Surprise, Fitz gets the start… Bengals March for the Perfect Season…

There were a lot of question marks going into this season.  Some of the veterans were aging.  Last year’s start made the Bengals look like a bad team overall but the rebound gave some fans a touch of hope.  That was a blip on the radar it seems.  The Bengals are 0-5 with no signs of turning this around.  Palmer has been injured the last few games (and hasn’t looked good when healthy).  Chad Johnson’s mouth is still running but he doesn’t seem to have the game to back it up.  The running game is non-existent.  The Bengals are 31^st in team offense.  Even the biggest Bengals hater wouldn’t have guessed.

The Bengals are averaging 4 yds per play.  The only team worse is Cleveland.  The rushing game is averaging 3.3 which is terrible but the real surprise is the 27^th ranking for passing yards per game. With TJ and Ocho catching the ball and presumably Palmer throwing it, how could this happen?    It is more than a shock, it should be a nail.  A nail in the coffin of Lewis.

The defense has not been terrible.  They are basically middle of the pack.  Given that they are on the field A LOT, this isn’t too bad really.  They are young at the corners and will gain experience.  What was the biggest question mark at the beginning of the season is their strength (I guess?!)

On to this week’s preview…

Look for Benson to get more carries this week.  Hopefully Lewis is realizing that Perry’s strength is as a third down back and was never meant to be the workhorse in this offense.  He has 5 fumbles in 5 games and is averaging 2.8 yards per carry.  Nuff said!

Look for TJ to continue his upward trend.  After only two receptions in the first two games of the year, he is starting to catch a few more balls (and actually score with 3 touchdowns in his last 3 games).  Chad is looking very ordinary and I don’t anticipate this to change although the weakness of this Jets team may be the secondary.  Perhaps he will snap out of it and have a breakout game. 

The real deciding factor here will be Brett Farve.  He is coming off a bye and looks to be in command of the offense after a huge 6 touchdown performance.  He has proven that even if it turns into a track meet, the Jets will be ready.

Prediction:  I think the Bengals will continue to roll over and show their opponent their tummies.  They are soft on offense and lack compete level to be a winner.   I anticipate an 0-6 start with the Bengals finding a way to loose .  27-10 Jets, no contest and the march to the league’s first 0-16 record is on track.

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Last post (s) by Chris Tait

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