I like it. As a fan of the team, I love getting the inside look we’ve gotten. I was always more interested in the coaches in how they coach and their interactions with the players. Seeing Marvin Lewis go off like he does was somewhat surprising — we’ve just never seen him get angry like that. We’ve known and documented the positions battles that went on during Training Camp, but to actually see the players talk about it put a perspective on it that made it all too human.

The only thing I could have done without was any and all interactions, or even camera time, with the Bengals front office. It was just embarrassing.

Rey was pretty put off. He wasn’t frustrated or upset by being drafted by the Bengals as much as he was expecting to be drafted in the first round. Of course, not only was he drafted in the second round, he was the third USC linebacker drafted. I think it was more of a shock to him than anything. Once he got the frustration out of him, he quickly apologized to Bengals fans who might have taken offense and he’s already a fan favorite.

Maualuga is going to be special. He’s the type of linebacker that puts his head down and runs through anything in his way. He has awesome quickness and aggression and he’s quickly showing good recognition skills. However, his aggression has been somewhat of a liability. He’s overshot gaps at the point of attack during the preseason, missing the tackles around the line of scrimmage. Given some time, he’s going to be very good. I would expect him to be a candidate for defensive rookie of the year.

We’re really excited about Maualuga and Keith Rivers playing together for several seasons.

As for the best player, I’m going with ol’ trusty Carson Palmer. However, there’s some concern about his ability to stay healthy. He’s missed 75% of the games last season and during this preseason. We also worry he’s going to be a bit rusty against the Broncos. But there’s no one on this team we depend more to help us win.

Though I have to admit, there’s thinking in some circles that if the Bengals win this year, it’ll be on the backs of the strong defense — I know, take some time to absorb that. We are.

No question the leading receiver, if everyone’s healthy, will be Chad Ochocinco. Coles may catch some balls, but he may also be an injury liability, and if the young guys continue to step up, he may even lose playing time as the season progresses.

Palmer throws a pretty deep ball, and the guys that are most likely to be catching it are Chad and Chris Henry, but Chad will probably be on the field more often.

As far as the defense, we don’t think it will regress. There is a feeling that we’re deep across the board defensively, and those guys really want to go out and prove that they earned the top 15 ranking last year.

If you asked me this question last year, it was clearly T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Let me kind of explain. Chad Johnson’s 2008 season was, well, how do you explain it? He was mouthy, demanding a trade. We suspected it was a contract thing. It was similar to what you guys were (or are) dealing with in Brandon Marshall. The coaches and front office stuck to their guns, even allowing a potential trade that would have given the Bengals two first round picks, and simply said, if you’re not to play with us, you’re not going to play at all. Not only that, but he had a bum ankle after the 2007 season and didn’t even have a procedure done on it. So late in the offseason, he had the procedure and missed some training camp because of it. Slowly, he got back into the groove, then he tore his shoulder midway through the preseason. In quick summation, Chad was simply hurt and disgruntled through 2008.

In 2009, something happened. He rededicated himself. He felt embarrassed by the way 2008 went. He worked out the entire offseason taking on a training regiment by boxing. When he arrived in training camp, many observed he was clearly in the best shape of his career. It didn’t end their. People started observing that Chad was running crisp routes, and his joking attitude returned in full force. You have to know, when Chad is being chatty, joking around, he’s clearly at his best.

Now, with that said, even if Housh was still with us, I would still say that Chad is the best receiver on this team. Not only is he back, he actually looks quicker and stronger. We’re very excited about Chad this year.

However, you need to know that our WR position is probably as deep as its ever been and our offense, with the reborn Chris Henry (seriously) is going to put on a show. Of course, that simply depends on Carson Palmer and if he remains healthy.

He really appears to have turned the corner maturity-wise, and he’s made some exceptional plays on the field. Chad appears to be with it mentally though and is in incredible physical shape due to his boxing training, and I expect him to be every bit of the receiver he was from ‘03-’06.

