So I am going to do something that I have not done in a while. Write about my love hate relationship that I have with the Cincinnati Bengals. The only problem is there are so many thoughts rolling around in my head I don’t know where to start, and sometimes venting turns in to weird praise. Most importantly, I must stress that I am not a fair weather Bengals fan and I am most certainly not riding the Palmer Dalton Bandwagon.
Drafting
They have made some pretty smart draft picks, or rather solid draft picks in the last ten years. However they have made some equally bad choices. Starting with 2003:
- 2003: Carson Palmer (decent), Eric Stienbach (should have kept), Kelly Washington (ok), Dennis Weathersby (meh), Jeremi Johnson (stayed on till 2009ish got tubby), Khalid Abdullah (who?), Langston Moore (didn’t make pratice squad), Scott Koostra (ok second string)
- 2004: Chris Perry (injury prone) Keiwan Ratliff (decent), Madieu Williams (decent), Caleb Miller (ok), Landon Johnson (ok-decent), Matthais Askew (overrated), Robert Geathers (still around still decent), Stacy Andrews (cry baby), Maurice Mann (practice squad), Greg Brooks (not Ahmed), Casey Bramlet (who?)
- 2005: David Pollack (career injury but looking to be decent), Odel Thurman (trouble some but solid until cut), Chris Henry (troublesome and decent but deceased), Eric Ghiaciuc (decent), Adam Kieft (meh), Tab Perry (some break out games), Jonathan Fanene (decent)
- 2006: Johnathan Joseph (solid, should have kept), Andrew Whitworth (solid and getting better), Frostee Rucker (ok), Domata Peko (solid getting better), AJ Nicholson (meh), Reggie McNeal (meh), Ethan Kilmer (ok), Bennie Brazell (who?)
- 2007: Leon Hall (solid), Kenny Irons (way over rated), Marvin White (ok), Jeff Rowe (meh), Matt Toeaina (who?), Dan Santucci (ok), Chinedum Ndukwe (ok)
- 2008: Keith Rivers (overrated, but looked good), Jerome Simpson (some break out games but inconsistent), Pat Sims (decent), Andre Caldwell (see Simpson), Anthony Collins (ok), Jason Shirley (meh), Corey Lynch (meh), Matt Sherry (who?), Angelo Craig (who?), Mario Urrutia (practice squad nothing more)
- 2009: Andre Smith (Tubby but getting better), Rey Maualuga (Ok-Decent), Michael Johnson (moved from DE to LB then back Decent), Chase Coffman (overrated), Jonathan Luigs (who), Kevin Huber (solid), Morgan Trent (ok), Bernard Scott (solid), Fui Vakapuna (ok), Clinton McDonald (who?), Freddie Brown (practice squad)
- 2010: Jermaine Gresham (solid), Carlos Dunlap (solid), Jordan Shipley (injury prone, but could have been good), Brandon Ghee (ok), Geno Atkins (solid), Roddrick Muckelroy (ok), Otis Hudson (meh), Dezmon Briscoe (who?), Reggie Stephens (hey a cyclone!
- 2011: A.J. Green (solid), Andy Dalton (jury is still out but decent), Dontay Moch (ok), Clint Boling (meh), Robert Sands (meh), Ryan Whalen (ok), Korey Lindsey (who?), Jay Finley (who?)
- 2012: Dre Kirkpatrick (hasn’t played yet but should be solid), Kevin Zeitler (looks good), Devon Still (hard to tell), Mohamed Sanu (can pass too!), Brandon Thompson (meh), Orson Charles (ok), Shaun Prater (hey a Hawkeye), Marvin Jones (the next Housh?), George Iloka (meh), Daniel Herron (boom, not so much). Vontaze Burfict (looking solid)
While it does seem like there are many times that the Bengals look like they have figured it all out, or look really good because they have the right pieces, they continue to remind everyone that they still are the Bengals and know how to “bungle” something great. Sometimes it is not even their fault, the problem is that when they have a mistake or a turnover it sucks the wind and fight out of them and they essentially are not the same team.
They could be winning against any team and with one miscue or interception and its over. They submit and let the other team dictate. Want examples? (note these are ones that I distinctly recall)
- 2006 Chargers: Bengals had the lead 28-7 at the Half. Chargers scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes and continued to force the Bengals into a scoring shootout, until Carson fumbles on the first play of the 4th quarter. Chargers then take the lead and keep it.
- 2006 Broncos: Bengals played tight with the Broncos but a Special teams snafu cost them the game.
- 2009 Raiders: Bengals up by seven at the top of the fourth quarter, during the first drive two fumbles happen. The first is recovered, the second is lost. Raiders keep Bengals scoreless in the 4th and score 10 to win. Bengals try to regroup, but fumble and lose it again. Carson ends the game by throwing a pick.
- 2009 Jets: Bengals play the Jets back to back in a weird playoff scenario. Bengals completely lay down and get shutout in final game of the season. In the Wild Card, Bengals score first but then Palmer throws a pick which the Jets turn into points. Bengals do not score again until the fourth quarter already down by 17 at that point.
- 2010 Steelers (MNF). Opening kickoff, Bengals fumble with in the fifteen yard line. Steelers score and dictate the game. Bengals try to make a return but to far behind for it to stick
- 2011 Texans (Wild Card). Bengals look to get a win in the post season, start of strong. Looking to take the lead before the half and get the ball back. J.J. Watt makes an unbelievable play and picks off Dalton and walks into the end zone. An orange team returned after the half but it was not the same Bengals as the first.
- 2012 Steelers (week 7) Bengals looked improved against a banged up Steelers team due to injuries. Bengals took the lead in the first and started to build a spread. Dalton throws a tipped pass by Woodley, Bengals give up and let the Steelers dictate the game.
I mean sure there are other reasons why you lose, but in each of these games I recall watching or listening to, a miscue was made and the team never recovered. That is where a good reliable coach is needed to recover…
Coaching
Ok I really like Marvin Lewis, but its been almost ten years he has had only six winning seasons and half of those were .500 seasons (which should not count and they don’t for the scope of this post). The remaining three resulted in playoff appearances in the wild card round and early exits. Part of me says its time to move on and let him go but part of me also says he really is a good fit. At this point, if Marvin was to leave at the end of this year we would also lose Gruden and Zimmer which may or may not be a good thing. I would argue that Zimmer is solid and Gruden is hit an miss but I would guess both would leave. Either way, with the ownership…
Mike Brown
And we have finally come to Mikey. As I was starting to say in the previous paragraph, if Marvin were to leave I think it would just expose Mike Brown’s greed even more. Mike won’t hire a GM because he believes that he is a great GM. Mike bickers with Carson Palmer because he has a contract, but trades Chad Johnson. (BTW Kudos to Carson for forcing Brown to trade him, actually the end result of this trade was pretty good so I guess I can’t blame Brown for that). Mike likes to keep people in their places, which would explain why Marvin is still around. Mike Brown is no Paul Brown. I wish Paul would have taught Mike better.
In the End
I still love the Bengals, and I am pretty numb to them losing. It pains me to see them lose the ones they should win, and I hate the false hope I get when they win ones that they should have probably lost. At any rate, I won’t punt them just because they don’t have a winning history. I will just hope that next year brings better .
WHODEY!