The national sports media, while still not paying much attention to the playoff-contending Cincinnati Bengals, are finally acknowledging the team’s existence. Now, at least, words like “NFL’s worst” and “sure-fire 0-16″ are replaced with “tough-minded” and “up and coming.” It still makes me wonder how nary one expert could predict the Bengals as a possible “team to watch.” A 7-4 team – no. But c’mon dudes, from the dozens and dozens and dozens of you highly paid experts, how can not a one predict Cincinnati as at least a surprise 8-8? No one?  

Ooops, spill’t the soup:

Cleveland wrap up. Is it just me, or did Bengals running back Cedric Benson run harder, longer and faster Sunday against the Cleveland Browns? I commented more than once during the game to my blow-up doll girlfriend, Louise, that it was like the good old ’08 and ’09 Benson. As an ardent critic of Benson lately, I was hearted by his improved speed and balance. But I still want to see more of Bernard Scott.    

 The Geen Ladder versus Joe Haden.  NFL, please stop with the TV commercials that feature players from different teams. Why? Because that’s how they become friends. Remember former Browns’ DB Thom Darden’s hit on Bengals’ WR-P Pat McInally, and the Steelers’ L.C. Greenwood nearly tearing off the head of former Bengals’ QB Ken Anderson? I love it when teams and players hate each other, which is sadly rare in today’s P.C. NFL. Hopefully, though, the boiling competition between A.J. Green and Cleveland’s damn-good DB Joe Haden will eventually blossom into full-blown hate and loathing, as it should be. We need a reason to again hate the Browns.

Dominating at the end. Got this from Bengals.com – impressive. Damn impressive. ”Before this season in the 130 games under Lewis, the Bengals had erased fourth-quarter deficits to post wins 14 times. After Sunday’s fifth fourth-quarter comeback of the season against the Browns at Paul Brown Stadium, the 2011 Bengals have nearly halved it with five games to play. With 103 fourth-quarter points, the Bengals have already scored as many or more points in the final 15 minutes than in six of Lewis’ previous eight seasons and they are just 16 points from topping the high of 116 set last season and in 2006.”

Unleash Jermaine Gresham. Please. Hey, I don’t want Marvin Lewis and Jay Gruden blogging about decisions I make at my job as a strip club bouncer, so forgive me men – but when are we going to unleash the Bengals’ third-most potent offensive weapon (1., A.J. Green, 2., Andy Dalton, 3., Gresham)? I fully understand that a lot of the Bengals’ offensive is predicated on what defenses give us. Well, I say start giving defenses heavy doses of Gresham, who’s as talented as Hall of Fame TE Kellen Winslow. When drafted, I called Gresham the most important Bengals’ acquisition since Palmer was taken No. 1 in ’03. Gresham can be the NFL’s best TE. Let’s let him show it, okay? 

Was Superman ever 3-8? No, never. Hey, I understand endzone dancing is look at me-me-me show-off Ocho time, and a lot of players do it. Some people like it. Some don’t. I don’t. Via my grossly overpriced NFL Ticket, I see a lot of Cam Newton, and Panther losing. A lot of losing. But each week Cam keeps smiling, and doing his “revealing ‘S’ Superman” thing after scoring. At 3-8, and considered one of the worst teams in the NFL, what’s to smile at - unless the me-me-me show-off Ocho time is as (or more) rewarding to a player than winning. Just saying. Image what Dick Butkus would do to his QB for celebrating and smiling if the 1965 Bears were 3-8.       

Next Up. Pittsburgh. Nuff said. Hey, Bengals coaches … gotta watch that Steelers-Chiefs game video tape like a Girls Gone Wild dvd in a darkened college dorm. The Steelers’ offense produced a season-low 290 yards, including Mike Wallace’s measley two receptions for 17 yards. While the Pittsburgh D set up the offense with good field position several times, Roethlisberger & Co. kept failing to capitalize. Steelers convert just one of three trips inside the Kansas City 20-yard line into a touchdown. Bengals, there’s the blueprint.

Carson Palmer. Have you seen Palmer’s play in Oakland? Thanks to my afore-mentioned grossly overpriced NFL Ticket, I have. Pretty damned impressive, too – almost 2005-like. Looks more and more like this trade gets the Raiders to the postseason for the first time since 2002. Palmer was the difference in Sunday’s 25-20 victory over Chicago, and without significant players like running back Darren McFadden and receivers-kick returners Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore. The ex-Bengal threw for 301-yards, putting the Raiders in position for six field goals and one touchdown. That’s what Palmer gives the Raiders – a quarterback who can still make all the throws, and carry an offense when he has to. Hmmmmm, smell a Bengals vs. Raiders playoff game in the air? How sweet would that be?

