running on a hamster?s treadmill of letdowns.
What we learned from Last Year:
Quick, tell me the name of the person who is the owner/president of the Cincinnati Bengals? What? You give up? If you are hypnotized by the fact that the Bengals have not had a winning season in 12 years, then let me wake you out of your deep sleep. His name is Mike Brown, and being the president of this franchise, most of the fault should be in his hands. They haven?t had an above.500 year since he started 12 years ago, compiling a record of 55 ? 137 during his tenure. If you made an investment with your money, and you had lost 40% of it, you might want to change either where you?re investing your money. Not this guy. Mike Brown refuses to give up control of the roster, and refuses to bring in a general manager. The players may have changed throughout his time, but the face of the team has not. With so many high draft picks, and a lot of money under the cap generally every year (because no one wants to play in Cincy) shows that problem are occurring off the field, not on it. If you are drafting in the top five, year after year, you are bound to hit a superstar or two so your luck should change at some point. They bring in one coach, then another, then a third, yet no one can figure this team out. The misery of this franchise has trickled down from its front office. For the first time Mike Brown searched outside of his organization to find a coach and look at how applicants approached the coaching vacancy in the off-season. The better coaches in the league enjoy challenges. They enjoy going to a team who has potential and turning things around similar to what Mike Holmgren is trying to do in Seattle, what Bill Parcells is trying to do in Dallas, and what Dick Jauron did in Chicago. Look at the difference for this job. Dennis Green, Mike Mularkey, Tom Coughlin, and Mike Holmgren (although still employed) wanted nothing to do with it. Even with so few minority coaches Lovie Smith and Marvin Lewis were both had to think about this job. If coaches thought for a second that the problem was the players, and how they were being coached, there would be numerous candidates applying. The feel is that this problem is above them, and it is.
So how does the trickle down theory work? It is simple. The team just lacks effort week in and week out. Who would want to play for such a franchise? A franchise that is mired in malfunction. The players on this team just quit, sometimes during plays, and sometimes throughout the whole game. Even the coaching might be supbar simply because they are handcuffed by Mike Brown. Look at Jon Kitna for example. We all have heard by now that he was 6 snaps short of his bonus last year. Hey, a deal is a deal, and he didn?t meet the requirements, but you know that this organization tried to do everything in its power to screw him. He was the most effective quarterback they had, yet they only started him in week five. So now, he is the starting quarterback this year. Let me ask you something, what kind of effort would you put in for a job where your boss just screwed you? This is a team with a mentality that they will fail, and if you?re going to fail, then why try?
What has changed?:
There a few significant changes to this team, which will likely have very little effect this coming season. The first, and most notable, is the hiring of Marvin Lewis. As mentioned before this is the first time Mike Brown has gone ?out-of-organization? to hire a coach. Why this is significant is because maybe Mike is feeling the heat? This is possibly a last gasp effort to turn this team around without giving his control up. This will create a buzz of hope for this team, probably not for long though.
Next change was the drafting of Carson Palmer. This is significant because the Bengals? franchise will be in his hands shortly. He probably could start right away, not because he?s that good right now, but because his competition is so poor. The reason he won?t start is because they don?t want him to take a psychological beating if the team loses most of its games. For now the team is Kitna?s.
Third significant change was the departure of Takeo Spikes. This probably won?t have much of an effect on the team because they were terrible with him, and they can?t get much worse without him. He?s a good player, and he?ll fit it well on the Bills, a team where his teammates won?t quit nearly as much. This team?s problem is not lack of talent, its lack of effort.
The biggest impact will be from Marvin Lewis, can he get this team to give their best effort. I think the answer is yes, but the first thing they need to do is get Kitna out of the picture. Jon Kitna will be a cancer for this team, like he is for most. Jon has lost his job before to Brock Huard, Matt Hasslebeck, Gus Frerrotte, and even Akili Smith. Why is he still in the NFL? He has never had a chance to play without anyone looking over his shoulder. That won?t change this year as Carson Palmer will be waiting, most likely only a few weeks, before he gets a chance to start instead of Kitna. On top of that, we know Jon?s sentiment about his ?bonus? last year. If he is the team leader on offense, how well will he lead with that burn job in the back of his mind? Shane Matthews is the third string QB right now, but I?d start him over Kitna in a second, simply because he won?t bring the team?s morale down. At least Matthews has thrown for more touchdowns than interceptions in his career.
