Ocho Cinco Top Ten List

Pro Bowl Balloting

In case you haven't read it already on the teams official website...Pro Bowl balloting has begun! I don't generally get too worked up over the Pro Bowl but we do have several players that DESERVE to be recognized..... Cedric Benson!

So everyone go vote -- Even if it's for only the guys that play on the Bengals.

A few thoughts from Sunday...

I can honestly say that Sunday's 45-10 win over the Chicago Bears is by far the most satisfied I've ever felt after a Bengals game. The offense was rolling all game and the defense completely shut down the Bears offense. It was as complete of a game as we could have ever wished for...everything ran perfectly!

I've had this this game circled on my calendar for a long time, from the first day the schedule was released actually....because I KNEW that Sunday would be the day that Cedric Benson quieted his critics for good. And quiet they are....

Benson had an UNBELIEVABLE day, carrying the ball THIRTY SEVEN times for 187 yards and a touchdown (5.1 ypc.) Benson's outing was the most yards ever gained by a running back against their former team in NFL History.....and not to mention Benson's career high as well.

It's hard to feel some sort of emotional attachment to a professional athlete considering many people don't really know who they are....but there is something about Cedric Benson that I think we can all respect and admire....Perseverance!

I don't know why things didn't work out for Benson in Chicago, I honestly don't...but I can almost guarantee you one thing, Benson played a role in it too. I say this because it's unbelievable to me the lengths that Bears fans will go to justify Benson's release. They often point out his performance, injuries and two arrests (of which he was not indicted on ANY of the charges in either case) as the reason why he was released...I find it interesting that NONE of them have EVER said that maybe it was because something from within the organization that caused Benson to fail in Chicago.

Maybe it was the coach? Maybe it was Rex Grossman? Maybe it was Thomas Jones trying to split the team apart by forming alliances against a guy? Maybe it was the team's "Superstar" middle linebacker trying to take Benson out in practice? Maybe these were the reasons why Benson didn't want to play for the beloved Bears. Instead, they placed all the blame on Benson. They tried to pin it all on him.

It's always fun to pull for the underdog, and Benson has been an underdog his entire professional career. Yesterday, Benson got his revenge....not only on the Bears organization, but every Bears fan out there that said he was worthless! I know the numbers, I've seen the stats...Benson didn't play well in Chicago....I get it, and I am not arguing the fact that he shouldn't have been cut. I am arguing that most of them cannot be objective about the situation, they won't even try!

So...for the haters out there, keep on....Cedric has found a home in the Queen City and in return we have ourselves a Pro Bowl running back! Who Dey!

Benson's day

Benson might be the most sore man in America after his 37-carry day but every one of the 189 yards he gained in the manhandling of Chicago must have been a dose of sweet vindication.

The story is already a good one but it could be so much better if Benson goes on to lead the league in rushing or gets to the Superbowl. Even though Carson has been sharp in the two minute drill of our victories(And he responded well today after being dropped from my fantasy team), he doesn't get my vote team MVP going into the bye week. Cedric Benson does.

A couple other things to take from the game:

Lav Coles is finally starting to come around and had two receptions one of which was a nice touchdown on a screen pass.

Dennis Roland looks pretty damn good. Initially I called him Denise Roland because I thought he looked soft in pass protection, but the more I see of him the more I think the Bengals have found a good player. He's played well and will easily be the first option off the bench.

Bob Bratkowski showed a lot of new packages and sets to emphasize the running game and I really liked what I saw. It's clear he spent a lot of time studying other teams' rushing attacks and is implementing them well.

The defense bounced back admirably after being raped by Houston's screen attack. The pressure they put on Jay Cutler, sans Antwan Odom was very impressive. Peko, Rucker and Tank Johnson all had solid games and Rivers along with Jones were very active. Kudos to Leon Hall for his awesome two-pick effort.

Side Note:

Why the hell do teams not have a set play for when the previous play is one that may get the red flag thrown on the field? I managed to watch a lot of games today and saw three different instances where the offense did not get to the line quickly and run a play before the challenge came in.