 A Six-Game Season. NFL Playoff watch. I’ve always said the NFL season starts after Week 10, because it’s all about the last six games – crunch time. After Week 10 the Bengals are 1-1 and smack-dab in the middle of the playoff race. On Sunday, the New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers won to improve to 8-3 and force a four-way tie atop the conference with the Ravens (technically, the Ravens are the No. 3 seed right now behind the Texans and Patriots because conference record is the tie-breaker). The Texans are 7-2 in the AFC and the Patriots are 6-2. The Ravens are 5-2 (plus they own a head-to-head win over the Texans). At 7-4, the Bengals right now own the 6-seed playoff spot, while three AFC teams are at 6-5, including the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos who beat San Diego. The Tennessee Titans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New York Jets kept hope alive with a win over the Bills, who have now lost four straight games.

TheTimzilla@gmail.com.

In a galaxy far, far away, a wise and visibly angry man once pounded a podium, while uttering, “They are who we thought they were!”  For the record, he was not referring to Milli Vanilli or the 2011 Cincinnati Bengals.

Why? Because the team’s rushing stats (21st) rank just barely two spots higher than the team’s passing stats (23rd). So, with all that sophisticated game planning meant to feature the ground attack (while hiding a rookie QB), the running game with Cedric Benson is still a bottom-feeder.

So what has all that running accomplished? Mostly put Dalton and the offense in repeated third-and-long situations – just the opposite of what it’s meant to do. I mean, do good grounder-pounders typically have 20 other teams better at running the ball? Nope.

With Cincinnati smack-dab in the middle of a serious playoff run, it’s time Bengals coaches re-evaluate the team’s strenghths and weakness, because make no mistake, Dalton is no longer a weakness, if ever he was. And he’s no longer a rookie – that lasted about a drive or two in game one at Cleveland. After nine games, it’s clear Dalton is not a rookie to be coddled and hidden away behind a power running game that frankly doesn’t exist.

Dalton is probably the team’s best offensive player, so let’s use him.  

The Red Rifle’s 14 touchdown passes through the first nine games leads all rookie quarterbacks this season and, according to Stats, Inc., are the most by any rookie quarterback through his team’s first nine games since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger. No, he doesn’t have Cam Newton’s playing-from-behind, throw-the-ball-on-every-down, inflated numbers or raw athletic ability. Dalton just has the Bengals near the the top of the AFC.

“The most prepared (for the) NFL quarterback that I’d studied,” is how former QB and current ESPN football anayst Trent Dilfer describes Dalton. “He was my favorite.” Dilfer also says Dalton’s natural talent and the offense he ran at Texas Christian prepared him for the big time.

So let’s use him big time.

Look, Dalton is the first rookie quarterback to win six of his first eight starts in the Super Bowl era, and deserves the NFL Rookie of the Year. His closest competitor – Newton, whose Panthers are 2-7, while Dalton’s Bengals sit 6-3. Dalton has completed 61.5 percent of his passes (which is better than Newton’s 60.6), thrown 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions (Newton: 11 TDs and ten picks).

There are four statistics that matter for measuring quarterbacks: completion percentage, passing yards, touchdowns and interceptions. Cam Newton is ahead of Dalton in passing yards. That is it. Dalton has a higher completion percentage, more passing touchdowns and fewer interceptions. Clearly anyone looking at this rationally will see that the quarterback with the superior numbers in every category except one is the better choice when handing out the award.

Weird thing is, Dalton might not even be having the best rookie season for the Bengals. You can make the argument A.J. Green should be the Offensive Rookie of the Year, instead. Green is on pace for 73 receptions, 1,129 yards and 10 or 11 touchdowns. Even the weak-minded can see those numbers are spectacular.

With Dalton and Green as emerging weapons, and an OL that’s given up just 13 sacks (ranked 5th), I’m saying rejigger the run-pass formula – now. Granted, WRs Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell aren’t world beaters, but Baby Hawk and the still-grossly under-utilized Jermaine Gresham and Bernard Scott give the offense the potential to help push this playoff run deep into the season.

Nope. Dalton and Green aren’t who we thought they were. They’re better. Let’s use them.

Unleash the Krakin.

“I think he is probably my favorite guy out of this [draft] class to watch.” So is it Andy Dalton? Or A.J. Green?