As I?ve mentioned before, this team has talent, but they just lack effort. They have a solid offensive line anchored by Willie Anderson, a great running game with Corey Dillon, good receivers with Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and now Kelley Washington. Too bad they don?t have a QB that can deliver the ball to this talented bunch. With a Drew Bledsoe, this team would have easily been able to compete with teams offensively at the very least.
On the defensive side of the ball, Marvin Lewis will really have to pull a rabbit out of his hat. There is trouble all over the secondary, with big question marks at both safety positions. The defensive line looks shaky as well. The only positive might be Dennis Weathersby if he can recover from gunshot wounds. He dropped to the 4th round due to the injury, and might be a potential steal.
With the same owner/president, don?t expect significant changes.
O/U 5.5:
Is there a glimmer of optimism in the Natti? Can Marvin Lewis re-energize this team or is the trickle down curse going to continue? Until we have seen any change, why should we expect a different team? Before I get to their schedule, I?ll leave you with this stat. The Bengals have reached 6 wins only 4 times in the Mike Brown period. Cincinnati was swept by every team in their division last year; I?ll give them one win this time around. That leaves them needing five more wins against: Broncos, @Raiders, @Bills, Seahawks, @Cardinals, Texans, Chiefs, @Chargers, 49ers, Rams. I wouldn?t count Houston a ?guarantee? this year, as they might be looking to avenge their loss last year. Looks like a tough road to six, especially for a lazy team.
Fantasy Sleeper:
If you are looking for a fantasy receiver to steal, this team has a couple. With their awful defense, Cincy will most likely be down in games quite a bit this year forcing them to pass the ball to get themselves back in the game. Although Jon Kitna is pretty bad, and the only thing he can do consistently is throw backbreaking interceptions, he will still complete passes. If this team is constantly throwing the ball, then that is good news for your receivers. Chad Johnson broke out last year, and he?ll probably get most of the attention this year but have a good look at Peter Warrick in the late rounds of your pool, I?m sure he?ll be around.
They are the cream in your coffee, they are the caramilk in your caramilk bar, and they are the ketchup for your French Fries. They are the Cincinnati Bengals. Every NFL season is not complete without a chapter from the Cincinnati Bengals. The NFL?s perennial pi?ata got off to a scorching start last year losing their first four games by a combined score of 119 ? 23. It only took them five weeks to actually show up to a football game when they lost by a ?respectable? seven points to Indianapolis. After a tough loss to Tennessee, Cincinnati won its Super Bowl beating the crap out of the expansion Houston Texans. The Bengals had to wait until week 16, their last home game of the season, to get their first win at home. Drugs may have been involved, but investigations are still continuing to determine how in fact Cincinnati did win that game. Join me as I dig to uncover why the Bengals are running on a hamster?s treadmill of letdowns.
What we learned from Last Year:
Quick, tell me the name of the person who is the owner/president of the Cincinnati Bengals? What? You give up? If you are hypnotized by the fact that the Bengals have not had a winning season in 12 years, then let me wake you out of your deep sleep. His name is Mike Brown, and being the president of this franchise, most of the fault should be in his hands. They haven?t had an above.500 year since he started 12 years ago, compiling a record of 55 ? 137 during his tenure. If you made an investment with your money, and you had lost 40% of it, you might want to change either where you?re investing your money. Not this guy. Mike Brown refuses to give up control of the roster, and refuses to bring in a general manager. The players may have changed throughout his time, but the face of the team has not. With so many high draft picks, and a lot of money under the cap generally every year (because no one wants to play in Cincy) shows that problem are occurring off the field, not on it. If you are drafting in the top five, year after year, you are bound to hit a superstar or two so your luck should change at some point. They bring in one coach, then another, then a third, yet no one can figure this team out. The misery of this franchise has trickled down from its front office. For the first time Mike Brown searched outside of his organization to find a coach and look at how applicants approached the coaching vacancy in the off-season. The better coaches in the league enjoy challenges. They enjoy going to a team who has potential and turning things around similar to what Mike Holmgren is trying to do in Seattle, what Bill Parcells is trying to do in Dallas, and what Dick Jauron did in Chicago. Look at the difference for this job. Dennis Green, Mike Mularkey, Tom Coughlin, and Mike Holmgren (although still employed) wanted nothing to do with it. Even with so few minority coaches Lovie Smith and Marvin Lewis were both had to think about this job. If coaches thought for a second that the problem was the players, and how they were being coached, there would be numerous candidates applying. The feel is that this problem is above them, and it is.
