Bengals High Five: What To Watch For During Training Camp

This season is a crucial one for everybody involved with the Cincinnati Bengals. Coach Marvin Lewis has overseen two straight losing season and can not afford a third. Quarterback Carson Palmer is entering his eighth season and can see the window on his career starting to close. And Bengals fans have endured 19 straight seasons without a playoff win and are starting to get antsy.

Those close to the team believe that the Bengals could be this year’s Arizona Cardinals, the breakout team that makes the playoffs and rides a hot streak straight to the Super Bowl. While a Super Bowl run may be too much to ask, there is no reason why the Bengals can’t squeak into the playoffs.

With the start of training camp this weekend, there are five key things that fans can watch for that will go a long way toward determining the team’s fortunes in 2009.

1) Carson Palmer’s health

Palmer has shown time and time again that he is one of the elite signal-callers in the NFL—if his offensive line can keep him upright. Last year alone, Palmer suffered a broken nose in training camp, before tearing a ligament in his throwing elbow that kept him out of the final 12 games of the season.

Without Palmer, Cincinnati turned to Ryan Fitzpatrick to lead the team and the difference was apparent. Fitzpatrick lacked the deep arm strength and accuracy of Palmer and as a result, the offense struggled mightily.

Teams stopped respecting the deep pass, began loading up on the line of scrimmage, and the Bengals couldn’t score against a junior varsity squad.

Palmer says that he is 100 percent healthy and if he is right, the offense has a chance to return to its place as one of the league’s elite. It won’t take long for fans to see if he’s right.

If he is winging passes 50 yards down the field with pinpoint accuracy, if he’s dropping long balls over defenders' heads, if he is zipping passes in between the out-stretched arms of defensive linemen, then Palmer may truly be back.

Of course, the biggest key to Palmer’s health will be the five large gentlemen that line up in front of him. The team will have an almost completely new offensive line in 2009 and it will be crucial that they keep their QB upright.

2) Effective pass rush

The key to any successful team is its ability to protect the passer and to rush the passer. Last year, the Bengals could do neither and the team has not had an effective pass rush since the late 1990s.

To address the pass rush, Cincinnati drafted linebacker Rey Maualuga in the second round and end Michael Johnson in the third round, while signing lineman Tank Johnson and safety Roy Williams.

Along with holdovers Keith Rivers, Antawn Odom, and Rashard Jeanty, the team is hoping that its pass-rushing woes are a thing of the past.

While most of the newcomers will not play significant minutes in the preseason, any impact that they may have should be immediately noticeable. Don’t look at sack numbers, it’s a misleading statistic. Instead, look for quarterback hurries and the push at the line of scrimmage.

If the opposing offensive line continually finds itself backpedaling and there are constantly Bengals in the backfield, those will  be signs that the team can finally rush the passer.

An effective pass rush pays dividends throughout the entire defense, leading to a better run defense and more interceptions and deflections by the backfield. And, it may even win you a game or two.

3) Depth at cornerback

Other than quarterback, there may be no position that is more difficult to learn at the pro level than cornerback. An effective corner takes two, sometimes even three years to develop, and it’s easy for fans to lose patience waiting for that to happen.

The Bengals’ two starting corners, Jonathon Joseph and Leon Hall, have shown that they have what it takes to become elite cover men. Hall, one of the more maligned Bengals by fans a year ago, flashed his skills several times and should improve greatly in his third season.

But behind Joseph and Hall, the team’s depth in questionable. Coach Marvin Lewis likes David Jones and the team seems to be impressed with rookie Morgan Trent, but neither have shown the ability to take over a game.

For the team to be successful, the backups will need to show that they have the ability to step in and take over. Joseph’s injury last year showed the importance of depth and in a league of three and four wide receiver sets, multiple corners that can play physically are a necessity.

4) Chad OchoCinco’s mindset

Over a four-year stretch, there was arguably no receiver in the league who was more feared than Chad Johnson. He led the AFC in yards four times and the NFL once, and was a highlight film every time he touched the ball, and not just for his celebrations.

But beginning in 2007, Johnson starting taking himself too seriously. He publicly pleaded for a trade, changed his last name to OchoCinco, and pretty much alienated every Bengal fan in the country.

To top it all off, he separated his shoulder in training camp and never got in sync with backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, leading to his worst season as a pro.

This season, OchoCinco swears that he’s back to normal. He did not demand a trade, made nice with Carson Palmer, and even showed up to a voluntary mini camp. If he continues to act like the Chad Johnson of old, he brings a spark to the offense that few teams can match.

It won’t take long for fans to see if they are getting “playful Chad” or “arrogant Chad.” Thanks to HBO, it will be apparent for the entire country to see.

5) That killer instinct

In any sport, there are teams or individuals that have the talent to win championships. But it takes more than talent to beat your opponent. It also takes the will and the mindset that will not only beat your opponent, but that you pummel them into submission.

There is an old coaching axiom that states, “I don’t want players that like to win. Everybody likes to win. I want players that hate to lose.” It is that mindset that will need to be developed if the team is to compete in the AFC North.

While it’s hard to see a team’s mindset in four meaningless preseason games —after all, the Colts have made a habit of going winless in the preseason, then marching to the division title—you can see if a team is ready to play.

If the Bengals come out firing away in the first quarter, if linebackers run through the ball-handler with authority, if the practice and “throwaway” players hit harder than the starters, the team may be on the right track.

Excellence and the desire to win are not confined to just games that “count.” True championship teams compete every time they step on the field.