Week 8 Bengal Preview:Dunn saids "Must Win"

Well it is week 8 for our beloved Cincinnati Bengals who host the Miami Dolphins. With the Bengals being 2-4, 3 games back of the Steelers and the Ravens, this is definitely a must win situation for the Cincinnati Bengals. To be honest with the schedule they have, to even have a chance to be a playoff contender they have to win 3 of the next 4 games, games that consist of this weeks Dolphins, next week Steelers on a national stage, then the always dangerous Colts, then the up and down Bills. This is a stretch where I think the Bengals are definitely capable of winning 3 of these 4 game with 3 of them being home games, but that mean they have to win against the Steeler, or the Colts, The fan side of me say that the Bengals can win all 4 of these games, the wannabe anaylst of me says, it can't be done and it won't be done. As far as week 8 goes, it's going to be an interesting week and a offensive game in my opinion. This game could be a lot like last week minus a couple touchdown each way, it pretty clear to me that this defense is not the defense of last year, you couldn't help but think this defensive unit would be as good as last year when they finish 4th. They were a young defensive unit, that got a year older, another year of experience, but this year they are currently ranked 20th. The Miami offense is a offense that sits in the middle of every offensive category in the league, but when you consider the fact they have a lot of talent on offense and they've had a tough schedule so far this year with 3 loss all coming from division leaders(Jets, Patriots(T1st), and Steelers) this offense can be very explosive especially up against a very down and vulnerable defensive like the Bengals, not to mention they're really banged up as well. Out of all the Corner backs on the 53 man roster, Brandon Ghee is the only healthy corner back, Hall has a bad hammy, John Joesph has a bum ankles, Morgan Trent has a bad knee, we all know Pacman Jones is on the shelf for the rest of the year, Ndukwe and Williams is both hurt, and Keith Rivers will see a limited amount of snaps due to a knee problem, his back up Brandon Johnson also has a bad knee. All this spells a scary game for the Bengals defense, with the good running game of the Dolphins and the fact that Chad Henne is really hot right now, this defense is in a lot of trouble. As far as offensively, you like to think the Bengals are starting to find their mo-jo but the inconsistency makes you second guess that thought. I see the Bengals offense having another good game, no not a repeat of the explosion that we witness last week, but they will go blow for blow with the Dolphins. The Cincinnati Bengals will be able to run and pass against the Dolphins defensive, but it all going to be in the hands of the offensive line which has been very shaky and inconsistent week in and week out. One man that will for sure give them problem is Cameron Wake. This up and coming star has 6 sacks already and even though the Bengals pass protection last week was very good, they are still a team who is not good at pass blocking, Wake is a guy that's a hybrid DL/OLB, Bengals fans let's just hope he don't line up over Andre Smith. With the ailing hip of Carson Palmer, and the pass protect problems the Bengals have expect to see Cedric Benson who is averaging about 21 carries a game get the ball about 30 times, if the game is going in a way that the Bengals don't have to pass. If the Bengals are able to keep Carson protected, the pass game will definitely help, with Owens playing well, and the hot play of Jordan Shipley, not mention Jermaine Gresham, and sprinkle a little Chad in there, it could really open up the run game for Benson. For the Dolphins to win and if I was calling the D , I see them doing a lot of blitzing and testing that O-line, putting pressure on Palmer every time he drop back and forcing him into making mistakes. For the Dolphins to win offensively, Marshall will not be the man, if and when they pass the dangerous guy will be Devon Bess, and his slot abilities, with Pacman out the Bengals have no body that can keep up with the 'Wes Welker' like skill set of this guy. Be that as it may, Miami must play their game which is 65% run and 35% pass. Yes Henne is hot, but given the fact that most likely Hall and Joesph is going to play, you have to be careful cause these two guys are guys that will take the ball away. They must run Brown and Williams (who is playing the Ricky of old) and play smash mouth against that D-Line and Linebacker core. For the Bengals, the only way they can win this game is if the defense steps up, the defense really have to start strong, rather it be via turnover or 3 and outs on first few drives. Cincinnati is going to have to get up early on Miami that way they can control the game. Bottom line is this, Miami is a more complete team right now, it's not like either team is playing well this year but they're the hottest of the two, they are very balanced on offensive, and they're undefeated on the road, Cincinnati is a team that's really banged up on defense, very vulnerable, and offensively really inconsistent. All this plus the pass protection test there going to go through, I'm really hoping that Carson don't get knocked out of this game. I see the Bengals fighting hard, but falling short in a 31-28 loss to the Miami Dolphins. A loss in a must win situation, which will end their season and any hopes of winning the north or making a wild card spot for the playoffs.