After proclaiming in preseason that Green is already the greatest wide receiver in Bengals history, the quote sounds easily attributable to me regarding the rookie wide out, right? Or maybe OC Jay Gruden said it? Nope. Those comments come from Titans quarterback Matt Hasselback after watching the Bengals rookie QB toss three touchdown passes last week en route to beating Tennessee 24-17.

A.J. Green - the greatest receiver in Bengals history.

“I was impressed, as I have been all year with him,” added the former Seahawks signal-caller of Dalton. Keep in mind the Titans drafted their own quarterback, Jake Locker in the first round, four spots behind Green.

So, Dalton and Green.

Bengals fans are witnessing something pretty special this season. 

It was later in the fourth quarter last week when Dalton let fly on a key 3rd and 18 as Titan DBs Michael Griffin and Jason McCourty were gunning to break the intended target, Green, in two.

But the Cincy phenom WR, who’s built like tempered piano wire, absorbed the contact as Griffin and McCourty brutally collided – after which both DBs could could only watch from the sideline after lying nearly motionless on the field for more than five minutes. It was Dalton’s dart of a pass, and Green’s acrobatic, gumby-in-the-air catch on 3rd and 18 that symbolizes the Bengals year – and Dalton-Green.

Three plays later the Bengals turned a 3-point deficit into a 21-17 lead as Dalton drilled a TD pass to Andre Caldwell for the 24-17 victory – their fifth straight triumph and the franchise’s longest winning streak in 23 years.

By now most see that the 6-4, 207-pound Green was the perfect player for the Bengals in last April’s NFL draft (they picked him fourth overall). Then came the steal of the draft – plucking Dalton from Texas Christian University. “We felt [AJ] could make a difference as a rookie, that’s why we drafted him,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said earlier this season.

“[As for Andy] it comes back to him really just being pretty unflappable and very calm. That’s what you have got to have.”

Don’t get me wrong, plenty is needed from plenty of veterans for the Bengals to beat Pittsburgh. But it’s the clutch-time production the Bengals keep getting  from Dalton and Green that wins the day Sunday. Might not be an 85-yard bomb. Even a 65-yarder. But somewhere along the way the Kid Bengals make a play, because Dalton and Green have quickly developed the kind of QB-WR bond that doesn’t require words – they already know what the other one’s planning on a particular play. That’s rare after 3 years, let alone a few months.

Green has caught a team-high 40 passes from Dalton, totaling 599 yards and five touchdowns, while Daltn leads all rookie QBs with 12 TDs and a top-15 passer rating. Dalton-Green. That’s why the Bengals win Sunday.

And because of that third-down play versus Titans.

After years of clinical therapy and reviewing mounds of junior high school 8mm game tape, I’ve finally accepted it. I was the second-best basketball player at my junior school. Dammit. I mean, sure, stories at cocktail parties have me as The Man. But as we’ll call him, Bud Spunkmeyer, was better. Dammit. 

No Bud Spunkmeyers around here.

If I scored 20 points, Bud scored 30. If I had 7 assists, Bud had 10. If I had 5 steals, Bud had 8. If I dated a cheerleader, he dated the prom queen. And so it went.  But as often happens, Bud peaked early. After ninth grade, he never got better.

Moral of the story – Cincinnati Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton can’t be another Bud Spunkmeyer.

Bengals HC Marvin Lewis and OC Jay Gruden have two big tasks – bring Dalton along over a career – and this year. Typically a rookie-led team isn’t 5-2 and smack-dab in the middle of a playoff race, so most QB plans target next year, and the year after, and after.  

No doubt Dalton is displaying poise and aptitude beyond his years, as he joins Hall of Famer Dan Marino as the only rookie QBs since the merger in 1970 to achieve passer ratings of 100 or better in each of their first two starts. Gruden, the former Arena Football League quarterback and coach, is doing a stellar job handling the young talent in his first year as offensive coordinator. Backed by one of the NFL’s staunchest defenses, Dalton is reinvigorating a Cincinnati Bengals franchise that has known more than its share of dog days.

But to make the playoffs now, as in this year, Dalton must get even better.

When I think of Bud Spunkmeyers in the NFL, New Jets QB and part-time Mabelline model Mark Sanchez heads the pack. After leading his team as a rookie and second-year player to AFC Championships, Sanchez is just a Spunkmeyer – another barely-middle-of-the-pack guy awaiting an eventual QB controversy in New York. And like Spunkmeyer after the ninth grade, Sanchez hasn’t gotten any better.