If nothing else it would put pressure on the opposing coach to risk a time out. I can't be the first to realize this right? It seems like common sense yet I have not seen the hurry up called once after a review-worthy play.

Also each one of those reviews today(Dolphins-Saints, Bengals-Bears, Giants-Cardinals) were overturned. Just thinking out loud.

Article: Winding Road For Benson

GREAT read on Cedric Benson and his long and winding road from draft bust to league leader. If you haven't read it, PLEASE check it out!

It's Been a Long, Winding Road for Benson

There is absolutely NO question about how I feel about Benson....I think he is a great player. I absolutely do believe he was set up for failure from day 1 in Chicago. Benson has run hard every single play as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. We are lucky to have him and he has certainly found a home in Cincinnati.

Take a GOOD look at this picture....

...Because that is what it looks like when a TE catches the football.

Frustrating....that's pretty much the only word I can use to describe the way I feel about the Bengals tight end situation. I am going ask you all a question and you let me know the what you think...ready, here we go:

If you were the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator and you wanted to throw the ball to a TE for a game winning TD, who would YOU trust the most to catch it?

(A.) J.P. Foschi - 41 receptions in college for 366 yards, 9.2 yard average and 4 touchdowns. Undrafted out of Georgia Tech, cut by the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.

(B.) Daniel Coats (aka...Brick Hands) - 86 receptions in college for 966 yards, 11.2 yard average and 9 touchdowns. Undrafted out of BYU.

(C.) Chase Coffman - 247 receptions in college for 2,659 yards, 10.7 yard average and 30 touchdowns. Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft.

What is your answer?

If you know absolutely ANYTHING about football your answer would have been "C." Now I realize that these stats are from their college years, but guess what....if a guy could catch the ball in college -- He can catch the ball in the pros! It's simple, you either have "it" or you don't....Coffman has "it."

I have watched every single game this year and I can tell you...the dropped balls, the stupid penalties and the muffed snaps are a MUCH bigger issues that people give them credit for. In my opinion, the dropped balls by Foschi and Coats are just as much an equivalent to the botched snaps by Brad St. Louis....he is gone, who is next?

I understand guys dropping balls --it happens, but one of the primary responsibilities of a TE is to catch a ball every now and again...and Coats has PROVEN he simply cannot do it. Why is he still around? I don't have some kind of personal vendetta against Coats, I believe he is a stand up human being, but I want to win football games and his drops are SOOOOOO damn deflating!

If you aren't confident your guy can catch the ball....don't throw it to him! Carson can continue to blow sunshine the ass of Daniel Coats, but at the end of the day it's apparent that he cannot do his job effectively --HOWEVER.....Coats does have one thing going for him that could save his job for the remainder of the season, he is a decent blocker.

So with that being said, here is a good idea Mr. Bratkowski....How about we activate the guy who caught 30 touchdowns last season at the University of Missouri that we drafted in the third round. Wow.....wouldn't that be a GREAT idea!

I understand there is a concern with Coffman's blocking, and I am in NO way advocating sending him out there when the 100 million dollar franchise QB needs his ass protected, but how about throwing him out there on passing downs and the occasional running play?

Here is a secret for everyone....Marvin and Brat don't want you to know this, but it's true -- Foschi and Coats are the same person! Jesus....are we the ONLY people who realize that Coffman is the ONLY pass catching TE on the roster? What's that? We are having problems with our TE's catching the ball? THEN ACTIVATE THE PASS CATCHING TIGHT END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS - WHY IS THAT SO COMPLICATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until this team actually puts an emphasis on the TE position....just STOP throwing the ball to them. They can't catch....there IS a reason why the didn't do anything in college and went UNDRAFTED!!!!!!! It's like Bratkowski/Marvin are trying to make things too complicated! WHY?????? Just look at the picture above!

Houston grounds the Bengals

Not a lot needs to be said about this game. Our defense didn't show up and if they were in attendance, they clocked out after Antwan Odom and Domata Peko left with injuries. And offensively the tight ends continue to screw the team out of drives. Two fumbles, a drop and a holding call.