The defense has a chance to be really special. Pat Sims has been a monster physically and statistically this preseason, and I expect him to get every bit of the snaps that Tank Johnson (also a good addition, I think) will get, pushing him for the starting job. Robert Geathers looks to be back to form, and if Antwan Odom doesn’t perform or gets hurt again I think Michael Johnson rotating with Jonathan Fanene on the opposing end will do just fine. The linebacking corps is just beastly with Rivers, Jones and Maualuga pushing Rashad Jeanty. Abdul Hodge will get his share of looks, and he’s been a wrecking ball this preseason.

The only thing that concerns me for the defense is our secondary, primarily our lack of depth at corner. We don’t have a really solid third corner, and our real nickel corner is still dinged up. I anticipate real problems covering the third receivers we’ll see the first two weeks of the season unless we can get some serious pressure on the quarterback. If we can put some heat on the opposing QB, though…this defense will rise into the top 10 in the league this year. I have no doubt. :)

Everybody,

Remember to rec this post so it stays up for a few days before game day.

HT

3. What player on the Bengels (that nobody outside of Cincy fans have heard of) will surprise folks?

I’m no Bengals fan, but I think Chris Henry is poised to have a big year. He has cleaned up his personal life, and he already has great rapport with Palmer. With Housyourmama being traded to Seattle, Henry steps in at WR2 where he should be able to produce from the get-go opposite of Ochocinco.

1. On defense, I’d expect a 4-3. Zimmer’s always run a 4-3 and we don’t have all the pieces to run a 3-4 or the crazy stuff they do over in Pittsburgh or Baltimore. He has emphasized the pass rush this year, as last year he thinks he overemphasized the rush defense. The rush-D was stellar last year, so we’re hoping the blitzes he is implementing this year, and the return of a healthy Robert Geathers and hopefully Antwan Odom will help the pass rush.

As far as offense, it’ll be the same thing we’ve seen from the Bengals. Bob Bratkowski is not a creative guy. I dont ‘like him as an OC. We may see some more creativity with the running game because they kept Bernard Scott (look at this kid’s combine numbers, they’re pretty phenomenal for a 6th round pick) and DeDe Dorsey, both of whom can break ridiculous runs. They will try to be physical, try to run first, but ultimately the offense comes down to Carson’s arm.

2. The offense is strong in terms of depth at skill positions, and at quarterback. Carson is one of the best in the league if healthy. But, if he goes down for an extended duration, I think the season is lost. The weakness on the offense is really the offensive line’s protection adjustment and blitz recognition skills. This is a unit that has the talent to block guys when they are engaged, but needs to learn to recognize where pressure is coming from and improve against stunts and overloads.

The defense may be weak in terms of a pass rush again this year. A lot of that depends on the defensive ends and Mike Zimmer. We think they’ll be strong against the run again, as they’ve improved the linebacking corps and return Domata Peko, a beast against the run. The safeties may be weak in pass coverage, and our nickel corner is hurt, so look for Brandon Stokely to have a decent game because he’ll be getting covered by sub-par corners and/or safeties for much of the day.

3. Domata Peko has a chance to be awesome. Pat Sims is a great inside pass rusher. The rookie RB, Bernard Scott (if he stays out of trouble, which he’s done a great job of so far) could break a ridiculous play or two this season. I’ll let some of the other guys address this question in further depth.

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1. What kind of system do you expect the Bengels to run on each side of the ball?

On the rushing offense, we use mostly a zone blocking scheme. We’ll likely rush Cedric Benson and Brian Leonard between the tackles, though we like outside sweeps and we figure that Bernard Scott will have time rushing behind our tackles and outside. The passing offense is typically with 3-5 routes that uses a five step drop.

Defensively, the Bengals have been working to shift into a blitzing, pass rushing philosophy. We expect more zone blitzes this year, with Maualuga and our safeties Chris Crocker and Chinedum Ndukwe. Against the run, we like to use more gap control than anything.

2. What would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of the offense? The defense?

Offensively, it’s pass protection. We’re not so much worried about guys getting beat, as we are with protection schemes. Most of the sacks we gave up during the preseason was simply protection errors. Offensive linemen not finding, or even looking, for the blitz, was a major problem this year. Our strength is the passing game. If the protection is there, we have Coles, Chad and Henry all capable of creating big plays.