Look, if the Bengals are to make it this year Dalton can’t do the Spunkmeyer-Sanchez thing. He’s gotta be a better QB (not a rookie QB), and fast. As the NFL’s 18th-ranked passer with an 82.7 QB-rating, Dalton has one huge skill in his favor – he’s pretty darn accurate, and getting more so each week.

The key to being a good or great west coast QB is accuracy. That simple. Today Dalton is the 13th-ranked percentage passer at 62.4, ahead of more ballyhooed QBs, such as Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler, Maybelline model Sanchez, Joe Flacco, etc. Pretty impressive. But he has to get better. No Spunkmeyer. No Sanchez. Better now.

Look, we all know the Mabeline model reached those AFC title games because of an overwhelmimg defense and running game. Whether the Bengals “Who D?” Defense is as good as those Jets Ds is debatable. Whether their running game is, is not.

So Dalton must get better.

In the season’s last eight games, Dalton must improve on three key stats: His yards per attempt must go from 6.78 (ranked 20th) to around 7.50;  QB Rating has to jump from 82.7 to around 88.0 or 90.0; and passing yards per game needs to be around 250, up from 211 (ranked 24th).  

Bottom line, Dalton can’t get better at a typical rookie QB’s pace. He’s gotta improve at playoff contender’s pace. Big difference.

In other news, this marks my 300th post here at Oddbounces. But something tells me somewhere, somehow, some way, Bud Spunkmeter is posting his 500th. Dammit.

Ginger or MaryAnn? Farah or Jacklyn? Art or Garfunkel? Dalton or Newton?

Until Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisburger won the award in ’04, it had been 34 years since a rookie QB had won an NFL Rookie of the Year Award.

Why?

Because NFL quarterbacking is hard. Real hard. Gotta be able to put round things in round holes and square things in square holes while completing a Rubix Cube with lightning speed. You don’t find good rookie QBs holding “hire me” signs on any street corner. 

So if the world ends today, who’s the 2011 NFL Rookie of the Year winner, Cincinnati Bengals’ rookie QB Andy Dalton, or Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton? NOTE: while Bengals’ wide receiver A.J. Green is more than worthy, no way the NFL lets a great rookie QB slip past the award. But the idea Cincinnati has two legit NFL ROTY Award winner candidates is ridiculous. It’s like dating two supermodels at once.

So while Newton is putting up big numbers and has gained considerably more sloppy, licky-face attention from the national media, it’s Dalton getting it done in the W column. The upstart Bengals are 4-2 and sit a mere half-game out of the AFC North lead, while the punching bag Panthers are 1-5 and again competing for the No. 1 Draft pick. 

So, yes, Newton has been impressive stat-wise, racking up 1,847 yards through the air, compared to Dalton’s 1,311. But at Oddbounces we say there’s a good reason Newton has a few more yards – mainly, his last-place Panthers are always trailing, forcing Newton to air it out the entire second half, hence piling up those fluffy stats. Dalton, by comparison, is more in the driver’s seat late in games, able to utilize the Bengals’ running game. That’s why Newton has attempted 30 more passes that Dalton.

But Newton is putting up the better numbers, right?

Actually, not.

Coming out of TCU, Dalton was touted as an extraordinarily efficient passer, and is surely making the most of his skills by completing 62.4 percent of his passes, as opposed to Newton’s 58.5. Dalton’s Quarterback Rating is 84.3, better than Newton’s 78.3 rating.

Another key stat Dalton owns is ratio of touchdown passes to interceptions – each has thrown for seven touchdowns, but Andy has tossed just five interceptions to Newton’s nine. And Dalton has been a more mature passer, making better decisions than Newton.

While Newton does add an extra dimension on the ground, he’s not rushed for significant yardage this season, only in short yardage situations acting as a running back.

Yeah, okay, Newton has been a more “exciting” player, so the national sports media will say he wins ROTY because of the stats. But closer examination shows Dalton’s numbers are just as good, if not better. Sure, Newton is an incredible athlete but this year’s top rookie, so far, is Cincinnati’s Dalton. Simply, Dalton deserves NFL Rookie of the Year, if the world ends today.

And I was always a MaryAnn and Jacklyn man. You can keep Garfunkel.

Carson Palmer, indicating the number of NFL teams from which he is retired

The Tuesday of bye week for most NFL teams is as quiet a day as you’ll find during the 17-week season. But as you’ve known for way too long, your Cincinnati Bengals are not most NFL teams. Not even close.

Which brings us to the drama that is on the radar from now until midnight: Will Mike “Even if I Paint Myself into a Corner, Know that I Got a Great Deal on the Paint” Brown go against his stubborn resolve and trade Carson “There’s No Chad in T-E-A-M… Please Stop Talking, T.O….  Are You Sure About That Call, Coach… No Mas!” Palmer?