Frankly it is shocking to see a defense who played with such passion and motivation in their last game come out and look reminiscent of the days of Chuck Bresnahan. Give credit to Houston though. They built a game plan around screens and it managed to make the Bengals defense look completely lost.

Returning to the tight end debacle, something needs to be done. This is what happens when you lose a trusted veteran and rely on scrubs to replace him. This is the type of personnel idling we have all come to be used to under Mike Brown. If they really want me to believe they are serious about winning a Superbowl then lets see them make a move.

I'd like to thank Lav Coles for deciding to do something productive. Hopefully his TD today will remind him how nice it is to get open occasionally.

If Clark Harris doesn't work out....

Check out this video of former Eagles long-snapper, and now Meigs County Commissioner, Mike Bartrum. AMAZING! (And for the record...Mike is too old to play in the NFL today, but this video makes me wish we had a player like him on the roster.)

Fire up the steamboats, we are on the right track

I'd like to thank the Bengals front office for visiting this blog and every single other Bengals-themed site to ensure that canning Brad St. Louis was the right move.

Clearly my post last night was the straw that broke the camel's(more like goat's) back. This move should have been made by the end of week two but instead Mike Brown had to weigh between buying a new Home Depot Pre-Fabricated Shed or fueling an out-of-work long snapper's Wheat Thins addiction.

The new guy is Rutgers product Clark Harris. Welcome to Cincinnati Clark. Our expectations of you couldn't be much lower. The guy you're replacing cost the team 11 points in the first 5 games when most long snappers don't cost their team that many points in three seasons.

Reflecting on my list from yesterday, the Bengals are handling two of the three things needed to improve this team. Now if only that tight end trade would go through...

Bengals Beat Ravens -- Tecmo Style

Paging Laveranues Coles and Daniel Coats

So five games into the season and the Bengals are starting to look more and more like a playoff contender. But if this team is going to ever come alive on offense and develop some consistency in the passing game our big-time free agent signing needs to show up.

On the season Laveranues Coles, the Bengals supposed second receiver, has ten receptions for 78 yards and one TD. And remember the his much anticipated and very flaccid debut? He had more drops than a waterfall and is now averaging a mind-blowing 19.5 yards per game.

It's pretty clear that Carson has developed a better rapport with Andre Caldwell and the benching of Coles for Chris Henry suggests the coaching staff's patience for Coles' slump has run out. Operating from the slot, Caldwell has more than doubled Coles' output with 181 yards and two TDs. And if that wasn't enough, Chris Henry has 170 yards and a TD.

The $28 million contract he signed will ensure he gets a good share of snaps but it hasn't been Coles making the reliable catches we had grown accustomed to with TJ. Instead it has been Chad and Andre Caldwell.

If this team is going to move the ball with consistency and score more often in the Redzone it is going to need three things.

1. More Caldwell/Less Coles

2. A long snapper than can live up to the job title

3. Steadier hands from the tight end position

The solution has already come into play for number one. Number two can be solved with a couple tryouts, a cup of coffee and a meager league minimum $600,000. And number three could be solved by allowing Chase Coffman to play, or...(gasp) a trade.

That's right I said it. A trade. Tight end is clearly a big need on this team and the trade deadline is a week from today. After an offseason of making moves is it possible the Brown family will commit to a playoff run by securing a legitimate starting tight end?

The Raiders are apparently shopping their personnel and Zach Miller would make this offense extremely dangerous.

Even more plausible would be a very low pick for Alge Crumpler of the Titans. He's old but a massive blocker that still presents more of a receiving threat than Daniel Coats.

Will they swing a trade? Not likely. But if this franchise is finally serious about winning a championship then they should make move while they can to fill a glaring need. Instead they've sat idly since they lost Reggie Kelly in camp.

Still, it feels nice to be on top of the AFC North.