Defensively, our weakness is the pass rush. We came off a season in which we were the second to worst team sacking the quarterback. The defensive philosophy is adjusting to more blitzes and we drafted Michael Johnson who figures to be a big part of a renewed effort to rush the quarterback. Strength-wise, we’re better against the run. Our defensive line is working on clogging lanes, allowing linebackers to flow to the ball.

3. What player on the Bengels (that nobody outside of Cincy fans have heard of) will surprise folks?

Keep your eye on defensive tackle Pat Sims. He was a rookie last year and started showing he could be very good in this league. He led the team with three sacks in the presesason, which, considering he’s a tackle, makes us all optimistic. With the rotation of Tank Johnson and Domata Peko, we’re very excited about our defensive tackles this year — trust me, this is the first time we’ve been excited about our DTs since Tim Krumrie.

You have to get Ocho, Coles and Henry on the field as much as possible. Bratkowski had a lot of two-TE sets drawn up at the beginning of camp to install in the offense, but season-ending injuries to the top two TEs on the roster messed that up very quickly. You’re going to see a steady dose of running the ball if the offensive line can get a push on opposing D-lines as well. It’s a shame that Andre Smith is already injured, because he would be a great asset running off the right side had he come to camp in football shape and stayed healthy. Collins should be able to open up some decent running lanes, though.

On defense, Zimmer is going to blitz this year. A lot. Opposing quarterbacks should expect to see a lot of Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, Dhani Jones and Abdul Hodge coming at them in a hurry. We don’t have the personnel at the moment for zone coverage, so a lot will depend on if we can generate pressure from the front four, though. If we can’t generate adequate pressure from the D-line, it’s going to cause problems again this year re: long third-down conversions and broken plays going for long gains.

Anyone who hasn’t been watching Hard Knocks probably has never heard of Tom Nelson. Watch this kid, he’s very good. On the offense, I don’t think anyone outside of Cincy has any idea what Bernard Scott is going to bring to the table. The kid is special. He has great vision and reaction. He hits the hole hard and has breakaway speed. He’ll make you miss. If he can shore up his trouble holding on to the ball…look out. Of course that comes down to the offensive line as always.

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There is an urgency, yes. Lewis is on the second to last year on his current contract and Carson Palmer is reaching his 30s — not that it matters, there’s plenty of great 30-year old quarterbacks that make it to the Super Bowl, are there, Broncos fans? :)

But there is a sense of urgency.

However, even if the Bengals do poorly, we don’t expect Marvin Lewis to go anyway. There’s a high level of loyalty that Mike Brown has with his coaches — having seen the way Cleveland pushed his father out the door before creating the Bengals franchise (that’s a very interesting story you should read about sometime if you haven’t).

Sadly, one of the things Bengals fans have to deal with, is that ownership has accepted mediocrity before and we have no reason that they won’t accept an 8-8 season and be happy with that.

Your blog is very confident you will win this game, can you recap your reasons? [Typically the blog owners are a little more down to earth than the rabid fans =)]

Stokely could have a big day. Our nickel corner, David Jones, is going to miss the game. That means they’ll use a combination of zone coverages, 3-safety sets, and sub-par nickel corners on passing downs with 3+ receiver sets. It may be ugly, but I’m sure everyone is aware of this weakness and Zimmer will work to mask it as Denver looks to exploit it.

Hard to say who is underrated, since we think everyone is pretty good. I don’t think a lot of our defensive guys get the credit they’re due.

Cedric Benson, if he’s not hurt, will probably have 80%+ of the carries this year.

And you might be the only one! Carson didn’t play much, so I guess something is better than nothing, but Jordan is still an emergency 3rd stringer. He made some bad mistakes in the preseason.

How are you going to defend our 3+ receiver sets — I believe there have been some injury issues at CB for you all?

jsl413 is right on this one. We’ll also see starting safety, Chris Crocker, move up to become a nickel corner, moving last year’s starting safety, Chinedum Ndukwe, onto the field. With the injury factor, I believe this is how the Bengals will defend against 3-WR sets.

Who do you feel is your most underrated player.. Geathers?

