The Washington Post published an article today on the relationship between Marvin Lewis and Mike Brown.  It shows how the decision makers can disagree on how a team wins, but are able to come together to make decisions that has created an calming atmosphere and a winning attitude.  If you have problems opening the link, let me know and I will post the entire article here.  Enjoy.

The Cincinnati Bengals offense is considered by many to have the ability to explode for mass amounts of points at any given time.  The teams' offensive weapons may have gone through some changes since lighting up NFL defenses during the 2005 playoff run with the departure of T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rudi Johnson and the addition of Cedric Benson and Laveranues Coles.  So why has the offense struggled to put up points at a rate that causes us fans to have angina?

The Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski came to Cincinnati in 2001 on the heels of leading the Seattle Seahawks offense to the third spot overall in 1997.  The expectation of a high powered offense followed him and he provided that in 2005 when the Bengals finished 6^th overall.  He did it by keeping the defenses off balance with imaginative play calling and not hesitating throwing the deep ball.  His play calling has now come under fire from those who feel he has become predictable with a game plan that is stale and unimaginative.  Against the Oakland Raiders, it would appear that he supported this theory with a pattern of conservativeness in the second half with a run on first and second down and then throwing a short pass on third down philosophy.  This may be due to the confidence in the defense's ability to stop the opposition on a regular basis over the past several weeks, expecting a 14-7 lead to hold up.  But this game became of tale of two halves with the Bengals dominating the first half and the Raiders dominating the second half.

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Now hang on before you completely beat me to a bloody pulp questioning what kind of moron I am.  I know and understand that it is week 10 of the season with 7 more games to go against some formidable opponents.  Anything can happen, from a sudden rash of injuries to complacency.  But there is aura in the air for us Bengals fans that can be as contagious as the Swine Flu.  My wife, who knows football so well half of the men in her office won't hesitate to talk the game with her, proclaimed that if the Bengals beat the Steelers, "they are going to the Super Bowl!" Yes, that is a direct quote.

Now I don't want to start any unnecessary Super Bowl hype for the Bengals, but having swept the teams considered contenders for the division title, a certain level of expectation may be placed on this accomplishment.  My wife and I both know that there are still seven games yet to be played and anything can happen to include a meltdown that might leave them out of the playoffs.  Given past history of ineptitude, why should anyone even consider the Bengals a contender when they play in the same conference as the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, who are considered the class of the league?  But let's take last season for instance.  Perennial NFL laughing stock Arizona Cardinals, a franchise considered by many the worst in Pro Sports history, not only won their division for the first time since forever, showed that even perennial losers can have a streak of good luck and get to the Super Bowl.  As a team, there may have been areas of concern; they still made the title game and nearly won it.

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When the prime time football schedule was released months ago, it was easy to expect not to see the Bengals a part of it.  With the season they had last year, why should NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network reward a team with only 4 wins  by putting them on the schedule?  Oh, wait; the Browns got 2 games on prime time this year with just 4 wins from last season.  Oh, well.  I wonder if ESPN and the NFL Network wish they could flex their schedule.

This season has been far different from last season.  The Bengals have already won more games this season, which is not yet half over, then they did all of last year.  Plus, those wins put them in the middle of the AFC North Division title race with the defending Super Bowl Chumps, I mean Champs Pittsburgh Steelers.  The majority of those wins have had the kind of ending the networks love; close, hotly contested with a last minute scoring drive to win the game.  This was all unexpected from a team that was unable to score points or keep the opposition from doing so.

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The Bengals had a rough drive to win 4 of the first 5 games this season, each time falling behind the opposition because of an interception being returned for a touchdown or numerous penalties that helped kill a drive or keep the oppositions alive, or see players that are expected to catch the ball suddenly forget how to catch it as it sails through their hands (Coles earlier this season, Coats to the present).  After these problems, the Bengals somehow overcame these mistakes and found a way to win the game.  Each win, not pretty or even remotely perfect, they were wins.

But something happened after the loss to the Texans.  After the self acknowledged letdown, the Bengals found something that had been non-existent since 2005.  They found a defense that was able to create turnovers and an offense that not only took advantage of them, but showed they have that big play ability while driving down field.  The Bengals first offensive play of the game after receiving the opening kickoff went 19 yards and they never let up after that.   Carson Palmer could not miss as he finished 20-24 for 233 yards and 5 touchdowns; Cedric Benson could not be stopped finishing with 189 yards and one touchdown; and the defense making self-proclaimed "I can throw farther than John Elway" Jay Cutler look like he should go back to camp and relearn the position.

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Coming into the game last week against the Houston Texans, the thought of a letdown was at the forefront of my mind because of the grind they had just endured - winning four straight games against some of the top teams in the league.  One aspect of the game is emotion, and the level of emotion the Bengals held during that win streak even left us fans emotionally drained.

