Well, lets hope for Marvin's sake that it is, or he may not be working in Cincinnati next year. The past three seasons have been nothing shy of dissappointing for the Bengals players, coaches and fans but with an offseason full of aquisitions and one of the best drafts in recent history, the Bengals look poised to be contenders in 2009.
Chad Ochocinco seems to think so, unless this just another one of his mood swings. As a matter of fact, Chad predicted the Bengals to still be playing in early February (referring to the Superbowl,) and that he will be playing a week after that in the NFL all-star game, the Pro Bowl. Chad has been right on the money with his predictions so far in his career, like when he predicted that the Bengals would beat the 9-0 Chiefs in 2003 and later went on to not only beat them but make them stupid in the process. I'm just glad he has returned to old vociferous self and not the Chad we have seen over the last year and half. However, we all know that predicting a game is one thing, but predicting a Superbowl birth is another. Lets hope he is right again, but in order to really know if the bengals are going anywhere this year, we should look at what they have done over the offseason to prepare for the '09 season.
Lets start off at the top. Not much to say here because well...nothing happened. Mike Brown decided to keep everything the way it is with the Bengals front office and coaching staff, which angered a lot of people, but lets face it, we really cant get angry at something we are used to. Did you really expect a change? Some may have expected a coaching change but I really don't think any of last season's woes were Marvin Lewis' fault. He couldn't help the fact that Carson Palmer was injured in the just the third game of the season against the Superbowl champions, New York Giants. He couldn't help the fact that the Bengals would have over twenty players on injured reserve in the month of December. He couldn't help the fact that Chad Ochocinco is a cry baby and threw away his season because he was trying to prove a point. He did what he had to do with what he had to do it with, and in my opinion, with what he had to work with, he did a pretty good job last season. Thats why Mike Brown decided not to change anything, and give this guy another deserving shot at turning this team around. I think this may have been the smartest decision that Mikey has ever made in his career. I'm sure that if the Bengals do have a good season, people will be saying the same thing and if they don't...well we can expect the "Mike Brown paper bags" to make their annual appearance in the stands.
When looking at the offensive side of the ball, I can really only see one question mark. The offensive line. Number one pick, Andre Smith, will be relied upon heavily as the Bengals try keep their franchise quarterback healthy and develop some holes for RB Cedric Benson to work his magic through. After the departure of Levi Jones, the Bengals almost had to draft an offensive lineman and they may have gotten the best linemen in the draft. Andre Smith is a big tackle that will essentially take the place of Willie Anderson who was released before the 2008 season due to his age and contract issues. Guards Andrew Whitworth and Bobbie Williams are solid at the guard position but they may be forced to get some snaps at tackle and center due to the young and inexperienced line. The projected starting center is Kyle Cook, a Michigan State product that has never taken an NFL snap. The hype around Cook is that he has everything it takes to be a starting center, but due to a foot injury in 2008, he has yet to prove himself in an actual game. It will be fun to watch and see if he can stay healthy because I too think he has what it takes to be the next starting center for the Bengals. The offensive line can't get much worse; last year they allowed the third most sacks in the NFL (51,) and contributed to the Bengals 32nd ranked offense. Look for the new additions at running back and fullback to contribute a lot in blocking schemes until the offensive line can 'gel' together.
Losing Houshmandzadeh to free agency was a tough thing to deal with, but the Bengals were offering everything they could offer to him and still try to make moves at other positions that they needed more than WR. It would have been nice to sign him and still have money to make other moves but in this business, thats pretty hard to do. Not signing T.J. led to the signing of Laveraneus Coles, the speedy receiver with great hands who puts up similar numbers. Looking at his size, quickness and speed, he is an ideal slot receiver to get the ball up the middle or stretch it down the sideline with the long ball. I look for him to be a solid pick up and put up decent numbers in '09. Lets not forget about troubled receiver Chris Henry, who seems to have cleaned himself up and is focusing on being the great receiver that he has the potential to be. If he can stay out of trouble and keep himself healthy, Palmer will have three dangerous receivers in Ochocinco, Coles and Henry. Looking to prove themselves are second year receivers Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson (who has turned out to be a complete bust so far.) Caldwell has a lot of potential and is going to get a lot of work on third down and in four receiver sets, but Simpson is still trying to show why he was taken in the second round of last years draft. With this receiving core and TE's Ben Utecht and Chase Coffman (rookie,) I think Palmer will be more than happy with the weapons he has at his disposal.