I would say that this year, Geathers could be a good choice. In truth, Geathers has also underperformed. Since his 10.5 sack season in 2006, he’s has only six sacks in the two seasons since. He’s looked pretty good this preseason and he blew up Tom Brady too.

Yea, it’s hard to really come up with someone, only because we see these guys everyday and for the most part, we’ve rated all of our guys decently. We’re kind of homers on that one. But I will also go back to Pat Sims, if not Domata Peko. These guys showed vast improvement over this time last year and could be a force in the NFL.

Who do you see getting the most carries for your team this year?

Benson. Most definitely. And typically the Bengals give a high percentage of the handoffs to the feature back. Higher than most teams at least. However, we also expect that the team will employ our other running backs, like Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott, more often.

Am I the only one that thought Jordan looked better than his brother?

Yea, but I can see why. Carson just hasn’t been on the field much at all since 2007. But in truth, Jordan has turned the ball over more than we liked during the preseason.

We’re getting there. At defensive tackle, Pat Sims, Domata Peko and Tank Johnson will used in a three-man rotation, often based on situations. Robert Geathers, Antwan Odom and Michael Johnson will be used in the same fashion and Frostee Rucker and Jonathan Fanene will be used at both end and tackle to fill in.

We like it a lot. They were strong last year against the run, but were terrible in the pass rush. It’s one of those things that our defensive line could become the best unit on the defense, or the biggest liability. We’re hoping, and expecting, a lot from this group.

Yea, T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s strongest attribute to our passing game was his intelligence. He knows defensive schemes, especially zone coverages. He generally always found a hole in the zone, roughly one yard beyond the line of scrimmage. If the defense called man-coverage, Houshmadzadeh had this move where he faked out, creating just enough separation for his route over the middle, picking up four yards on third-and-three.

We’re actually not sure if, or how, we’re going to replace that. Chase Coffman, our rookie tight end, could make those plays down the road, but he’s just not ready. In case you’ve seen Hard Knocks, you probably noticed. :)

If the situation is third and short, don’t be surprised if we use Andre Caldwell, a second year player from Florida. He has good field presence like Houshmandzadeh and catch passes in traffic. We might see more RB out of the backfield as receivers — our group of RBs are known for having good hands.

If the situation is a little deeper, we expect it to be a combination of Chad and Henry as much as we do with Coles — who’s tough enough to take a route over the middle and take a shot for that first down.

But in truth, right now, we’re just not sure how we’re going to replace Houshmandzadeh’s third down conversions. There was no one better than he in the league at that.

I think you’re talking about Jim Lippincott — you mean the guy that hikes his shorts all the way over his stomach? He’s the Director of Football Operations, and manager to our ONE full time scout.

Other than this Sunday, we have a lot in common.

But I have to admit, the Steelers are really a great team. Biased or not, it’s just simply the truth. Traditionally, they’ve beaten us with the run, but Big Ben is actually undefeated in his career when playing in the state of Ohio. It’s just as critical that we knock him around, as it would be stuffing their rushing attack — which hasn’t been as strong against us like it was during Jerome Bettis’ days (if there’s anyone that’s thrilled he’s retired, it’s Bengals fans). While it’s the Steelers defense that’s known for being so good, it’s their offense that’s crushed us.

We have to be the more physical team. Marvin Lewis rebuilt this team at most positions with the goal of being a more physical team. From safety, to linebacker, we’re going to (well, I hope to god at least) smack people. But that won’t be enough. We have to beat their entire offense, or else we have no shot. Turnovers and sacks seems like the best way to beat the Steelers (as with most teams I suppose).

We’ll do our best. Of course, our recent history with that team demands payback from the Bengals. We were going to beat that ‘05 team that eventually won the Super Bowl. That was the game that Kimo “tried to avoid the hit” and tore up Palmer’s knee. On that play, we still picked up over 60 yards.

Then, in 2006, the Bengals played the Steelers on the last game of the year. If the Bengals win, we go to the playoffs. If we don’t. Then we’re out. The Steelers beat us in OT on a 60-yard plus pass play to Santonio Holmes. We’ve been bitter every since. In truth, that was the same year, towards the end of the season, that Bengals made a run at the Broncos but failed to convert the PAT. All we needed to do was win the last three games that year and we’re in. We lost all three and have simply been a bad team since.

