CINCINNATI - When to comes to the Cincinnati Bengals under offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, it is usually easy to tell what plays are coming.

Screen to the running back. Quick screen to the wide receiver. Hand off right up the middle. The results of these plays, for the most part, went for little to no gain.

Over the years, the predictable play-calling has had fans calling for Bratkowski's head ever since he took the OC job back in 2001 when Dick LeBeau was the head coach.

However, statiscally, Bratkowski's offense has been quite productive.

The question being, is the result of production due to the personnel or the due to the coaching?

Having a strong-armed quarterback like Carson Palmer is always going to make your passing numbers look solid, especially when his top targets are Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. That trio, along with running back Rudi Johnson, own many of the Bengals' single-season and career records.

But now it is 2009, Rudi is long gone, Houshmandzadeh is a Seahawk, Chad wants out and changed his last name to Ochocinco and Palmer started only four games after suffering elbow injuries.

So how will things look different this season than in years past?

For starters, expect a few more deep balls this due season due to free-agent signing of wide receiver Laveranues Coles.

The departure of Houshmandzadeh and the decline to Ochocinco, should also open things up for Chris Henry. Again, like Coles, Henry opens up the vertical passing attack. He is a tall fast receiver that can go up and get the ball at its highest point.

At running back, the Bengals signed Cedric Benson in late September of '08 and he ended up being the team's starter for the last 10 games. On the year, Benson finished with 747 yards on 214 carries and caught 20 passes for 185 yards.

Overall, he played a lot better than his 3.5 yards per carry average indicates. For most of the year, Benson ran behind a crippled offensive line and earned every inch that he gained.

Assuming he is completely healthy, former second-round pick Brian Leonard should make an impact in the backfield as well. Leonard is blessed with solid speed (4.49 at the '07 NFL Combine), good hands (30 receptions as a rookie in '07) and blocking skills (played fullback at Rutgers and in his rookie season for the St. Louis Rams).

For a team that played the entire '08 season without a fullback, Leonard will provide a lot of options for Cincinnati's offense.

As far as the other fullbacks are concerned, the Bengals are still not completely set. In the offseason, the team re-signed Jeremi Johnson and then drafted BYU's Fui Vakapuna in the seventh round.

Johnson didn't play a snap last season after coming into training camp extremely overweight. This could be his last chance to save his career.

No matter who starts, expect the Bengals to use more two-back sets in '09 and run more off-tackle plays rather than rushing plays that go straight up the middle.

 

On defense, expect the Bengals to blitz more. The thinking here is the additions of defensive tackle Tank Johnson, second-round pick linebacker Rey Maualuga and safety Roy Williams will draw attention away from defensive ends Robert Geathers and Antwan Odom.

Both Geathers (10.5 sacks in '06) and Odom (eight sacks in '07) have put up good sack numbers in previous years, but neither did in '08. As a team, the Bengals only recorded 17 sacks (tied for 30th in the NFL). In comparison, AFC North rival, Pittsburgh finished the regular season with 51.

Also, look for third-round pick defensive end Michael Johnson to make an early impact. The team has already experimented Johnson at linebacker, but I imagine that he will be used solely as a pass-rushing DE once the season begins.

Overall, the Bengals appear to have had a great offseason in free agency and in the draft. If those changes in personal work, than it may be a little more challenging to be able to know what plays are going to be called.