A Moral Victory For Palmer in a Surprising Lost for His Team.

Anybody who watched the Bengals @ Browns games, as a Cincinnati fan your probably pissed and for good reason. The Bengals lost to the Brown was maybe the surprise of the day, Nobody gave the Browns a chance to beat the Bengals including me, even though the Bengals has definitely not been playing up to expectation. Early on the blames has mostly been put on the quarterback Carson Palmer, but blaming Carson Palmer has been the thing for the Cincinnati Fans dating all the way back to last year. Today the man you all love to blame, actually got a morale victory out of a hard lost today in Cleveland. Even though Carson Palmer will never admit it publicly, inside the guys must feel that he got some kind of a victory because of the lost to the Browns, not only was it a victory but it was also a day where he should have been able to feel the weight of the city critics lift off his shoulder.Yes it's true that we have not seen the Carson Palmer from 2005, but we also don't have the same football team from 2005. Regardless of what anybody says Carson Palmer is still one of the best QB's in the league, and he is still and always be for as long as he's playing the face of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise. I'm not necessarily here to throw numbers at you, talk about the all the good and bad games or even to write the Carson Palmer story, it's just hard to understand why Carson Palmer is so unappreciated by the very fans that he gave hope to and gave a reason to cheer too. Every year Carson has played the Bengals have made the playoffs, no I'm not saying he's the only person taking the Bengals to the playoff but he obviously make a big differences. Some say but he can't win playoff games, yeah that's true but he's not the only person on the team, he can't win it alone. I know what you thinking, "you just said he takes Bengals to the playoff every year he plays," yes I did, but I didn't say he wins games alone there is a differences. Too many fans appreciate the wrong things. I will never blame a fan, because regardless we as fan can never make a difference between win and lost, but some fans only appreciate the flash, the big mouths, the players who always in front of the camera like the Chad Johnson's of the league. Before I get into Chad and why I used him as an example, I want to make it clear that my reasoning for writing this is only an attempt to help fans be better fans. So many fans only see and know the basic of sports, in this case football. Most fans only know the minimum amount required to know to be a fan like touchdown, first down, pass, run, skill positions, and what i call the big mouths of the league. Many people never played, coach, or been involved with football on a competitive level long enough to understand the "dirty work" of football, like knowing and understand coverages, mismatches, coaches tendencies, personnel match-ups and etc. I think this is the problem with the Cincinnati Bengals fans a.k.a Carson Palmer haters. Cincinnati Bengals fans fail to realize all of the challenges Carson has to try to overcome. Chad Johnson, this guy was a damn good football player, he was a guy who also made a name for himself in the year 2005, but somehow, through all the noise he made at the end of that next year talking about trades, through all the miss camps and practices, through all the noise somehow, some way he is still the fan favorite here. Not only has all these things been a problem for the team, he also has not been good as the Chad from 2005 and seem to be declining every year also not getting any younger. Make no mistake I want Chad to do to good cause i want the Bengals to do good, but he is a problem that Carson Palmer ultimately have to put up with. You also has the bad O-line the Bengals has and the horrible offensive coordinator we have. Carson Palmer is the guy that Fans point the finger at when anything offensively goes wrong, but like my point earlier is that most fans don't understand what's behind the results of the play, they only understand the result. When they see a pass that goes high or or too low it Palmer fault, fans fail to realize that sometimes the pass must be low or high to avoid throwing a interception and be placed only where the WR can catch it, or they fail to see that there is somebody in his face every time he drop back.Cincinnati Bengals fans/ Carson Palmer haters don't understand because the play calling is so predictable it makes it hard for Carson to throw against 7 man coverage when you throwing out of a 2 or 3 receiver set, don't let me lose you. When the ball is thrown where nobody seems to be, first thing you like to say is "where was he throwing that ball?" Not understanding that the Receiver ran the wrong route and that where the ball went is where the receiver pose to be. I'm not a Chad fan, and I'm not a Chad hater, I just find it pretty amazing that when Carson mess up or fans think he messed up, everybody wants his neck, facebook is going crazy with haters saying "our QB suck", "get rid of Carson"' "whats wrong with him" and many more. Hey but when Chad F up, drop a ball, or even T.O. this year everything OK and some still may put the blame on Carson, "that was a bad pass"' "he's putting where he can get killed". How about today???? Today was a great day for Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer was the only reason the Bengals even had a chance, and sorry Bengals fans Chad was ultimately the reason we loss that chances to win. When Benson fumble, it was OK, when the field goal was blocked, nobody saw Polland being pushed on his ass so that also was OK, but when shipley was knocked out, o yea that was Carson fault, and the last drive that was going 85 yards, was cut short at 50 when, yes Cincinnati's favorite, clearly pulled the Browns corner back on the ground on a 3rd down play that a partially blind man could have saw. It was a penalty that moved us back 10 yards and out of field goal range and ultimately blew whatever chance we had to get either a field goal or touchdown. You Cincinnati Bengals fan better remember where you was before Carson Palmer. You Cincinnati Bengals fan better seriously think about where you would be without Carson Palmer, and remember what happen in 08 when he went out in week 2. You Cincinnati Bengals fans better start to appreciate what you got in Carson Palmer and give the man the respect he's EARNED! You Cincinnati Bengals fans better realize who made your favorite Chad, and who Chad was without Carson Palmer, and who he will be without Carson. As for Chad, you Cincinnati fans better find a new favorite cause Chad is in the last year and he's not likely to be coming back, then will see what he is without Carson. You have to respect a man who gave you reason to cheer, gave you a reason to buy a ticket to a game, gave you a reason to look forward to NFL football season, gave you a reason to wear your Bengals gear, allowed you to be able to buy your Chad jerseys and shirts, allow you to be able to sit in front of your TV and watch all home games and avoid blackouts,yeah Chad by a mass amount of tickets when it's close to a sell out but Carson is the reason it's even close, he allow you to be able to watch Chad on TV and allow you to hear silly thing and be entertained by Chad Johnson. Carson made all this possible for you, what have you done for him? wait don't answer just yet 2 more questions. Ask yourself What was we before Carson arrived? I don't think you have to think to hard to figure out the answer to that. Then be honest with yourself, if he's out, let go, and replaced by any QB in the draft next year, honestly as yourself what will we be without him?