Bengals Win Thriller

What do the Steelers, Browns and Ravens all have in common? They all know how it feels to lose to the division leader by three points.

Carson and the boys did it again behind a 20-yard TD strike to Andre Caldwell with 22 seconds remaining after an inspired defensive unit held a top five offense to just 257 yards.

The tragic passing of Vikki Zimmer, wife of Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, gave a miserable type of motivation to the Bengals defensive unit who executed a brilliantly called game by their coach.

Rather than blitz to create pressure against a maximum protection offense, Zimmer dropped several players into coverage and dared Joe Flacco to pass down the field. Flacco finished the night with just 186 passing yards and two interceptions.

Pairing the stellar defensive effort with a clock-killing running game(Bengals with a nearly 9 minute advantage) helped keep the Bengals in this game. Cedric Benson finished the game with 120 yards on the ground and is the first player since Larry Johnson in 2006 to accumulate more than 100 rushing yards on the ground against the Baltimore defense.

The final drive was a combination of excellent decision making by cold-blooded Carson and gift-wrapped penalties by the Ravens. Once again Andre Caldwell came up big and scored his 20-yard TD on a skinny post right down the middle of the defense.

The locker room scene after the game was one of elation and heartache for Zimmer and all those who had their lives impacted by his late wife Vikki. A fantastic win for a franchise and its fans, but a victory that will commemorate a life that ended too soon.

Rob Ryan, an idiot scholar

Speaking to the media during his weekly press conference, Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan managed to look stupid and smart in a span of about five minutes.

He proved himself a moron by suggesting Shayne Graham's winning kick on Sunday was actually wide right.

"You can watch the tape," Ryan said. "I'm not saying anything, but man, maybe the posts were crooked. Look at it.

So Ryan is saying he had a better angle than from the sideline or on his couch than the two guys standing directly beneath the uprights who are paid to show us their pit stains if the kick is good, or scissor our hopes away if the kick is missed.

"I don't want to get fined," Ryan said. "I pay enough money already on the house I don't even live in in California. I don't want to make this a big story, but I was disappointed. I thought it missed. Of course, I'm not an expert. That's why I'm saying maybe somebody else should look at it."

Well, Ryan is from California. Everyone has a different take on life out there but I don't think that gives him a pass to challenge probably the easiest game-winning call a referee can make. And really, a tie feels just as shitty as a loss. Take it from people who know.

So after that little gem Ryan went on to say this about Trent Edwards and Carson Palmer:

"I don't think that's [Bengals quarterback] Carson Palmer back there by any stretch," Ryan said.

He was then asked if he believes Edwards isn't as good as Palmer.

"Absolutely. He's not. Not too many quarterbacks are," he said. "The guy can run and do some things, but we've played Brett Favre, we've played Carson Palmer. Those are two pretty good quarterbacks right there. This guy [Edwards] always seems to have a lot to say, so I'm going to say the same thing."

Brilliant. Carson Palmer is better than Trent Edwards. I knew there was a reason we drafted him with the first overall pick. All the same I do appreciate that Ryan referred to Carson in the same sentence as Brett Favre.

Also, maybe I've been working too much lately, but I didn't know Trent Edwards was a big talker. I thought one of his teammates was the leader of that department. Whatever Edwards has been saying must have fallen on deaf ears unless your the other Ryan brother with the long hair. But really has their ever been more useless shit talking ever? Browns: 0-4. Bills: 1-3. This is like two geriatrics talking shit about who is going to win the Hoveround race to the john. No matter the winner, the end result is shit.

So I'd like to thank Rob Ryan for spouting off some moronic babble but then recapturing my heart with some Carson ass kissing music.

A Few Thoughts From Sunday

Wow...what a game yesterday! As the saying goes, it's better to be lucky than good. I'll take the win, but I certainly do not feel good about how we played...I take that back, I'm not happy about the way we coached. I don't know why Carson had 20 pass attempts at halftime and Benson had only 9 carries...on a team that allowed 180 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns to Adrian Peterson.

