Sporting News 08 Predictions and Burning Question

[USN Bengal]

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[quote]Camp countdown '08: Cincinnati Bengals

Posted: June 15, 2008
Chick Ludwig
For Sporting News



Sporting News continues its breakdown of all 32 NFL teams while counting down to the start of training camp. Today's team is the Bengals:


As recently as 2005, the Bengals were the talk of the league, skyrocketing to the top of the AFC North and making their first playoff appearance in a staggering 15 years.

Two disappointing seasons and a host of bad press later, their return to disparity has been just as swift. Now Cincinnati is largely dismissed as long on character concerns and individual stars but short on team -- a bunch of also-rans squandering a great deal of talent.

Following a bitterly disappointing 7-9 season -- the first sub-.500 showing in coach Marvin Lewis' five years at the helm -- the offseason has been anything but peaceful.

Wide receiver Chad Johnson, with four years remaining on his contract, has demanded a trade and dragged the organization through the mud in the process. Though they waived receiver Chris Henry in April after his fifth arrest since 2005, the Bengals remain the league's bad-boy poster children.

Defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan and linebackers coach Ricky Hunley were fired, and fixing that side of the ball remains the primary concern. Mike Zimmer replaces Bresnahan as Lewis' third defensive coordinator.

The Bengals' biggest free-agent acquisition was pass-rush end Antwan Odom. For the fourth year in a row, they used their first-round draft pick on a defensive player in USC linebacker Keith Rivers.

Offense

Lewis believes the Bengals' offense has gotten overly "cute" by passing too much and ignoring a running game that was the league's 11th best in 2005.

Coordinator Bob Bratkowski's task is to run the ball more productively, which will keep the offense on the field and the defense off of it by converting third downs and controlling the clock. Quarterback Carson Palmer can't win every game on his own.

Defense

Here they go again. The Bengals will enter the season determined to improve a defense that has ranked 28th, 19th, 28th, 30th and 27th, respectively, in the league under Lewis.

Rivers will be counted on to contribute right away. The team's last two first-round selections, cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, have already developed into starters.

The book on Stacy Andrews

A rival sizes up the Bengals' versatile, massive offensive lineman:

"You've got to understand that the game is still new to him. He is not just a big, slow-footed guy who engulfs you. He is mobile. And then he can strike you with his timing and the explosion he generates in his hips.

"His best football is ahead of him as an offensive lineman. I've wondered why they haven't tried him at three-technique (over the center on defense). With that type of punch and athleticism, he might be better than some of the three-technique guys around the NFL. He has so much quickness and explosiveness for a man his size (6 7, 342 pounds).

"One thing is for sure: He gets better and better with each rep he gets. The only chance you have to beat him is because of his inexperience.

Bottom line

Just about anywhere else in the league, Lewis' job might be on the line with a five-year record of 42-38. Not in Cincinnati, though. The Bengals clearly remain his team.

A talented offense needs to do better with the basics -- running the ball and converting on third down -- but the Bengals always have a chance with the elite Palmer at quarterback. The defense needs to return to its takeaway ways and develop a personality.

In a tough AFC North, no team looks prepared to run away from the pack. The Bengals were down in 2007 and still finished with seven victories; nine could win the division this time around. SN prediction: 10-6, second in AFC North.

Chick Ludwig covers the Bengals for the Dayton Daily News and Sporting News.[/quote]

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[quote]Vinnie Iyer
Profile | Archive | E-mail Iyer

Bengals' burning question: Do they need Chad that bad?

Posted: June 16, 2008

Unless Chad Johnson can play cornerback, safety, outside linebacker and defensive end all at once in addition to starring as a somewhat content wide receiver, he won't be of much use to the 2008 Cincinnati Bengals. And even without his pouting presence on offense, the Bengals probably would have enough pop to average around 23 points again.


Will he stay or will he go? Will he cool it or will he blow? The "clash" between the team and Chad Johnson isn't an issue of "you can't always get you want" because no one has any idea what Chad Johnson wants. That should be enough reason for the Bengals to no longer want Johnson.

Johnson's offseason of posturing as an indecisive diva who uses ESPN as his primary mouthpiece is tiresome. Johnson always has liked to talk a lot, but now it's impossible to know what he really is saying.

At this point, for the Bengals to turn things around, get back to the playoffs and develop into a consistent contender, they need players who know what they want and buy into what the team is doing -- working to win together.

Johnson clearly doesn't fit.

If Johnson stays and plays to get paid this season, it will come with weekly drama. Think of Carson Palmer and the rest of the committed players on offense, having Chad's unhappiness hang over them. He would just be a detriment to their competitive drive. The big plays he would make in between just aren't worth the trouble.

Releasing/waiving/cutting/trading Johnson also would help the Bengals refocus efforts on the true trademarks of consistently successful teams -- defense and the running game. The Philadelphia Eagles eventually found their happy place -- and won a division title -- after they divorced from Terrell Owens. The Bengals certainly have enough talent to follow suit in '09 or '10.

This season should be "the year of the cleanup" in Cincinnati, starting with the dismissal of another wideout, Chris Henry. At least Henry's troubles affected only his well-being off the field. Johnson's moping and indecisiveness could have a negative on-field effect on the entire team, especially the young players the Bengals are calling upon to buy into their future.

So what's the value in keeping Johnson around, especially considering he can't help the Bengals with their biggest weakness, defense? It's tough for a team to take such a stand with such a talented player, but enough is enough.

Johnson, like Owens, probably will end up with another high-profile team in '08 and produce some gaudy statistics. But the Bengals can't think about that. Given where they are at as a team and what they need to do, they are better off moving forward without Johnson.

Vinnie Iyer is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at viyer@sportingnews.com.[/quote]

[Ochosucko]

Releasing, waiving, or cutting Chad is not an option. Sorry you just don't give up Chad for nothing. That would be the dumbest thing the Bengals could do, and I don't think it is very smart at this point going into the season with two rookies and TJ as your wrs. One more year with Chad then get rid of him.