When Cedric Benson came into the picture on September 30, 2008, Bengals fans all over were saying the same thing, "great...another criminal." Benson has had trouble with drunk driving and drunk boating, along with resisting arrest. He was cleared on all charges but the fact remains that he was still involved with the law and now he plays for the Bengals. Bengals fans love him now, especially after he ran for 747 and caught 185 yards in just twelve games in '08. A bulk of his yardage came in the last 3 games of the season where the Bengals finished strong at 3-0. He's a lock to be the starter but looking to compete are Brian Leonard and Kenny Watson. Backing them up are some young, talented players in DeDe Dorsey, James Johnson and rookie Bernard Scott. They will have a lot of depth at running game and I look for them to keep four of them on the active roster plus one or two fullbacks.
In only Mike Zimmer's second year as defensive coordinator, he has aquired all the players he feels he needs to be a top ten defense. He came close last year when they finished 12th, and thats a major improvement from past years. They made huge additions on defense in the offseason with the signings of Tank Johnson, Roy Williams and Chris Crocker, whom all are expected to be major players in the defensive scheme. Roy Williams is ready to come in and hit, and the reason Crocker was re-signed was because of some of the brutal hits he layed on people throughout the season. They got the first steal of the draft when Keith Rivers' college teammate, Rey Maualuga, fell to the Bengals in the second round. Maualuga is expected to start with Rivers and the man that can tackle anything including the globe, Dhani Jones. The secondary is one more year experienced with Jonathan Joseph ready to have a breakout season and Leon Hall leading the young group of corners. Roy Williams' instinct and ability are going to be huge but the biggest impact he is going to make is by being the overall leader on the defense. He brings energy and fire and knows the game in and out better than anyone on the team. Look for him to be used a lot in the box and to contribute in the running game. If this unit stays healthy, they have what it takes to be a true AFC North defense and compete with the Steelers and Ravens for a run at the division. We all know...defense wins championships!
When people think about the special teams in the NFL, they tend to forget about one important part. The punter. The punter isn't the most flashy, desirable position on the football field but in certain situations, they are counted on to get it done. They got a good one in the 5th round of the '09 draft when they took local product Kevin Huber out of the University of Cincinnati. Huber grew up in suburbia Cincinnati as a Bengals fan and always dreamed of playing for the Bengals. His wish came true when they selected him to come in and replace Kyle Larson as the punting specialist. Huber is the first player in Division I history to lead the nation in net punting for three seasons in a row. He was a Ray Guy award (nation's best punter) finalist in 2007 and continued making game-changing kicks in 2008. He is going to come in right away and be the game changing punter the Bengals could use. Franchise tagee, Shayne Graham, is going to do his job day in and day out and will continue his success in NFL as one of the most accurate kickers. Just don't call him Shayne-o-matic at a game or you will jinx him for sure (I know from experience.)
With training camp ready to kick off in just a few days, the Bengals look to be in good shape and ready to come in and compete in the AFC North. I know this is said just about every year but this year feels different to Bengals fans and the hype around the Queen City is growing. Everyone seems to have good feelings about this season but people are reluctant to do the same thing they do every year and that is to get their hopes so high up just to find themselves let down in the end. This year is different. Chad Ochocinco thinks so and a lot of things are riding on this season.
I plan on attending training camp at least one or two days next week and I will try to do a follow-up post on some things going on down there so stay tuned...the season starts now.