I watched the game, I'm not blind...I realize that Benson was have a difficult time getting things started, but again...coaching. Benson was trying to run the ball up the gut, can anyone tell me who the Browns defensive tackles? That's right, SHAUN ROGERS AND COREY WILLIAMS...arguably the best position in terms of talent on the entire Cleveland Browns team. Why continue to run it there? Try bouncing one outside.

I gotta give it up to the defense, it seems like they were on the field the entire game and still came up big when we needed to the most. That was as far as a defense can bend without breaking.

Now...I am literally so pissed off at Brad St. Louis I can barely talk about it. How many points has this guy cost us? Seriously, there are 120 Division 1 college football teams with a long snapper, are you telling me that Brad St. Louis is the best there is out there? He is TERRIBLE! There has to be someone out there with a little more ice in his veins that can get the job done. His performance was embarrassing! He does ONE thing...ONE, and he can't even do that! Guys bust their ass up and down the field for 60 minutes and the long snapper is the guys who has cost us numerous missed opportunities, UNACCEPTABLE! I sincerely hope that Marvin is looking into alternatives to St. Louis.

* Check out Sunday's box score here

* Kevin Huber is my hero....talk about an upgrade to Kyle Larson! WOW!

* Who was making the decision to kick it to Cribbs every time? It was funny, all the Bengal fans on Twitter were saying "Don't kick it to Cribbs, he's burnt us every time" and yet the next punt would go to Cribbs, and yes....he would burn us again! I will give the punt team credit though, they contained him VERY well when they needed to the most, in overtime!

* Chad...you dropped the ball, walk back to the huddle and stop looking for someone else to blame other than yourself. Seriously...stop being such a cryin' ass baby! Players drop passes all the time...IT HAPPENS! As much as you don't want to believe this....you ARE human!

*Speaking of Chad, was he wearing pink flags? You know...like little league flag football flags?

* Even without Benson getting hardly any touches in the first half and just a few in the second, he still ended up with 18 carries and 74 yards, that's 4.1 yards a carry! It's like we completely ignored him for some reason.

* How many people started screaming at Rich Gannon like I did when he said we would leave too much time on the clock if we scored in overtime?? Talk about the wrong move...I was so pissed from just watching the game, then I had to deal with a broadcaster who didn't know what the hell HE was talking about. Read this article about the slip up...

* J.P. Foschi was our leading receiver.....umm.....hmm....yeah

* Although Chris Henry hasn't been very involved in the offense up to this point, he has been clutch when we need him. Keep up the good work Slim...he's a first down catching machine!

*Finally, It was reported that on the Bengals final 4th and 10 Carson had to go over and plea with Marvin Lewis to go for the WIN and elect NOT to punt the ball back to the Browns with a little over 40 seconds left. Does this concern anyone else but me? Seriously...I know we weren't in the best position, but punting the ball back to your opponent with 46 seconds left in OT instead of going for the win? GROW SOME BALLS MARVIN! Jesus....I would rather LOSE the game than not having the balls to do what we eventually did....THANKS TO CARSON PALMER!

Here you go Marvin....PLEASE, take some lessons!

Chad has a new book...

Maybe you saw my tweet last night, but am I the last person to find out that Chad OchoCinco has a new book coming out? I have the last one he wrote, hell...I even went to Wilmington to have it hand signed by Ocho himself. The entire city was shut down to welcome Mr. Johnson...and then, he turned on us....I digress.

ANYWAY...Rick Reilly has written an article, a book review if you will, on Chad's new book - and it isn't pretty.

Read here

Congratulation to Antwan Odom!

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom has been name the AFC defensive player of the month for September.

Odom has been absolutely amazing for the Bengals this season, racking up seven sacks in just 3 games. Odom has noted that he was extremely disappointed with the way he preformed last year after signing a 5 year 30 million dollar contract with the Bengals in 2008.

Odom has added 30 pounds this offseason to help prevent him from being pushed around by bigger offensive linemen, as he claims he was last season. It certainly appears to be paying some dividends up to this point.

Congratulations!