So how does the trickle down theory work? It is simple. The team just lacks effort week in and week out. Who would want to play for such a franchise? A franchise that is mired in malfunction. The players on this team just quit, sometimes during plays, and sometimes throughout the whole game. Even the coaching might be supbar simply because they are handcuffed by Mike Brown. Look at Jon Kitna for example. We all have heard by now that he was 6 snaps short of his bonus last year. Hey, a deal is a deal, and he didn?t meet the requirements, but you know that this organization tried to do everything in its power to screw him. He was the most effective quarterback they had, yet they only started him in week five. So now, he is the starting quarterback this year. Let me ask you something, what kind of effort would you put in for a job where your boss just screwed you? This is a team with a mentality that they will fail, and if you?re going to fail, then why try?
What has changed?:
There a few significant changes to this team, which will likely have very little effect this coming season. The first, and most notable, is the hiring of Marvin Lewis. As mentioned before this is the first time Mike Brown has gone ?out-of-organization? to hire a coach. Why this is significant is because maybe Mike is feeling the heat? This is possibly a last gasp effort to turn this team around without giving his control up. This will create a buzz of hope for this team, probably not for long though.
Next change was the drafting of Carson Palmer. This is significant because the Bengals? franchise will be in his hands shortly. He probably could start right away, not because he?s that good right now, but because his competition is so poor. The reason he won?t start is because they don?t want him to take a psychological beating if the team loses most of its games. For now the team is Kitna?s.
Third significant change was the departure of Takeo Spikes. This probably won?t have much of an effect on the team because they were terrible with him, and they can?t get much worse without him. He?s a good player, and he?ll fit it well on the Bills, a team where his teammates won?t quit nearly as much. This team?s problem is not lack of talent, its lack of effort.
The biggest impact will be from Marvin Lewis, can he get this team to give their best effort. I think the answer is yes, but the first thing they need to do is get Kitna out of the picture. Jon Kitna will be a cancer for this team, like he is for most. Jon has lost his job before to Brock Huard, Matt Hasslebeck, Gus Frerrotte, and even Akili Smith. Why is he still in the NFL? He has never had a chance to play without anyone looking over his shoulder. That won?t change this year as Carson Palmer will be waiting, most likely only a few weeks, before he gets a chance to start instead of Kitna. On top of that, we know Jon?s sentiment about his ?bonus? last year. If he is the team leader on offense, how well will he lead with that burn job in the back of his mind? Shane Matthews is the third string QB right now, but I?d start him over Kitna in a second, simply because he won?t bring the team?s morale down. At least Matthews has thrown for more touchdowns than interceptions in his career.
As I?ve mentioned before, this team has talent, but they just lack effort. They have a solid offensive line anchored by Willie Anderson, a great running game with Corey Dillon, good receivers with Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and now Kelley Washington. Too bad they don?t have a QB that can deliver the ball to this talented bunch. With a Drew Bledsoe, this team would have easily been able to compete with teams offensively at the very least.
On the defensive side of the ball, Marvin Lewis will really have to pull a rabbit out of his hat. There is trouble all over the secondary, with big question marks at both safety positions. The defensive line looks shaky as well. The only positive might be Dennis Weathersby if he can recover from gunshot wounds. He dropped to the 4th round due to the injury, and might be a potential steal.
With the same owner/president, don?t expect significant changes.
O/U 5.5:
Is there a glimmer of optimism in the Natti? Can Marvin Lewis re-energize this team or is the trickle down curse going to continue? Until we have seen any change, why should we expect a different team? Before I get to their schedule, I?ll leave you with this stat. The Bengals have reached 6 wins only 4 times in the Mike Brown period. Cincinnati was swept by every team in their division last year; I?ll give them one win this time around. That leaves them needing five more wins against: Broncos, @Raiders, @Bills, Seahawks, @Cardinals, Texans, Chiefs, @Chargers, 49ers, Rams. I wouldn?t count Houston a ?guarantee? this year, as they might be looking to avenge their loss last year. Looks like a tough road to six, especially for a lazy team.
Fantasy Sleeper:
If you are looking for a fantasy receiver to steal, this team has a couple. With their awful defense, Cincy will most likely be down in games quite a bit this year forcing them to pass the ball to get themselves back in the game. Although Jon Kitna is pretty bad, and the only thing he can do consistently is throw backbreaking interceptions, he will still complete passes. If this team is constantly throwing the ball, then that is good news for your receivers. Chad Johnson broke out last year, and he?ll probably get most of the attention this year but have a good look at Peter Warrick in the late rounds of your pool, I?m sure he?ll be around.
