ColumbusSports.com : Your place to stay informed and talk about the sports scene and sports teams in and around Columbus.

Willie Parker Roughs up the Bengals

Week 8, (L) Steelers 24, Bengals 13 -- Go for it! Don't go for it! What's a losing coach to do in the NFL these days? Marvin Lewis was roundly booed at Paul Brown Stadium for kicking a field goal on 4th and 1 from the Pittsburgh 2 trailing 14-3 late in the first half. The Bengal head coach later intimated that it was a bad decision, and most fans agree, as they watched the once promising club fall to 2-5 and 3 games out of first in the AFC North, when a victory would have put the margin at just 1 game. 10/30/07 update -- The Bengals got Monday off to clear their minds, but TJ Houshmandzadeh and others still came in to watch film on their own. Lewis' intention was to get just a day's separation between the coaching staff and the players. Coach says the playoffs are still possible, but I gotta tell you the numbers say no. Only three 2-5 teams have rebounded to make the post-season since the format changed in 1990. Chances are very narrow, Bungle fans. At least Cincinnati has a potentially winnable game upcoming with Buffalo, but the Bills have lost a few heartbreakers and have been staying in games, so this one as well promises to be a struggle.

LeBeau as LeBengal Leader

Puttin' a Hurtin' On --   Both teams are hard up on injuries going into the critical Bengals/Steelers AFC North battle in Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday afternoon. For Pittsburgh, DE Aaron Smith is now out. S Ryan Clark and  CB Bryant McFadden are doubtful. Bengal Bites favorite LB Clint Kriewaldt has had limited practice but is optimistically listed as "probable". For the good guys, the big bad news is that Willie Anderson OT is O-U-T. LBs Caleb Miller and Ahmad Brooks are once again out too. WR Antonio Chatman is questionable, and RB Rudi Johnson is doubtful. Rudi has not practiced all week either. Looks like it's going to be the Kenny Watson show again, folks! 10/27/07 Addition -- Steelers defensive guru, and former Bengal head coach, Dick LeBeau is keeping mum about any defensive changes this week with the injuries sustained. Don't expect any. This will be Blitzburgh all the way, especially with Willie Anderson out and the struggles of Levi Jones on the offensive line. OLB's James Harrison and Clark Haggans are healthy and are sure to cause trouble for the Bengal line this week as they struggle to protect Carson Palmer.

Clint Kriewaldt Waltzes in Step

Time to Throwback the Steelers

Showdown With the Steelers -- Here it is, week eight and the Bengals' first 1:00 PM home game, in a most unusual schedule twist that has seen two Monday night home appearances thus far and calls for two road night games later, one against the Steelers. This first matchup with the rust-belt rumblers is crucial, though. A victory will put Cincy just a game back (with a temporary tiebreaker advantage) of Pittsburgh, while a loss would relegate the orange and black to the bottom tier of the AFC for good. Steelers' defensive end Aaron Smith will be doubtful, and Safety Ryan Clark has an injured spleen. Linebacker Clint Kriewaldt (I just had to list him for the name) also might not play. Though not exactly reduced to a shell of a defense, the Bengals may be able to exploit the situation with an improved running game, which looks like it may feature both Rudi Johnson and Kenny Watson. Just a few Watson bursts and healthy dose of Rudi jams could open up Ocho Cinco on a fly route. I love the smell of rust in the afternoon . . . 

Kenny Watson Downs Jets

Sweet Victory for Jonathan Joseph

Week 7 -- (W) Bengals 38, Jets 31 --  In plenty of time for Halloween, the orange and black came back from the dead in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday. Staring a 23-10 disaster in the face with the hapless Jets, RB Kenny Watson turned on the heat, and with the help of a Jonathan Joseph pick-six created a late avalanche that buried New York and positioned the Bengals just two games behind the Steelers, who lost at the last second Sunday night to Denver kicker Jason Elam. The Jets put on a late desperation 8 pointer to make the score interesting, but in truth Watson's 130 yards and 3 TDs put Cincinnati in a winning position when Joseph's late return finally put the game out of reach. 10/22/07 Update -- Eric Mangini was visibly and understandably upset deep in the recesses of Paul Brown Stadium last night trying to figure out how his crumbling defense permitted the Bengal barrage the buried his squad after it held a 13 point second half advantage. Laverneus Coles (WR), however, continues to earn the coaching staff's praise and deserved it in the loss. Coles put up 133 yards and two touchdowns, and vowed to take the 1-5 team on his shoulders. For the Bengals' part at WR, Glenn Holt is showing promise and athleticism, and there have been Chris Henry sightings, as he is eyeing a return in two weeks. Don't listen to the Chad Johnson trade rumors either, said Marvin Lewis after the game. Lewis completely denied an ESPN report that he wants Ocho Cinco traded next year. . .

