Cincinnati Bengals: The Risky Business of Expectations

coach Jeff Fitzgerald and Lewis himself.  The front office has identified a prototype of a successful defense, and it’s gone about its business collecting the necessary new parts.  

Rookies Rey Maualuga and Michael Johnson, mixed in with free-agent veterans Tank Johnson and Roy Williams, bring some specific skill sets that will assist Zimmer in his scheme, which calls for specialists and experts in various situations.  The Bengals have accrued defenders who aren’t great overall players, but rather do one or two things better than the rest.  

It’s the assembly-line defense that quietly and efficiently produces three-and-outs. Henry Ford would be proud.

So if the running game improves even a little, and the defense matures into the winner that they’re capable of becoming, the last brick in the road to the playoffs rests with the special teams. After franchise-tagging a kicker (Shayne Graham) and drafting the best punter in the country (Kevin Huber), it seems the issue has been, to some extent, addressed.

A threatening return man is still needed, but Andre Caldwell showed some skills last season and Bernard Scott could be a candidate for the job.  Special teams has broken down the last few seasons, and it cannot decline any further for the team to be successful

After an abysmal 2008, to say that the Bengals will improve this season isn’t going too far out on that limb.  To say they won’t win the division is also a bit of a mollycoddled prediction, but ear-marking them as a Wild Card team, well, that’s just crazy. 

But with the perfect storm described here, it may all add up to celebrating the New Year with a playoff berth.  Alternately, if the Bengals suffer some early setbacks and their stubbornness gets in the way of progress, they could repeat the nightmares of last season. When the dust settles, you can expect a 7-9 season and another year of missing out. We’re not quite there yet.

I’ll eat nothing but tuna in three weeks, and it won’t snow once this winter.

Mojokong—working with a badly cracked crystal ball.

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