John G. Dunn II

Week 3 Bengals Preview

It's week 3 of the NFL season and our beloved Cincinnati Bengals visit the Carolina Panthers. Let's examine our opponent first. The Carolina Panthers is a talent-rich football team, but talent alone don't win football games. The Panther is starting very slow this season, and in a way having an identity crisis in my opinion. For some reason they not riding the back of Williams and Stewart. When this team has won, it has been behind the running game. Even though it's early the Carolina Panthers are in the bottom 5 of scoring, total yards, and passing. Their 16Th in rushing, but when you have 2 backs with the ability they backs have, you should be doing much better than 16Th. The Carolina Panther will also be running Jimmy Classuen out to make his rookie debut. When you look at the panthers defensively, their not much better. They show up in the bottom half of all defensive rankings as well. All things spells out as a major disadvantage for the Panthers on Sunday. I see this game being one, where the Bengals offense find their rhythm and really starts to click, with the bad back of T.O. and the cracked ribs of Chad, I see Cedric Benson seeing the kind of carries that he was used to seeing last year, I predict him to get 20 plus carries for 100 plus yards and a touchdown, Carson will have a good game I got him throwing for a Lil over 250 and 2 touchdowns. I think the defense will continue to make strides to be a unit worth talking about, and this game will be 24-10 Cincy.

