The Bengals are, to put it mildly, an absolute mess.
I have no doubt that Marvin Lewis is going to make a great head coach one day. The problem is, he has absolutely no idea how to fill out a professional roster.
You can’t build an NFL team as if you were playing the Madden NFL video game, stockpiling players with no regard for their personalities or off-field problems.
Like no other sport, football requires chemistry.
The best offensive lines don’t always consist of the best offensive linemen. They’re made up of five guys who can work together as one. The sum is greater than its parts.
You build the rest of the team the same way you build the offensive line. That’s why Super Bowl champions aren’t always the best teams. The 2001 New England Patriots and the 2007 New York Giants are perfect examples of this. Neither team was the most talented, yet they managed to win.
The Giants were arguably the sixth or seventh most talented team in the NFL last season. The Patriots in 2001 might not have even been in the top ten in talent. But those teams came together, played as a singular unit with a singular goal, and ended up becoming the best “team” in the NFL.
You can’t build a team with no regard for chemistry and expect to win in the NFL. You can’t bring in character issue (Odell Thurman) after character issue (Chris Henry) and expect to win.
It seemed like the Bengals were starting to “get it” this off-season. Then the injury bug struck, and instead of relying on guys like Jerome Simpson, Andre Caldwell, or one of the many serviceable street free agents that were available to fill in at wide receiver, they panicked and brought back Chris Henry.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
It’s too bad, because there is talent on this team. Carson Palmer is one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL. Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh are both upper-tier wide receivers when healthy.
Unfortunately, Chad Johnson isn’t healthy right now. He plans to play with an injured shoulder, but it remains to be seen just how effective he can be.
They’re thin at wide receiver behind their starters, and may end up relying heavily on (gasp) Chris Henry.
Rudi Johnson was terrible last season. This season, he’s free to be terrible somewhere other than Cincinnati. In a move that was expected (there had been rumors floating around for weeks that the Bengals were trying to trade him for a wide receiver), the Bengals cut Rudi Johnson on Saturday.
The move opens the door for the oft injured Chris Perry. He is currently listed at the top of the depth chart. If he can’t stay healthy, Kenny Watson will be waiting in the wings.
The offensive line should be a pretty good run-blocking unit. Levi Jones is a stud. Andrew Whitworth is a beast. Stacy Andrews is gigantic. Bobbie Williams is above average. Eric Ghiaciuc holds the whole thing together at center.
If they can get their wide receiver situation settled, the Bengals will be pretty good on offense.
In an effort to fix their perennially pathetic defense, the Bengals brought in new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Zimmer coaches an aggressive, physical, blitzing defense. It remains to be seen whether or not he has to horses to make it work in Cincinnati.
16 comments Last one added 3 months ago — Leave a Comment
Joe G 10 months ago
Good stuff, Sean. You're absolutely spot on with your observations about the defense. The D-Line will probably miss Justin Smith a ton, and wish they'd been able to snag Shaun Rogers to plug up the middle on the run.
Offensively, they'll probably be okay. I'm surprised that they didn't give Rudi more of a chance to see if he's fully recovered from last season's nagging hamstring injury, but maybe Chris Perry showed them something good in camp.
Potential to be a train wreck, but train wrecks are always fun to watch...
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Joe Willett 10 months ago
I'm confused. Who is this Chad Johnson you speak of? The two wide receivers I know for the Bengals are T.J and Chad Ocho Cinco.
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Tim Seeman 10 months ago
i wish the bengals would list chad ocho cinco as ocho cinco instead of his former name, chad johnson, on their website.
i'm also waiting for ocho cinco apparel to go on sale.
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Brandon Warnes 10 months ago
"Assuming the bulk of their roster can stay out of prison" xD
Bengals are my time, but I agree they have many things to sort out if they have any chance at doing something this year.
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Melissa Perry 10 months ago
They would do better with one of these high school players at this pick up game that Randy Moss crashed last week. Check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asAwvL4t488
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Matt Gilmartin 10 months ago
Great article. I didn't know much about the Bengals before now except for TJ Houshmanzadeh and Chad Johnson, but now I feel like I know a lot about the team. My Pick of the Day vote.
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Joe Willett 10 months ago
It's not Chad Johnson, it's Chad Javon Ocho Cinco.
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Jamaal Foster 10 months ago
you told the truth and nothing but the truth. You may have been generous on that 9-7, but we all have to hope.
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Matt Gilmartin 10 months ago
Oh yeah, how could I forget that it's Chad Ocho Cinco now.
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Mike 10 months ago
Back in the 70's the NFL made the owners of the Giants hire George Young as the GM and for them to sit back and just be owners and enjoy the team how did that work out pretty well I'd say. now they need to do the same to the owner of the Bungles Mike Brown then they need to hire more scouts instead of just the 1 listed in the team program when u don't have enough people to do the job then you take players out of desperation
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William Berry 10 months ago
There is no ME in team, but there is an "I" in win. Sorry, thinking of Chad Cinco (Ocho is a middle name:)) made me say that.:)
(I want to see the number 85 with "five" over it. Makes as much sense as "eight five.")
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Joe Willett 10 months ago
I thought Javon was his middle name and Ocho Cinco combined for his last name.
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William Berry 10 months ago
George Herbert Walker Bush explained it to me.:)
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Thomas 10 months ago
great article Sean. I agree, Cincinatti is aweful.
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MJ Kasprzak 10 months ago
Spot on, Sean! Love the video game reference, and glad you did not call Chad by his legally acquired ridiculous name! What a boar, buffoon, and validation for people out there trying to find reasons not to like sports, athletes, African Americans, or any other group they can label him with.
I am also impressed that you have this many details about a team that is not only not your own, but not in your division and not even significant. It's easy for me to offer insight on the Packers, almost as easy on the Vikings, and still relatively easy on a contender like the Colts, Patriots, Chargers, Cowboys, etc. But you got guys in here I've never heard of! That's why you're the community leader for the NFL, bro!
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Wang 3 months ago
There is bad news about George Herbert Walker Bush:
What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States?
It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.
Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
(I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet indicating the content of this post. And there are at least hundreds of copies in very many countries around the world.)
_________________
“If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Off the top of my head—it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.
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