But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Oh, and I help out over at CincyJungle, too. ;)

First and foremost, they have to get pressure on Roethlis-something. It’d be nice if Keith Rivers got his payback on Ward as well. Obviously, Pittsburgh doesn’t try to hide what they do on offense. It’s up to the defense to smack them in the damn mouth as hard as they can.

Naturally, protecting Carson is going to be at a premium too.

This ^

LOL, I am not sure what it means, but it made my day.

you’d have to look at the first three preseason games to get a clearer idea I fear. Not stellar, but hopefully that last game was a confidence-builder and we’ll open good lanes and get the ball down the field on the ground, drawing in that 8th man into the box and opening up a dynamic passing game.

If I were to guess, and that’s all I’m doing here, the Bengals will want to assert themselves with a rushing offense — something they’ve promised this year — while taking shots in the deep passing game; an area the team believes they’re strong at again.

Defensively, I would expect a lot of blitzes. They really want to set the tempo as a strong pass rushing defense; even if they don’t get the sacks, they’ll want to force the opposing quarterback into mistakes. But it’s also critical that the Bengals control the line of scrimmage. If they can’t, then it’ll be a long season with the Ravens and Steelers accounting for a quarter of our games.

Once negotiations were being drawn out, we were pretty sure that we wouldn’t see Smith against the Broncos. Which is, surprisingly, alright.

Andrew Whitworth will man the left tackle spot and Anthony Collins — 4th round pick last year — will man right tackle. Last year, Collins took over at left tackle due to injury. His first game was against the Pittsburgh Steelers and, to the overjoyed Bengals fan, subsequently shut down James Harrison. So in terms of our starters, we’re alright for now. Smith should still upgrade the position once he’s back healthy AND in football shape.

As for our entire offensive line, this is the biggest unknown on our team. Compared to the starting line up in 2008, we have a new LT, LG, C and RT; Bobbie Williams is the only linemen starting at the same spot he did a year ago and Whitworth is moving from LG to LT.

On paper, we look fine. In truth, we won’t know until Sunday.

Let me give you some background.

Simply put, the Bengals offensive line stunk last year. Rushing the ball was futile — most of the time our running backs were side stepping defenders in the backfield — and our protection scheme allowed 51 sacks for the season (and was also responsible for Palmer’s bum elbow as well as a broken nose in the preseason). So going into the offseason, all we wanted was quality offensive linemen. Levi Jones’ body broke down, Eric Ghiaciuc was terrible and Stacy Andrews, for all of the pedigree you’ve heard, reportedly gave up 9.5 sacks. We let him leave without a thought.

So we pounded the “draft a tackle” drum hard and often. Now, you know that all we wanted for Christmas was a big offensive lineman. When debating who we could take, we obviously knew about Andre Smith’s performance in college — that was what we tried to focus on. We knew about his maturity issues, but reasoned that if he gets some mentorship, he’ll grow up. His issues were never of the criminal nature — you know, the stigma that still remains with the Bengals? They were just maturity, kid in college issues and if he was given some direction, he’d be alright.

For the most part, when he was drafted, we were satisfied. As long as puts that crap he embarrassed himself with behind him, there’s no reason he couldn’t improve our team. Will he be lazy? Will he work hard enough? Obviously, he hasn’t really done anything to make us feel he will. So we’re cautiously optimistic but we’re well aware of all of that.

Not a problem. We’re all football fans and hardcore fans of our respective teams. We will always have that in common.

Several things really helped us get Chad back. One, of all people, Ray Lewis reached out to him and simply pointed out the privilege it is play in this league and you only get so long to play at this level before you’re old news. Even though everyone knows Lewis’ pedigree off the field of what happened several years ago, he is very respected in the league among other players — hey, I’m a Bengals fan that has to deal with him several times, so I’m not just throwing out a BS compliment.

Another major factor was Marvin Lewis. Chad really does look up to him as sort of a big brother, father figure. Also, the Bengals kept saying no way each time the topic came up. He just wasn’t going to get traded. The Redskins offered the Bengals a 2008 first round pick and a 2009 third-round conditional pick (if Chad caught 95 passes in 2008, the Bengals would get a first round pick). The Bengals said no. Shocked everyone; especially Oil Slick (Rosenhaus) and Chad.