What the addition of T.O. will do for the Cincinnati Bengals

As we approach the decision for free agent Terrell Owens here in the next 48 hours or so people wonder what kind of impact he'll have if he was added to the team? I will tell you the impact he will have will be major! He'll stop any arguement of which team in the north is the favorite, hands down the Bengals will be. In my opinion their already the favor, but many say the Baltimore Ravens are. Imagine T.O. and Chad on the same field for the same team, I don't care how big their ego's are how could you stop them, don't forget about 1st round pick Jermaine Gresham, and you pick who you want to go in the slot. Also don't forget about Ced Benson as the run threat with Bernard Scott Complamenting him and on top of all that Carson Palmer throwing the football. This Will not only make this Bengals team the favorite in the North but you could make a pretty damn good arguement for them as the favor in the AFC period, they'll definitely make them the most deadliest offense in the AFC. I know your saying it takes more than offense to win, and your right it do, but do I need to say anything about this D? I think last year play should speak for itself. Additions like Adam "Pacman" Jones, Carlos Dunlap only makes this D even better. This D is unique in it on way, think about how young this D is, Rey Maualuga, Keith Rivers, Leon Hall, John J, Michael Johnson, Peko should I continue? Don't forget about the older Vets like Antwan Odom, Dehani Jones, Brandon Johnson,Robert Gathers, and listen can go on and on. This D is young, and this is another year together under one the best Defensive minds in football Mr. Mike Zimmer who led the D that was 4th in the Nfl last year. Bottom line is this, Adding T.O. to this team will definitely help you more than it will hurt you, talk about having the perfect mix of run pass, or many weapons on offense to choose from, to not add T.O. was a big mistake earlier this year, let's hope they don't make the same mistake twice. I'll be at camp this weekend, I got my fingers crossed, let's hope T.O. is there!

Lakers Bounce Back in Game 3 in Boston

It was not pretty, but the Los Angeles Lakers took the lead in the series in Game 3 in Boston. Without an all-star performance from Bryant and Gasol, foul trouble for Artest and Bynum's knee bugging him again, the Lakers still outperformed the Celtics. Ray Allen went 0-13, just a game after he set an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers in a game. Garnett started off hot with the first 6 points but it was not enough to get the Celtics past the Lakers. Pierce also struggled from the field but was hot behind the arc. The game was a fast paced game, but was lead by the Lakers the whole game from midway through the first quarter. Derek Fisher, the only other 4-time champion on the Lakers and started the same year as Bryant did, had a huge burst in the 4th quarter that secured the Lakers' second victory of the Finals. The play of the game was when Fisher drove to the basket on a fast break and was fouled by three Celtics and still made the basket! Game 4 is tomorrow night at 9 on ABC.

Oh, author's note to Pierce - You may not head back to Los Angeles after all!!!! It may end for you bums in Boston!!!!

Go L.A.!!!!!