Bustin the Bengals?

Washington in New York -- With all the focus on new RB Thomas Jones as the pivot point of the Jets' running game, Coach Mangini has been quick to point out the importance of Leon Washington to any potential future success for New York's AFC franchise. Washington took a direct snap play successfully against Philly and has shown promise in screen situations as well. So far, Washington has 13 catches for 72 yards as well as 78 yards on the ground. Where he's been most important, though, is in the kick return game. Washington has two returns for touchdowns and 546 return yards total. Looks like another Cincinnati weakness is in the target sights this week. 10/22/07 Update -- Washington had only 5 offensive touches but 32 yards, plus over 120 yards in the return game. He looked sharp when given the opportunity. Frankly, he's the type we'd love to see in stripes.

Old School $8.00 Ticket

Make it Snappy -- Eric Mangini put the Jets through extra two-minute drills at the end of each practice on Wednesday and Thursday, as he feels that area has been a weakness for the Jets this year. Apparently, he also feels that running rushed two-minute drills when the guys are dog tired will better simulate the real game situation, which sounds logical.  With each team desparate for a win, there could easily be some late fourth quarter frenetics in this one that could decide the outcome.  Ocho Cinco and TJ best be ready, as third leading receiver TE Reggie Kelly (111 yards, no TDs) has not practiced this week. Of course, Chris Henry is still suspended and Tab Perry is out for the year, having undergone hip surgery. Despite being 1-4, the Bengals are second in the NFL in passing at 285 yards per game, but a disturbing 78% of the total offense has come through the air. Probably all that trying to catch up stuff . . .

Jets are landing.

Jet Settin' -- The Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets appear to be living parallel lives as they head into Sunday's 4 PM confrontation of two 1 win teams. Both Eric Mangini and Marvin Lewis in their postgame comments from week 6 asserted that their struggling squads were getting to be fundamentally sound, but just missing a crucial play here and there. Isn't that what the whole game is about?! Incidentally, Lewis and Mangini had offices across form each other in Baltimore and they have stayed relatively close. Both of their teams were picked by many sportswriters to be at least possible wild card candidates. That would be a minor miracle for either team at this point, historically and statistically speaking. This underwhelming matchup is actually a crucial game on the schedule for each, as the loser will be realistically eliminated at an early point in the season. Lewis is being sheepish in comments to Jets personnel about Buckeye favorite Anthony Schlegel, unceremoniously thrust into active duty, who obviously was hoped to perform better.  Mangini for his part is downplaying the Bengals' 800 pound gorilla in the corner - the decimated linebacking corps. The man-genius' mantra this week is how explosive the Bengals are on offense and how recent history shows a tremendous takeaway advantage to Cincinnati. We need a translator for all the coach-speak going on here! Word is that Jets' DB Erik Coleman is looking forward to the matchup as his first NFL start was against the Bengals in the Jets' opening day victory in 2004. He was toasted by Chad Johnson then but rebounded to intercept Carson Palmer and earned AFC Rookie Player of the Week for his effort. He looks OK now from a concussion, and has started 47 games for the Jets since. This is the Jets' first visit to Paul Brown Stadium.

Ocho Cinco perplexed

Week 6 -- (L) Chiefs 27,   Bengals  20 -- This one was not as close as the score sounds. Larry Johnson, who rebounded with a phenomonal game, fumbled through the end zone on what would otherwise have been a strong TD run for KC, which would have left Cincy beaten 34-20 in the end. Tony Gonzalez killed with over 100 yards receiving and two TDs, earning him the NFL career tight end touchdown record with 63. It was essentially another week of bad striped defense, with the addition of sloppy O-line play this week resulting in uncharacteristic sacks of Carson Palmer, whose two picks and a fumble did not help matters. 10/15 thoughts-- Levi Jones, for the first time since gaining a starting position at Arizona State after being a walk-on, was benched for poor performance, and admitted it was the worst game of his career. The Bengals are also now 1-18 in the last 2 games on third down. RB Chris Perry is eligible to be activated and practice this week, but there is no word on whether this will happen. In Buckeye related news, the Bengals released backup kicker Josh Huston as Shayne Graham proved himself able to handle all kickoffs.

