2009 Bengals Look a Lot Like 2005 Edition

While Brett Favre tries to silence the hostile Lambeau Field crowd and the Broncos, Colts and Saints attempt to stay undefeated, the Cincinnati Bengals are taking the weekend off and basking in the glory of their 5-2 start.

The Bengals have not been perfect—indeed no team is in this day and age—but they have played well enough to win four games on their final possession and a fifth in blowout fashion.

Cincinnati has risen to the top of the AFC North with a tried and true blueprint of a stingy defense and a strong game. The Bengal defenders have played extremely well overall, and Cedric Benson leads the league in rushing. Furthermore, quarterback Carson Palmer has rediscovered his fastball.

The Bengals haven’t started a season like this since 2005, the last time they made the playoffs. That year, Cincinnati also started 5-2, ran that record to 7-2 and ripped off a four-game win streak late in the season before shutting it down after clinching the division.

The Bengals finished 11-5 and while they lost in the first round of the playoffs, it still represents their only playoff appearance since the first Bush was in office.

The similarities between this season and 2005 are numerous. A young team just coming to age the ‘05 Bengals were full a vigor and swagger.

Rudi Johnson erupted for a team-record 1,458 yards on the ground. Chad Johnson nearly equaled that yardage total on 97 receptions and Palmer compiled a 101.1 passer rating for the season.

None of those gaudy stats would have been possible if not for the offensive line. Tackles Levi Jones and Willie Anderson were at the top of their games, guards Eric Steinbach and Bobbie Williams put together Pro Bowl-caliber seasons and center Rich Braham was the team’s unsung hero.

Within two years, that line was a shadow of itself. Braham had retired, Steinbach was gone via free agency and injures and age caught up to Jones and Anderson. By last season, the line was the team’s weakest link.

This season, the line again is one of the team’s strengths, even with first-rounder Andre Smith yet to step foot on the field. Andrew Whitworth has stepped in for Jones on the left side, Kyle Cook is the team’s first outstanding center since Braham and Williams has taken over the leadership.

The right tackle platoon of Dennis Roland and Anthony Collins—playing for Smith—has been very effective and Evan Mathis has dominated the left guard position, despite starting the season on the bench.

With the line dominating, the offense has begun to hum once again. Benson, thrown out with the garbage a year ago, is an MVP candidate. Chad Ochocinco, the former Chad Johnson, is running wild through the secondary once again and Palmer showed the Chicago Bears last week that he is all the way back from his two season-ending injuries.

Defensively, this year’s Bengals may be better than the 2005. The ‘05 Bengals thrived on turnovers, changing games with fumbles and interceptions.

This year’s Bengals are more traditional, getting pressure on the quarterback and stopping the run. Cornerbacks Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall are making their cases for the Pro Bowl, dominating opposing receivers.

But the biggest difference between the two teams may be in the intangibles. The 2005 team was a dominate force, but this year’s team seems to have more moxie, and that special something that turns heads.

In seven games, they have already beaten Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Chicago, and have shown an ability to win in almost any situation.

The last six times that Cincinnati has started the season at least 5-2, the Bengals have made the playoffs. It’s way too early to make that same comparison this year, but it’s not hard to imagine the Bengals playing deep into January.