State of the Cincinnati Reds in Month #2

Well what can I say. April was bad, May was the exact opposite for the Cincinnati Reds. They have been doing so well that they have earned a share of first place. Offensively we have been on fire. Top 5 in almost every offensive statistic in the NL. It's hard to really single out one hot hitter in the line up because it more than just one. Scott Rolen is on fire batting .298 with 6 hr and 22 RBIs. Who knew when we acquired him last year that he would be the offensive weapon that he has become, there was no question about his defense and the glove he has on the hot corner, but he's never been a offensive difference maker I personally wasn't too excited about giving up Edwin Encarnacion for Scotty but I admit I was wrong. If there was an unsung hero award, i guess that goes to Miguel Cairo. He has didn't nothing but rake all month, he finish may batting .372 highest batting average on the team in may, replacing an injured Joey Votto, and who said we would lose a step with Votto missing 7 straight games. Then there's Jonny Gomes. He has tour the cover off the ball as well. He batted .364 in may with 5 hr and 22 RBIs, lead the team in RBIs for a hot second. I feel he was cheated out of the NL player of the month award which was awarded to Troy Glaus of the Atlanta Braves inspite Gomes leading Glaus in most offensive categories. Look, I can go on and on about all the hot hitters in the month of may for this Cincinnati Ball Club, just pick a name. You want an idea of how hot this time was in may??? As a team They was 1st in the NL in hits (301), Hr (45), RBI (160) and a .299 batting average. For what it's worth they was in 1st in Slugging Pct (.507) and On-base Percentage (.873). They scored 162 runs 2nd to Atlanta who had 163. There team batting average was 20 points higher than the nearest team, and they hit 18 more homeruns then the nearest team. Offensively they was arguable the hottest team in the MLB. Pitching is where this team didn't look so great. Don't get me wrong pitching was great as well, but it had nothing on the offense. It seem like the bullpen and starting rotation changed roles this month. If you remember the starting rotation start the season off horrible, and the bullpen seem to pick up where they left off at the end of the '09 campign. In may, the starting pitching was exceptional. As a starting staff we we're 18-11 with a 3.84 ERA, not off the chart #'s but good enough when you have the offensive out break we did. We was tied for 3rd in innings pitched (260), which means in most cases a healthy rested bullpen.What do I have to say about Mike Leake? All i'm saying is Steven Strausburg who is that? Mike Leake is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in may and still is undefeated on the year, and he's under the radar because of Who?? That's another story for another day. Jonny Cueto was prolly the hottest pitcher in the MLB in may, posting a 4-0 record in 5 starts with a 1.59 ERA. Then you go to the bullpen, Probably the only dark spot in the month for the ball club. I guess the #'s don't say that, but nobody in the pen is pitching consistently, except Author Rhodes who leads the MLB in ERA for Relievers, but you can't pitch him everyday. Coco has a lot of saves, but he also has blown a few as well, lucky enough for us 2 of them has turn into W for him. If you watch the Reds, coco always give you drama in that 9th inning, it never fails, he comes in give up a hit or two, or walk a man, but more times then not find his way out of it. Some fills that if Cincinnati is there battling for a playoff spot down the home stretch coco could hurt them, and it's true. I feel the exact same way. As far as the rest of the guys, it been a very unstable group. Lincoln has went down, he's on 60 day DL I feel sorry for that guy, he just can't buy a break. Del Rosario and Ondrusek has been up and down from the majors and triple A. Del Rosario has been pretty good for the little time he has been here, even doe his one appearence this month didn't go well at all. Onddrusek, Masset, and Herrera has all just been inconsistent. I get worried everytime we have to turn to the bullpen. The month of may has also brought along the injury bug. We lost Homer for 15 DL with a shoulder, Dickerson is out on the 60 day DL with a hand, we lost Hanigan for 15 days with a hand, Votto missed 7 straight games with a stiff neck but we haven't really lost a step. You have no choice but to be excited as a reds fan. Let's hope June bring more excitement to the city and that we can have some breathing room in 1st place, HEY WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO OCTOBER!

Celtics Bounce Back in Game 2

Well, Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals was a lot different than Game 1. The Celtics showed up to play tonight... especially Ray Allen. Allen set a NBA Finals record for threes made in a game. The lead bounced back and forth throughout the game. I think the main factor in this game was Ray Allen's shooting. Bynum also showed up big tonight on both sides of the ball but was not enough to defeat the Celtics. Throughout the game, there were times where each team did not control the ball well at all with careless mistakes with the ball.

If you are a Celtics fan, you should be happy the series is tied going back to Boston. If you are a Lakers fan, you should not worry but hope for better effort on defense against Allen's shooting in Game 3. This will be a close series but I still say it will be the Lakers in 6.