In an effort to be objective here, I thought that we could break down the game this last week by going through the positive and the negative points about the Bengals game against the Lions.

Here we go...

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I just wanted to put up a poll to see who favors this move.  I don't personally think that it's a good idea, but then again I didn't think the Benson signing was a good move either and I turned out to be wrong on that one.

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The great thing about the bye week is that it gives us bloggers seemingly unlimited time to speculate about the future prospects of our club.  I've heard the world "Super-Bowl" thrown around a few times, and though the mere sound of it is more seductive than the Ben-Gals 2009 calendar, I feel a strong pull to come back down to earth and join the rest of the world. So, after doing some fact checking and cross referencing my sources, not to mention a little bit of computer hacking and light treason, I was able to discover that there is football going on this week, without the Bengals!  So keeping this in mind I turned my attention the rest of the NFL.

I've heard some bloggers mentioning that they might elect to go into a vegetable state of hibernation this upcoming bye week, but my contention is that the bye-week will have as much implications for the Bengals as a game-week would.  With that in mind, I turn our attention to the matchups that might be of consequence to the Bengals sometime down the road.  If you have any colors that vaguely represent the Raiders, the Dolphins, the Bills or the Broncos in your closet then you might want to wear them, or if you have some friends who inexplicably are fans of those teams, then you might want to go support them.  Let me explain why.

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Sometimes, we all have to have a little slice of humble pie and in my own personal effort to do this, I am going to revisit some predictions that I made in June for the first four weeks of the year.  Let's just say that things never happen the way that you expect them to.

Way back in June I asked

Are we going to turn some heads this year?

To that I have to yes.  If nothing else, the Bengals are definitely turning some heads.

Games 1-4

vs. Denver - Kyle Orton is overrated if you call him mediocre, the Broncos defense was more pourous than Niagra Falls last year and they have a completely new offensive system.  I give the Bengals a 60% chance of winning here.

I got one thing right, Kyle Orton is mediocre and might be overrated.  That said, who expected the Broncos to have the #1 defense in the league through four games and to be undefeated?  It turned out that there was about a 40% chance of a tipped pass going all the way for a game winning last second score.  Who knew?

@ Green Bay - Has anybody else noticed how huge Aaron Rodgers eyes are?  Will you join me in calling him "Ole Bug-Eyed Rodgers?"  GB is definitely underrated, but so are the Bengals.  I'd give the Bengals a 40% chance of winning this game.

Ok, Rogers still has big eyes (I think he's looking at me right now), and I still think the Packers are a legit team.  What I didn't count on is a big fella named Antwan Odom who apparently was eating his Wheaties that morning.  In my opinion, this was probably the best all around game that the Bengals have played this year.

vs. Pittsburg - Super Bowl Champs, scary a@# defense and Troy Bighair don't spell good things.  I'll give the Bengals 20% because they'll be at home.

Did anybody watch the Steelers Chargers game?  The Steelers looked like Champs, (like how they looked through 3 quarters against us).  I think that all this proves is that we're still pretty damn good for beating a team like that.  I don't care how it happened and humble pie never tasted so good.

@ Cleveland - Hmmm.   QB controversy +  awful defense + butterfinger receivers = Bengals win.  I'll go 75% for Cincy.

I might take some flak for saying this, but Cleveland has a decent offense with Derek Anderson at the helm.  He consistently made plays to his receivers named Mohamed Massaquoi (I'll leave the 'blame game' up to you guys).  Also, I don't know if I would have predicted two botched long snaps.  I don't think we were ready and it wasn't pretty, but we won.

I could realisticly see the Bengals winning two of these games.  Four games through the season, we are (2-2).

Yeah, it's ugly and I agree with a lot of you, but damn it feels good to be on top doesn't it?  These are the kind of Bengals that I think we've all been waiting for.  We've got fight, we've got heart, we've got some pride back in Cincy.  I don't know if anybody could have predicted that. 

Hey there Who Dey Nation,

I'm a midwestern out of towner Bengals fan, which means that this year is going to be a big year for me, since we're playing against the NFC North.

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Let me tell you why I love being a Bengals fan despite all the crap and bad luck that seems to happen to us every year.

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Is Carson Palmer a better or a worse QB than he was in 2005?  I keep hearing that Carson is "Frail," and that he's not the QB that he used to be.  But I'm not drinking the this strange, bitter kool-aid that people keep pouring.  Let's look at the facts.

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We're all excited about our "D" and I get it, because last year was the first time since I can remember that we finished ranked in the top half of the league.  We were twelfth in overall defense, which has to be taken as a positive, no matter how shriveled and pessimistic your soul has become after years of rooting for the Orange and Black.  However, being a fantasy guy, I also know my stats, and I would be remiss to point out that Cincy's "D" still has some very noticeable holes on Defense that are concerning. 

First, there's the fact that despite being twelfth in overall yards allowed per game, we only finished 15th is passing defense and 21st in rush defense.  So we can't jump to the conclusion that just because of our overall finish that the Bengals were a top third defense in the league last year.  We finished 19th in terms of overall points given up (ultimately the only stat that matters).  By that measure, we didn't even crack the top half of the NFL.

