Cincinnati Bengals Random Thoughts: NFL Week Five

At least they made it competitive, right? Here are a few of my impressions from Cincinnati's 31-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

* Way to go, offensive line! For the first time all season the offensive line played pretty well. Carson was only sacked twice on the day and had 217 yards and two touchdowns.

* Carson Palmer's only interception of the day was garbage. If it had been any other receiver making a play on the ball it would have been caught. Regardless, I guess it was a nice grab by Greg Ellis.

* Cedric Benson, welcome to Cincinnati! I thought Cedric looked good. I think he looked like exactly what this team needs. Every time he carried the ball he ran hard and hit the hole. After spending only a week with the Bengals heading into Sunday, he did very well, and I am very optimistic about what he can do with some more practice.

* Chris Perry, five fumbles in five games. Unacceptable! Back to my previous point: I am very happy we signed Benson. Chris Perry cannot handle a full load and it is obvious. It is time to use him as a third down back...again.

*I thought the secondary played pretty well with a few exceptions. T.O. was limited to only two catches. However, one was for 57 yards and a TD.

* The defense is playing extremely aggressively, but they are playing out of position and taking bad pursuit angles, which are causing breakdowns while trying to stop the run.

* Keith Rivers came down with his first interception of the year...and it was pretty!

* T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught seven passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. I am glad one of the Bengals' Pro Bowl receivers decided to play this season; the only one not under contract for next season. On that note, what is taking the Bengals this long to re-sign their best receiver? Lock him up, Mike!

*Antonio Chatman, who I usually despise, played pretty well yesterday. If he can stay healthy and keep his feet he isn't all that bad.

That's pretty much it from week five. The Bengals travel to New York to face the Jets next Sunday at 1 p.m. Hopefully, Mike Brown will hire someone to watch over Chris Henry as he heads to the Big Apple. Look out New York, here comes "the one-man crime spree!"