Chiefs Get Chompin

Chef's Salad -- KC has not lost two in a row in Arrowhead, the NFL's equivalent of a college stadium, in three years. While Cincy and KC may not seem like natural rivals, this is 40 years of AFC competition for the two, and last year in week one Cincy knocked out Chiefs QB Trent Green with a nasty concussion, a situation which has resurfaced for Green again in Miami and may cost him his carreer. Lest we forget, the Chefs are the team that beat out the Bengals for the last playoff spot in 2006, and just one win in the last 3 games would have propelled the Tiggers to eternal sports almanac stardom. Instead, the Bengals dropped (somewhat) close losses with Indy, Denver and Pittsburgh (OT) to spend January at home. Here's hoping Ty Law is too old and slow to keep up with TJ and Ocho Cinco.

Chefs eaten in 2006

I'll Second That --  With the bye week TJ Houshmandzadeh slipped to second in AFC receptions (39, to 44 for Baltimore's Derrick Mason), and Chad Johnson stayed second in receiving yardage (495 to Randy Moss' 551). Despite knee and ankle injuries respectively, both top receivers practiced today as the Bengals returned to get in shape for 2-3 Kansas City.  A second chance is needed for the linebacking corps as only Landon Johnson practiced out of the walking wounded. On the O-line Willie Anderson sounds doubtful for Sunday. With the running game concerns, Rudi Johnson still did not practice. The Chiefs, by the way, were held to 10 yards rushing last week in their loss to Jacksonville. Let's make that a double this week . . .

Chef's Special -- One of my favorite commercials is when the guy paints "Chefs" in the KC endzone, and gets offered a Snickers to tide him over while he re-does the job. Let's hope the Bungles don't give up any do overs next week. The thin linebacking corps may be in for trouble against the resurgent TE Tony Gonzalez (100 yds in week 5). Frankly, the Bengals are probably just on par with the Chiefs in many areas (except obviously Carson and the receivers), and the striped strugglers desperately need a win. The revolving door showed Harvard man Clifton Dawson (RB) the back while  DeDe Dorsey stepped into the backup role. At LB, Lemar Marshall was placed on IR as expected and Corey Mays was acquired from New England. Look out for more changes during the upcoming week.

Chief Relief -- It sounds like the linebacking crew may improve for the Bengals' road trip to KC on 10/14. Landon Johnson, Ahmad Brooks, Caleb Miller and Rashad Jeanty are all expected to suit up in stripes. Brooks should be the key return for the defense, and will hopefully deflect the "D" from disarray (Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch, 10/4) to defense. Rabinowitz has his eye on the tiger, though, and his suggestions of disarray are not far off.  Three straight losses and an embarrassment on national television will bring up such words. So will sideline disputes and coach tirades. Applause to Chad Johnson, though, for admitting after film study that his attack on Carson Palmer was unfounded. Marvin Lewis also admitted that the two 12 men and two offensive alignment penalties were unacceptable and should be addressed by the staff. Boys, let's keep the infractions to aggressive defensive ones, not avoidable backsteps on offense . . .  

Welker Big Addition to Patriots

Week 4: (L) Patriots 31  Bengals 13 -- The tortoise shells were divined, the crystal balls consulted, and yes indeed the Bengals were soundly routed by the non-hooded unabomber and his cast of KGB agents, as expected. This one was never really in doubt, fans. On the good side, repalcement RB Kenny Watson survived and looked serviceable, Levi Jones started on the offensive line and former Buckeye Mike Vrabel at least got one of the enemy scores. However, the Bengals have an obvious linebacker problem, for those who weren't watching Monday night. The rest of us had it beat into our heads by the ESPN crew. The Bengals, already LB depleted to begin with, continually played dime defense with Dublin Coffman's Chinedum Ndukwe often blitzing as a safety-backer when the roster was reduced to 2 linebackers, one being Ohio State's Anthony Schlegel, who had been with the team for 11 days. LB Landon Johnson came out with an eye injury and LB Lemar Marshall is now gone for the year with a nasty ripped Achilles' tendon. Ouch!!! Tempers were flaring on the field and sidelines with heated exchanges between Ocho Cinco and Carson Palmer as well as choice words to the staff by TJ Houshmazdzadeh. Marvin Lewis had a verbal locker room tirade afterwards, which could easily be heard by the media in the hallways. Top players bore the brunt of the attack, according to those within earshot. OK, so the bye week apparently is coming at a good time. Unfortunately, creampuff Kansas City pulled off a great comeback victory and may be on an even playing field with Cincinnati on 10/14. Stretching back to last season, the Bengals have now lost 6 of 7, but this was the first loss ever while wearing the orange uni's. Save 'em for Halloween next time!!

Tags: cincinnati bengals