Given that, here's a breakdown of Cincy's Defensive stats last year.

Defensive Productivity

Sacks:  17 -  30th in the league - tied with the Browns (that's humiliating)

Interceptions: 12 - 21st in the league - tied with multiple teams

Touchdowns allowed: 43 - 24th in the league

Pass Defense

Yards allowed per game: 205.4 - 15th in the league

20+ yard pass plays allowed: 33 - 2nd Best in the league

40+ yard pass plays allowed: 7 - 13th in the league

Yards per pass play: 6.7 - 10th in the league

Rush Defense

Yards allowed per game: 120.1 - 21st in the league

20+ yard rushes: 9 - Tied for 9th in the league with the Ravens

Yards per rush: 3.9 - 10th in the league

Rush TD's allowed: 15 - 20th in the league

Here's what I want to highlight out of all this stuff.  First, our pass rush was almost non-existent last year.  Second, our pass defense was better than advertised. Third, despite out poor total rush yards, teams we were still in the top third of the league in yards per rush.

In light of this, I'm curious what you think our biggest holes are on defense, and if you think we've addressed those problems effectively in the off-season.

*Stats Courtesy of nfl.com

While we here in the Cincy Jungle and our players in the Orange and Black have overflowing amounts of confidence and pre-season swagger going into next season, it seems that most in the media world disregard us as Fantasy duds next year. 

Take espn.com's fantasy previews.

QB  http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k9qbpreview

1. Drew Brees, Saints
2. Tom Brady, Patriots
3. Peyton Manning, Colts

Tier 2
4. Kurt Warner, Cardinals
5. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
6. Philip Rivers, Chargers

Tier 3
7. Tony Romo, Cowboys
8. Matt Ryan, Falcons
9. Matt Schaub, Texans
10. Donovan McNabb, Eagles

Tier 4
11. Matt Cassel, Chiefs
12. Jay Cutler, Bears
13. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
14. Carson Palmer, Bengals
15. Eli Manning, Giants

My jaw dropped when I saw this.  Carson Palmer is barely listed above Eli Manning.  Ok, I know that the guy was injured last year, but he's not dead and anybody who has a pulse ought to beat out Eli in fantasy football.  Putting Palmer there is both disrespectful and humiliating to us as fans, but as fantasy football players, it's 5 round draft gold.

or WR http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k9wrpreview

Tier 1
1. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
2. Andre Johnson, Texans
3. Calvin Johnson, Lions
4. Randy Moss, Patriots
5. Steve Smith, Panthers
6. Greg Jennings, Packers
7. Reggie Wayne, Colts
8. Roddy White, Falcons
9. Anquan Boldin, Cardinals
10. Terrell Owens, Bills
11. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs
12. Marques Colston, Saints

Tier 2
13. Brandon Marshall, Broncos
14. Wes Welker, Patriots
15. Roy Williams, Cowboys
16. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seahawks
17. Braylon Edwards, Browns
18. Vincent Jackson, Chargers
19. Antonio Bryant, Buccaneers
20. Chad Ochocinco, Bengals

Tier 4
30. Jerricho Cotchery, Jets
31. Donald Driver, Packers
32. Torry Holt, Jaguars
33. Laveranues Coles, Bengals
34. Lance Moore, Saints

I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but Braylon Edwards beat out Ocho?  Since 2005, the Bengals Offense hadn't finished lower that 10th and Ocho hadn't had less than 1300 yds and 7 tds.  Plus, Coles has got to be better than Torry Holt with Chad drawing double teams and a healthy Carson Palmer.

or Team Defense http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k9dstpreview

Tier 4
24. Buffalo Bills
25. Jacksonville Jaguars
26. Cleveland Browns
27. New Orleans Saints
28. St. Louis Rams
29. Denver Broncos
30. Cincinnati Bengals
31. Kansas City Chiefs
32. Detroit Lions

Ok, defense is pretty random in Fantasy football, but in overall yards last year, the Bengals had the 12th ranked defense, and by most accounts, they only got better in the offseason.  Yet we are barely above the Lions.  The Lions!

Given these poor fantasy projections, my question for all of you, is which Bengals are you going to draft in your Fantasy Football teams this year?  Who's got the most value as a sleeper and who's the most likely to be in the top 10 in fantasy points?  Who's the most likely Bengal that will make a fantasy splash that nobody has ever heard of?

I was inspired by Jay McDonald's blog on optimism to suggest that we optimistically pre-ordain Ray Maualuga with a nickname*.  I know that there will be many objections to this, but let's not forget that Earvin Johnson was called "Magic" for the first time in high school by a sports writer/interviewer.  So let's say, for the sake of argument, that everything pans out with our new Linebacker.  He has a fantastic rookie season, maybe even being considered for a pro-bowl appearance.  Considering that we're all still trying to figure out how to pronounce his name, the guy is going to need a nickname.  I'll thow a few suggestions out there, but as always, I welcome your ideas.

*NO NICKNAMES ARE FINAL UNTIL REY EARNS ONE!