Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer will not need surgery on his injured throwing elbow judging by the results of a recent medical examination, the team said today.

For the second time, Marvin Lewis and the Bengals' coaches have been selected as one of the staffs for the Senior Bowl. "The top talent is always going to be at this game," Lewis said in a release.

For the second time, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and his staff have been selected to coach the annual all-star game for college seniors.

While Herm Edwards talked like he'll be back as the Kansas City Chiefs' coach for at least one more year, running back Larry Johnson began trying to talk his way out of town after a 16-6 season-ending loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals ended their season on a three-game winning streak. The Chiefs struggled in 2008 and now will look to next season.

Cedric Benson rushed for a career-high 171 yards, and Leon Hall returned one of his three interceptions 50 yards for a touchdown to help the Bengals record their first road win this season, 14-0 over the hapless Cleveland Browns on a bone-chilling Sunday.

From: Bengals.com Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis says he’s not looking to get away from a scheme that was wide receiver friendly. “We still need to be receiver-oriented because we need to be able to throw the ball effectively to win,” he said. “Yet we also need to block at wide receiver and that will become [...]

From: Pro Football Weekly A source close to the club says it’s unlikely that Chris Perry, who lost his starting job to Cedric Benson, will be back with the club in ’09.

From: Pro Football Weekly Bengals RB Cedric Benson’s strong finish to the 2008 season, coupled with the team’s happiness with his play and development, makes the prospect of both sides striking a long-term deal fairly good, the way we hear it. Benson had 130 total yards or more in each of his last three starts.

As 2008 goes through its final hours, I would like to wish Bengal fans "Happy Same Year" as the Bengals via Geoff Hobson and Bengals.com quietly leaked the likely return of the 2008 coaching staff intact in an article today.   Using the opportunity to coach the Senior Bowl as a reason not to change is extremely disappointing and shortsighted.  The offense's struggles is a large problem and is much bigger than and existed prior to Carson Palmer's injury.  Of course, Hobson has been laying the ground work for this all week with mentions of things like "the team may have extended coaches last season".   How can the team expect the coaches to hold the players accountable when the coaches are not held accountable themselves.

Start Printing the "Fire Bratkowski" T-shirts and maybe this year add "And Alexander Too".   I am writing this now (in 2008) such that i don't start my 2009 on a bad note.

To say the least Bengal fans have one less reason to be excited about the Bengals next year.

Happy Same Year

As the Bengals enter the season finale the discussion is about everything but this week's game against the Chiefs.  With this known, expect Tyler Thigpen to throw everything and the kitchen sink into this week's game in one last effort to prove to the Chiefs front office that he is the quarterback of the future.  Also expect this effort to lead to at least 20 points leaving outcome at the mercy of the Bengals offense's ability to put up points against a terrible Kansas City defense.  No with the preview aside here are five questions that will begin to be answered after the game as the Bengals prepare for 2009.

1. Is a GM really in the Bengals future? Prior to PFT's rumor last week, I never would have bothered to asked this question despite the need for direction on the personnel front because I did not think the team would consider it.  While it is still a fantasy at this point the odds of adding a GM have improved from 1% to 25%.  With the high $$ luxury suites, club seats and sponsorship contract up soon, this change would have as much to do about the bottom line as it would from the football side.

2. Will TJ get the franchise tag?  A rumor was started this week stating the team would look to re-sign Houshmandzadeh rather than give him the franchise tag but don't think for an instant Mike Brown won't protect his best player with the tag.  If underperformers like Stacy Andrews and Justin Smith can get paid top 5 money why wouldn't you do it for someone who is actually one of the 5 best players at his position.  Anyone who says the team can't afford TJ because of the cap has not looked at the amount of cap room the Bengals will have available.  While $10 million sounds like a lot, it is not like the Bengals will be using up their ample cap room on Chris Crocker and Cedric Benson.  What is sad is the team did not use the vast cap space it had in 2008 to put towards re-signing Housh or anyone else (Shayne Graham) for that manner.  Also, if the team franchises Graham over Houshmandzadeh, it would have everything to do with money and not about winning football games.  

3. What if any coaching changes will take place?   This is where winning the last three games could be really bad as it could provide enough of a false sense of accomplishment for the season that no coaching changes are made.(I am not talking about Marvin Lewis here because he will be back)  The offense has been abysmal all season with and without Carson Palmer with preparation, playcalling and poor adjustments being the brunt of the problem.  If Bob Bratkowski and his "STALE" offense returns again in 2009, don't expect much an offensive improvement next year.   Offensive line coach Paul Alexander's unit ranked among the worst lines in the league allowing 50+ sacks after setting a franchise record with virtually the same unit.  His inability to develop linemen is the biggest concern for a unit looking to be rebuilt this off-season.

4. Chad, TJ or both?  Yes, we mentioned TJ earlier but while related this is a separate question.  It would be a surprise if both players are back and despite Chad's declining trade value, the smart football move would be to trade him and the distractions he brings.  As mentioned above the team has ample cap room to take the cap hit.   While it sends the wrong message to keep Chad and let TJ go the dollars and cents say that will play into the team's decision.   The coaching staff's aversion to playing rookies Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson makes this an even more diffcult question to answer as no one knows if they are any good.  Simpson's being inactive most of the season makes one think he could be a bust.