The Cardiac Cats nickname seems to be taking hold as some of the media is using it to describe the late game comebacks.  During the loss last week to the Texans as Carson Palmer was in late game attack mode working his magic driving the offense, play-by-play announcer Don Criquie couldn't help himself repeating it on a number of occasions.  But right after Carson tried to force the ball between two defenders only to have it intercepted...the Cardiac Cats nickname may have taken a hit. 

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The Cincinnati Bengals have hit the quarter season post with a record that many prognosticators didn't see coming.  At 3-1, the Bengals have placed themselves in a tie, thanks to the Baltimore Ravens losing to New England, with the Ravens for the division lead.  That leaves the game next week in Baltimore looking even larger than expected.

Through the years, the Bengals have started slow out of the gates and then finished with a flurry after their fate had been decided, usually winning the final 3 or 4 games of the season to gain some respectability.  On a rare occasion, including this year, the Bengals have started out fast causing everyone to stand up and take notice.  But how do they fare as the grind of the season continues?  Do they carry the momentum from the quick start through the season, or do they falter and find themselves working on their golf game and planning their vacations in early January?

The more recent 3-1 start for the Bengals was the 2006 season.  After setting the world on fire by winning the division and making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years the year before, they started out to meet the expectations to repeat as division champs and make the playoffs for the second consecutive year, which has never happened in franchise history.  After winning the first 3 game of the season, they lost to New England in a Sunday night game, which sent them stumbling through the rest of way winning only 5 of the remaining 12 games finishing 8-8.  However, injuries to several key people could be a contributor to the Bengals season falling short of expectations.

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Rob Oller of the Columbus Dispatch finished up an article on Friday stating that if the Bengals want to "shed the image of being an organization that botches draft picks and trades is to trade body blows with Pittsburgh and come away bloodied but not bullied. It is decision time -- gulp -- in Cincinnati. Will the Bengals punch back?" After the heart stopping, nerve wrecking finish this past weekend against Pittsburgh, I think we can all say the Bengals Punched Back.

The Steelers threw the first punch jumping out to a 13-0 lead and holding the Bengals offense to -10 total yards for the first quarter. That kind of a blow would have been a knockout punch most teams, including the Bengals of recent past. But the Bengals never quit. Usually when the Bengals fall behind as they did, I have a tendency to toss in the towel. My wife and I have grown accustom to them falling behind early in the game and then falling even further behind by the end of the third quarter, becoming so disgusted that we had to change to another game. But we didn’t. We decided to stick with the game and see if the Bengals can counter punch.

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Shortly after the fluky loss to the Bronco's on a tipped pass that should have fallen to the ground harmlessly, stats came out showing Carson Palmers record not as good as once thought.  Yes, the offense has struggled mightily and offensive line has taken the brunt of the criticism.  But is this the true cause to the problem?  Besides the injuries to such players such as Willie Anderson and Levi Jones over the past few years, I think another position that should come under fire is the quarterback coach.  Since the QB backup/coach Jon Kitna left in 2006, Carson's numbers has steadily declined in one category or another.

The 2005 season set the standard for not only the Bengals, but for Carson himself.  Since Kitna's departure after that season, Carson's record has been less than stellar at 15-22.  In 2006, Palmer was sacked 36 times which was nearly twice as many from the 2005 season.  Is this solely the fault of the offensive line, or could some of sacks been avoided with proper coaching?  In 2007, he threw 26 touchdowns but threw a career high 20 interceptions with a passer rating of 86.7, far below the 2005 best 101.1.  Last season, cut short by his elbow injury, he had 3 touchdowns with 4 interceptions after only 4 games, putting him on pace to finish with a career low 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and just over 2900 yards passing.  These are not the stats we have come to know from Carson.

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I wrote an article a few weeks ago concerning the running back competition stating that the top two, Cedric Benson and Kenny Watson were set unless something unexpected happen.  Well it did with the surprising release of Watson earlier this preseason leaving the backup spot wide open to the survivors.  With one preseason game left, that spot does not look too be settled with 4 players looking to fill two to three spots.

The current depth chart shows Brian Leonard in the second spot with DeDe Dorsey third behind Benson.  James Johnson and Bernard Scott are currently looking to knock both out of those spots.  Currently, Scott has had a better preseason then everyone leading the team in rushing at 90 yards on 19 attempts averaging 4.7 yards per carry.  Scott also has one catch for 12 yards.  He has shown good speed to the outside and not afraid to stick his nose into the line.  Dorsey, however, is just 3 yards behind Scott with 87 yards rushing on only 11 attempts but carries a whopping 7.9 yards per carry average including a 45 yard run.  He has breakaway speed to the outside which should be a good compliment to Benson's inside running ability.  His current yards per carry average are in line with his career average of 8.7 yards per carry.

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