WhoDeyRevolution

Bengals Training Camp Preview - Part I

The Bengals training camp is 24 days away; and I was wondering what training Bengals training camp would look like with Chad's Chad-ness, Carson trying not to get sucked into Chad-ness, Rudi's new bulk up plan, the new defensive scheme, and the rest of the team and the drama that might ensue.  Here is part one (of three parts being rolled out in the next couple of weeks) that I* have come up with...

* - with some help from Paul Katz

July 27th ( Players arrive )

The national and local media descends upon Georgetown, Kentucky to check on Chad (his Chad-itude, his ankle, what new disease or injury he has that will A) not something that would turn off potential team interested in trading for Ocho-Cinco, yet B) keeps him off the field for right now).

The national media talks to Chad , Chad talks back to them.  The local media talks to Chad, Chad ignores them while Drew Rosenhaus feeds him grapes and whispers sweet nothings in his ear.

Mike Brown sees the interview and smiles because he thinks the national media agrees with him that Isaac Curtis is going to have a great year too. 

Chad openly wonders why the Cincinnati fans hate him.

National media coverage of the Bengals: Words about Chad - 72%; REST OF TEAM - 28%

The best headline of the day come from USA Today...

Chad-a-Palooza Starts with a Bang

Other Dudes in Helmets Start Practicing Too. 

"There's No Hope with Dope!"

For the first time since the summer of 2001, rational Bengals fans have no real hope of a special season from the Nati 53.  The defense is still a huge question mark (specifically the pass rush), the running game is hinging on Rudi Johnson getting back to 2005 form (remember it's 2008), and Chad Johnson might torpedo the season with another meltdown.  With the stench of 2007 still lingering, let's take a look back at how Bengals fans convinced themselves that this would undoubtedly be the year. 

Summer of 2002:  Following the 2001 season when the Bengals won six games (most victories since 1997) and won their final two games over Pittsburgh and Tennessee, hopes were high that 2002 was finally the year the Bengals would make it back to the playoffs.  Remember, 2001 was the year the Bengals went into the bye at 4-3, then lost seven straight to submarine any dreams of the playoffs.  Interesting that the Bengals beat the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots in Week 1, then knocked off the high flying Steelers in a surreal overtime game that featured a botched game-winning extra-point by Neil Rackers in regulation. 

E-Harmony says Enquirer and Internet not a love match

  The Enquirer, Cincinnati's average at best newspaper, is apparently skeptical of this whole internet thing everyone keeps talking about. A couple weeks ago, the Enquirer made a bold move by changing their web site's format. And by bold I mean they decided to make their site so infuriating and hard to wander around on that people would be forced to get their local news from the actual paper version. Hah, and next we'll all be wearing powdered wigs and going to a good ole friday night barn raising.

Let's start at the beginning. When I type in the URL for the enquirer site, my internet turns into 56K and I have to wait an interminable amount of time until the site loads. Maybe if this was 1996 that would be normal, but it isn't. Mark Twain would nod his head in agreement.

Once the site reluctantly loads, you are faced with half a photo of the front page story and a few headlines squeezed into the margins on the left side. I'm not sure who designed their site, but it won't be winning any awards for accessibility and navigational ease. It makes you wonder just what they were thinking when they decided to change the format.

I would tell you about the sports section on the site but I can't seem to find it. Oh there it is, you only have to scroll three quarters of the way down a very long home page to find it buried between the Community Press & Recorders and Business sections. That's a good way to ensure that the people who likely go to the site will never come back.

If I was a betting man I would say that Mike Brown won the contract to overhaul the site but then in a cost saving move, found someone in their first year of graphic design who has character issues in class to do it for $20 and a free preseason ticket.

Bengals Fans Declare, "The Glass is 25% Full and Filling Fast!"

Bengals.com is running a poll asking fans for their predictions on the number of wins the Bengals will win in 2008. As of 7:30am today, over 12,000 fans had voted - and 79.9% think the Bengals will win 9 or more games.  A full 60.6% believe that the Bengals will win 10 games or more - essentially guaranteeing a playoff birth! 

Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."  Unfortunately, Bengals fans seem to be proving Einstein's point.  What has changed from the last 17 seasons that would cause Bengals fans to expect a playoff run this year?  Cheap ownership with a death grip on player personnel, a coach who does not have full control of his team, a disgruntled star WR, a husky aging RB and perhaps an incrementally improved defense - and this is going to lead the Bengals to the playoffs?

This sentiment is EXACTLY why Mike Brown is able to to continue with his penny-pinching and refusal to loosen his grip on the team's management.  The team can go 8-8 or 7-9, make incremental improvements,  state: "We'll get 'em next year!" and Bengals fans buy into it.  EVERY YEAR.   

It seems like Bengals fans want to support a winner so bad they ignore all the evidence that sadly, this year, again, isn't the teams year.  Bengals fans grudgingly accept that Mike Brown isn't going to change and are resigned to another year of blind optimism.

Do I hope that the Bengals go 12-4 and make the playoffs this year and win a Super Bowl? OF COURSE.  But if they do, it will not be because of rational decisions by management, but because of either sheer luck or divine inspiration.

If you have had enough, sign the WDR manifesto and tell the Bengals ownership AND Bengals fans that you DEMAND a winner - not that you hope for one.

 

Carson and Chad in NFL Top 50

Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline ranked the top 50 players in the NFL.  Not surprisingly, both Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson were on the list.  What may be a little surprising is how high Carson Palmer was according to a member of the national media.  According to the list, Palmer is the eighth best player in the NFL and the third best quarterback behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  WDR is glad to see that the Bengals' woes have not completely overshadowed everyone's assessment of Palmer.  To Bengal fans, there is little doubt that Palmer has better skills than Roethlisberger, Romo, Eli Manning, etcetera...but often times, nationally, more attention is understandably given to the QBs consistently making the playoffs.  If only we could get the same production out of the running game as the Steelers, Cowboys and Giants...and have defenses like those teams. 