I’m not really sure who Marshall is outside of what he’s done on the field. But the Bengals got Chad back on the same page from several factors. And Chad admitted this past offseason that he was totally embarrassed by everything that happened. So I think who Chad ultimately brought him back.

I just hope that once you guys get Marshall back that the story is over. I know how a wide receiver distracting the team can be a pain in the ass. We got lucky. A lot of things finally came together for us. I hope it works out for you guys too.

They didn’t cut Tom Nelson if that’s who you mean. He made the team over Corey Lynch.

Yea, Rivers is completely healthy and he was nasty during the preseason. He looks quicker and far more aggressive than he did last year. We’re expecting him to have a big season this year.

As for Smith, we heard that the injury was about two weeks to heal. It wasn’t that bad of a break. However, with Smith’s weight, it’ll probably be much longer. I was somewhat surprised that Smith wasn’t placed on PUP when the roster was released Saturday. Even though he could be healthy by the second week, there’s no way in the world he’s in game shape. Think of it this way. He’s still on day #4 on his training camp.

Yea. In truth, this is Chad. This has always what’s been like and been about. He’s hilarious. Pisses us off sometimes, but who doesn’t know someone that pisses them off every once in a while. :)

The fan in me says we’re going to the playoffs as a wild card. The realist in me still thinks we’re a third-place team in this division — after all, the Ravens and Steelers were in the AFC Championship game. We’d have to beat both of them to make it. Unless the second WC spot comes out of the North.

On the other hand, who knows. We made a ton of changes and we could be that surprised team that comes around every year.

IMO… The Bengals need offensive line help and for better or for worse, Andre Smith was considered the best tackle in college last season, even with is bowl game woes. Same with Bernard Scott. The thinking is they got a first-day talent at running back in the sixth round.

I’ll say I’m kicking Barbaro next time so you don’t think I’m referring to the Broncos.

RE: Shirley. Marvin Lewis has always had a project in house that he likes to develop. Before Shirley, it was Eric Henderson. Before Henderson, it was Stacy Andrews. The issue with Shirley is that he just wasn’t ready. Having only a few weeks to adjust to a complete change. If Shirley didn’t move, he’d be gone no matter what. The Bengals got Shirley through waivers and now he’s on the team’s practice squad to help develop him. He’s a guard. And Bobbie Williams is playing on the final year under contract. So there stands a very good chance the Shirley, if his development continues, could be the eventual replacement. It’s not that I thought it was gutless, but the Bengals just need guys that are ready now. Shirley still isn’t. Not against first team defenses.

RE: JJ. I think Jeremi Johnson’s situation is very similar as above. JJ is under a one-year deal and most of his weight issues were always when he came into camp. Once camp broke, he was in shape and ready to go. Chris Pressley is on the team’s practice squad and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeremi isn’t re-signed and Pressley makes the team next year as the starting fullback.

RE: Dorsey. The thing that saved Dorsey was his special teams play. It didn’t hurt he ran the hell out of the football either. He blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown against the Colts in the final preseason game. Special teams has always been a bad phase of our team, so strengthening that, even with a fourth running back, will hopefully benefit us.

Cautiously optimistic. Many fans haven’t forgotten, nor forgave him for the offseason last year. For the most part, he’s convinced most of us that we shouldn’t concern ourselves anymore; other than scoring touchdowns… of course.

Did you see that? Chad even surprised us. Not only that, but he kicked the PAT straight with tons of height. Then he kicksoff to the nine-yard line. He beat a horse in a race, he’s been calling out Michael Phelps and now he’s calling out Andre Berto for a boxing match. :)

Yea, I think it would be foolish for any Bengals fan not to expect some impact with Houshmandzadeh leaving. He didn’t possess any overwhelming natural talents, like maybe Chad, or Randy Moss, or even Brandon Marshall. But he worked really hard, ran crisp routes and studied hard. His football IQ was through the roof. And because of all that, like we said earlier, he was critical on third downs. His contributions will certainly be missed.