5. Does the 2009 draft have the talent to answer the team's problems?  The answer to this question could be yes as the draft is strong where the team is weak.   The team's top needs are C, OT, MLB and RB and the draft is deep at each of these positions.  If the team is able to acquire an extra 2nd round pick for Chad they could be in position to fill all these needs in the first round with a combination such as LT Michael Oher, MLB Darry Beckwith, C Antoine Caldwell and RB Javon Ringer.  Or try MLB Rey Maualuga, OT Jamon Meredith, RB CJ Spiller and C Eric Wood. 

After winning their second consecutive game for the first time all-season in yet another late season surge concern is growing in Bengal-dom that late season victories could minimize the changes made during the off-season (Yes, Marvin Dustin Dow was actually asking a real question).  Of course, today's rumor from ProFootballTalk.com could result in a bigger and more surprising change.  

- Pro Football Talk wrote the Bengals are considering adding a GM this off-season with former Dolphins and Saints GM Randy Mueller a leading candidate.   This could be a sign of looming suite, club seat and sponsorship renewals in a difficult economy could be causing Brown to change his ways.  As fow Mueller, I have mixed feelings.  First, like Jeff Gentil wrote earlier any GM is a step in the right direction.  Second, Mueller's track record is a bit uneven.  His drafts in Miami were generally not good but his Saints track record is a little better.  Spending the past year with the Chargers is also a plus.

- Regardless of whether the team hires a GM expect Marvin Lewis to be back next season barring a major blowup in his post-season meeting with Mike Brown.  Between the remaining years on his contract and the recent win streak I just don't see the team pulling the trigger on this one.

- The bigger question regarding the team's strong finish is whether or not it will save offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and offensive line coach Paul Alexander their jobs.  Both Brat and P.A. have survived much previous organizational purges but the team's struggles this season (dating back to pre-season and pre-Carson injury) are a direct reflection on their unit's poor performance.  Bratkowski's playcalling has become increasingly predictable not to mention a 32nd ranked offense (and just 2 games over 300 yards) and Alexander has shown little ability to develop prospects (how often has an Alexander lineman peaked in his rookie or 2nd season).  A changing of the guard on the offensive coaching staff is long overdue but will the teflon duo escape blame once again using Palmer's injury as a scapegoat.

- Stacy Andrews' ACL tear could actually improve the team's chances of re-signing him.  Due to the nature of the injury Andrews will likely be out until at least mini-camp if not training camp and what team is going to give him big money without a guarantee he will even be able to play next year.  Of course, consider me in the minority who does not think bringing Andrews back as the right tackle is that big of a deal.  He has not been as good as advertised and is more of a guard than a tackle.

- Overall this was one ugly football game.  The only sure thing from watching this game was that both teams and esp. offenses was that they were among the worst in the league.

- Kudos to Leon Hall for his 3 interception game.  Hall's career has been uneven thus far but a game like this has to be a big boost for his confidence.  A 3 interception game is an impressive feat even when Ken Dorsey is the QB.

- Hats off to Mike Zimmer for mixing and matching his unit to a shutout.  It may have been against a hapless Browns team led by a terrible 3rd string QB but a shutout is always worthy of praise.

- Cedric Benson's 38 carry, 171 yard performance is esp. impressive when you consider the Browns knew the Bengals were going to run on nearly every play in the terrible weather conditions.   Look for Benson to be re-signed as long as the price tag is not too high. 

- Watching Ken Dorsey play makes Ryan Fitzpatrick look like a capable backup QB.

- There is a lot of talk about how good Anthony Collins has been the past few weeks but has he shown enough to be considered the left tackle of the future? 

- John Thornton's 2 sack game could be his swan song as a Bengal.

- Winning the past two games has taken the Bengals from the 2nd to 4th overall.  A win next week could drop them all the way to 7th which is the difference between drafting a left tackle and considering a MLB or even a dreaded RB.

- With all the talk about TJ, one failed re-signing the team may regret is K Shayne Graham.  With all the cap room the team had this season, how they did not get Graham signed already is very discouraging.

- TJ or Chad will be back next year but not both.

- You can make the argument the best thing that could happen for the Bengals off-season would be to lose to Kansas City next week, and I am not talking about draft position.  A three game win streak to end the season sounds good but the false sense of security it could provide is what is concerning.

- If Marvin thinks Dustin Dow is tough, he needs to call Rod Marinelli in Detroit about dealing with Rob Parker.  Can you imagine how Marvin would have responded if someone asked him a real disrespectful question.

 

C. Trent passes along word from the Bengals that QB Carson Palmer will not require surgery to repair an injured elbow. An MRI conducted during the last week of the season found the injury had healed on its own, said team spokesman Jack Brennan. He added that the team expects Palmer to fully participate in the [...]

In case you haven’t noticed, NFL mock draft season is getting underway. Fansided’s own draft experts are tracking mock drafts around the net here, and between that database and an assist from Walter’s, here’s a first look at the consensus selections for Cincinnati at six. Note that I’m only including mocks updated since the end [...]

Aside from the usual crop of free agents, there are a number of current Bengals who may not be wearing orange-and-black come next fall. Here’s a rundown of players on the bubble. Chris Perry. A first-round pick in 2004, Perry has appeared in just 35 games in five seasons. At the beginning of the 2008 season, [...]