Chad also ranked 28th on the list and the three sentence summary in the article is pretty much on target: "He isn't nearly as good as he thinks he is. But he's still pretty damn good. He does have a tendency to disappear in big games."

Not surprisingly, there were zero Bengals defensive players on the list.  In fact, other than maybe Takeo Spikes a couple of seasons, can anyone think of another in the past 18 years?  Come to think of it, before the arrival of Carson and Chad, did we have any players (offensive or defensive) aside from Spikes, Corey Dillon and Carl Pickens who were in the top 50 for one season during this time?

One final point...T.J. Houshmandzadeh was not on the list, which is probably accurate, however, he didn't make the "Just missed" list at the bottom and he probably should have considering Wes Welker was the last ranked receiver in the Top 50.  Welker had 112 catches for 1175 yards and 8 touchdowns last year while TJ had 112 for 1143 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

The 5 Worst Bengal QB's of the Mike Brown Era

Some of you might have seen this already but pro-football reference recently put out a list on the worst QB’s of all time. I’m sure everybody out there in Bengaldom will be shocked to learn that some of our very own hometown heroes made the list. Unlike the folks over at pro-football reference, I didn’t use some fancy mathematical formula to create my list of the five worst Bengal QB’s of the Mike Brown era. I just used my substantial and ever expanding gut.

For my rankings I wanted guys the Bengals played because the organization thought this player provided the team with its best chance to win. I didn’t want guys who started out of necessity because injuries ahead of them on the depth chart forced them into action. Sadly this meant I had to cut Paul Justin, (you may remember Paul for having one of the best buckstaches of all time - even though he wasn’t from the Buckeye State - he deserves an honorary exemption for that magnificent thing) Erik Wilhelm, Scott Covington, Eric Kresser, and Don Hollis from the list.

So without further ado here is the five worst starting QB’s Mike Brown ever signed a pay check for:

Acquiring Fringe Character Players Does Not Equal Commitment to Win by Ownership

It is being argued elsewhere that the startling number of arrests and character issues among the Bengals personnel cannot be blamed on ownership.  In fact, elsewhere has gone so far as to argue that the malcontents that occupy the Bengals roster space actually prove ownership's commitment to win, stating that:

"If anything, picking up players that develop "character issues" should prove that the team will acquire anyone, at any cost, to win."

Let's be clear, when ownership picks up players like Chris Henry, Odell Thurman & Frostee Rucker they are doing so because they hope to win on the cheap by acquiring first class talent at a discount due to the baggage that comes with these players.  This, quite obviously, strikes us as the opposite of a total commitment to win as the organization would rather take chances on loose cannons and keep the bottom line healthy than make the necessary expenditures on quality players with clean rap sheets. 

2008 vs. 2007 Personnel Comparison: Defensive Backs

Despite leading the league in turnovers during Marvin Lewis' tenure as head coach, any casual fan of the Bengals will tell you that our secondary has given up far too many big plays over that time frame, and that we were largely getting by with sub-par talent (Kevin Kaesveharn, Ifani Ohalete, an aging Tory James) for a long time.  However, the Bengals have invested heavily in the secondary, including two of the last three 1st round picks in the Draft, as well as 2006 4th rounder Marvin White and surprising 7th rounder Chinedum Ndukwe. 

While there will be no personnel changes at the starting corner positions, the Bengals will start at least one new safety (and eventually, probably two) in place of the departed Madieu Williams.  Although young, the secondary is probably the most talented position group in the Bengals' defense, so their attitude, commitment, and playmaking skills will go a long way in determining how this unit performs.  As always, we'll start with a review of personnel.

ESPN Bengals Checkup

ESPN.com is running a checkup on every NFL team post mini camp.  The Bengals checkup is posted here.  As expected, 433 words are devoted to a topic I swore off.  That leaves a paltry 279 words about the rest of the team.  While most of the article was just rehashed garbage, there was one sentence that got me thinking. 

James Walker writes, "(Rudi) Johnson packed on 15 pounds of muscle to increase his durability and is running like the Johnson of old in early practices. Last year he slimmed down to increase his speed, but that turned out to be a mistake because his body took a pounding."

At first glace, I thought great Rudi will get better.  Then I thought, "Do we really want Rudi 15 pounds heavier, and slower?"  I guess the Bengals want to go back to Rudi getting the ball 25 times for 95 yards.  Great.

Bengal Heroes - Ickey Woods

Number 7 on NFL.com's list of "One Shot Wonders" is none other than Elbert L. "Ickey" Woods.  Of course, Woods, who played fullback in the same backfield as James Brooks, had a brilliant rookie season in 1988 rushing for 1,066 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns all of which were followed by the infamous "Ickey Suffle" (which until now, was relatively un-findable on the Internet...at least I couldn't find it despite multiple periodic searches over the years, which is a contributing reason for this post).

The next season, Ickey tore his ACL against Pittsburgh, which seemed to begin a curse that captured the ACL of another in the 2005 playoffs against the same team (in addition to Kijana Carter...and Kenny Irons...I have to stop now or I will cry).  Woods mounted a brief comeback attempt in 1991 but he wasn't the same.  He has not played in the NFL since and was out of the league at the age of 26.  According to his Wikipedia profile, since then, Woods has sold steaks door to door, made appearances as a boxer on television and is currently the football coach of the Cincinnati Sizzle, a women's football team. 

But today and always, we remember Ickey Woods, for his contributions in the 1988-89 season.  We can only hope someone will surprise us as much as the rookie out of UNLV did that year.  Here's to you Ickey.