We’re not really sure who will step up in that role of trusted receiver that will pick you up the first down. One thing about Houshmandzadeh also, was that he was very tough. He’d go over the middle and go all out for a first down, no matter the risk. We need someone to step up to fulfill that and we’re not exactly sure who that will be.

Palmer says he’s 100%, but who knows. We were told all of last year that Palmer was close, when in reality, he never returned after the fifth week. However, we do expect him to return. His elbow is 100% and his passes were sharp as hell all through Training Camp — his accuracy was a little off, which we expected to improve through the preseason. He sprained his ankle and by the time he takes a snap against the Broncos, it’ll be the first snap he takes in game conditions in a month.

So summation, his elbow is 100%. His ankle not so much. And he will definitely be rusty. We fully expect that against the Broncos, the Bengals will want to rush the ball early and often.

No. The city won’t react good at all. Probably none of us will. We just went through a 4-11-1 season… and honestly, we’ve been optimistic as we can be during the Marvin Lewis era. Even though we’ve only suffered two losing seasons since then (2007, 2008), we’ve also enjoyed only one winning season (2005). It’s the what have you done lately for me mindset. Two straight losing seasons is all too familiar to the pre-Marvin Lewis era in which things were really bad. I mean, really bad.

Furthermore, we had a good draft — even with Andre Smith. We had solid free agent pickups. Our schedule is far softer than it was last year. Our expectations are a bit higher and if we lose, it makes the fall hurt that much more.

If we lose and look bad, riots will consume the streets and our local brewery will be one of the few companies avoiding layoffs in this economy.

You also have to understand us. We may be loyal and patient, we’re also not quiet nor idle. We can bitch like the best of them. :)

What are your hopes/expectations for Cincy?

The fan in me only expects playoffs. The realist in me hopes that the Bengals will grow. Not only improving from 4-11-1, but to grow as a football team. We’ve had character issues before; we’ve done well improving that image. But we need to continue building with high character to create a better atmosphere and a better chance at winning. On the field, it has to be consistency. While our defense ranked 12th, we had five games that we gave up 30 points or more. We also had the worst offense in the league. That’s just unacceptable.

What would you consider as a total failure of a season?

I hate to say it like this and be acceptable of mediocrity. But in truth, I realize after last year, we’re sort of rebuilding. We’re excited about the talent on this team, however we’re not sure how it will shape out and if it’s ready to come together. We have a lot of new players. Normally I would say not making the playoffs is a failure; you get tired of saying that every year and it never comes close to happening. However, if we’re rebuilding and we just finished 4-11-1, I would consider anything less than .500 a total failure. Normally failure would be not making the playoffs, but I can’t really expect that right now. This team has to grow first.

What would you consider a good season?

A winning season and making the playoffs.

What would you consider a great season?

Winning a playoff game. We haven’t done that since the late 80s.

No doubt! Like I said before, we’re all football fans and fans of our own teams. So we have a lot in common. And you guys have been great. However, when it’s Steelers week, I just might take the week off. That. Will. Be. Fun. LOL

Awesome questions too. Keep ‘em coming. Our guys are filtering over to answer your questions and I’ll be here throughout the week.

The offensive line is the biggest question mark. Since bloggers like us have nothing better to do than watch games several times — even in the preseason — I was able to make some observations. When the Bengals line attacks and locks into someone, defenders weren’t shedding off the block until 3-4 yards down field. Our weak point has been between the A and B gaps on the left. However, if defenders stunted, or delayed on a run blitz at the point of attack, it stuffs our run badly.

As for our defense, we employ a mostly 4-3 defense that attacks the edges. Our safeties creep up against the run at the LOS and we’ll run blitz more this year. This preseason has especially shown the Bengals defense attacking more downhill.

i thought Ayers was a beast. His run defense was really eye catching. at the start of the scouting, i thought the Bengals would have a chance at Ayers in the 2nd round. But by the time April rolled around, Ayers was a top 20 pick. And at the same time we thought there was no freaking way the Bengals could get Maualuga in the 2nd round. Rey is a boom or bust player. If he can control himself and play up to his potential, the Rey will be a force.