You know the background all too well: Former #1 pick of the 2002 draft and the unflappable face of the franchise abruptly demands to be traded at the end of the miserable 2010 season. Stubborn owner references signed contract through the 2014 season that begs to differ about who has the most leverage. And the standoff is frozen there until further notice.

Suffice to say that if anything is going to happen between now and NFL Draft day ’12, it will be today, the final day of the trading deadline. Several teams could use an experienced QB like Palmer, including the Oakland Raiders, who lost their starting QB, Jason Campbell on Sunday. 

Last night’s Miami Dolphins offense showed even a rusty Palmer would be no worse than what they’ve seen so far from those QB’s currently occupying roster spots in Miami. And there are others who would certainly want to talk to the Bengals about Carson’s service.

However, nothing happens until Brown says it does. This is a position that Brown occupies in nearly all of his negotiations, including players, coaches, counties and even the IRS. And he rarely loses. 

There’s a lot on uncertainty, but one thing remains certain: If Brown negotiates a trade for Palmer today, Carson’s new team will have given more to the Bengals than Brown thinks his QB will be worth between now and the end of the 2014 season. You can bank on it.

Nuff said.

Bengals season so far indicates a head-over-heels turnaround from last year.

Is it just me, or is one of the greatest pleasures as a sports fan when your team far exceeds its expectations?  Given the last 20+ years of Bengals’ underachieving during the Mike Brown era,  it’s hard to grasp the perspective of a “normal” NFL franchise, where most teams have realistic optimism entering every new season.

Going back in Bengals history, recall the 1981 season when Forrest Gregg and a seemingly past-his-prime Kenny Anderson took the also-ran Bengals from 6-10 to Super Bowl XVI?  Similarly, the 1988 squad, coming off a four-win season, displayed an amazing turnaround, finishing 12-4 and a berth in SB XXIII, in Miami.

More recently, I remember the new-found hope and optimism Marvin Lewis brought to the then-comatose Bengals  franchise. His first season the Bengals went 8-8 and I was certain Marvin would soon take his Bengals to an eventual NFL Championship. Which brings us to this season, where the Bengals, sitting at 3-2 are one of the biggest turn-arounds of the young season.

After last year’s dismal 4-12 season followed by the most unsettling press conference in team history (you remember it, when Team Owner and Head Coach squared off in a bilious frown-fest, culminating with Mike Brown announcing that Marvin Lewis would, sigh, be retained), I expected nothing from this year’s team.

As they broke camp, my expectations matched ticket sales for the upcoming season. National football experts agreed the 2011 Cincinnati Bengals were the 32nd ranked team in a league with exactly 32 teams.  Sadly, I was in agreement with their assessment. In limbo vernacular, the only question to be answered about this team was:  How looooooow can they go?

But there’s a crucial element in the makeup of a football team that has nothing to do with physical ability, X’s and O’s, scheduling, injuries, weather, etc. It has everything to do with the space between the ears of every player and coach, and it can be the single most important determining factor in the success of any football team.

Call it confidence, call it team camaraderie or call it “unspecified intangibles”, but this appears to be this team’s strong suit so far.  To a person, this young team seems to really believe in itself.  And given their tender age and relative lack of experience, it’s best not to ask them to explain “Why?”

Of course, last year’s veteran team appeared to believe in itself on the surface– yet failed miserably.  Maybe they believed in themselves individually, but they were horrendous as a unit.  This year’s squad seems to have an unassuming, “Aw shucks, we found a way to win” demeanor, reminding me of Mayberry NC’s own Opie Taylor.  It implies that they don’t even know enough about themselves to ponder it any deeper than that.  And that’s OK with me.  (Perhaps Opie Taylor is the appropriate persona for this team, as they lead with fiery red hair, they learn their lessons well and they appreciate the role of their entire supporting cast.)

It seems that this years team is reacting alot like Marvin Lewis’ team did his first year as Bengals Head Coach: they like each other, they play like a team, and they don’t dwell on their personal stats.  Even though I wrote off Coach Lewis at the end of the season, could it be that he and his staff are feeding on the positive energy that this team is giving back to them?  (As Cedric Benson was making Batman & Robbin-ish noise about wanting to get the ball more after the Jacksonville victory, how appropriate would it be for him to begin his 4-week suspension immediately?)

So even though it’s only been five weeks… there’s a reeeeeally long season ahead of them… and they don’t even know yet what they don’t know… I’d like to see this team continue their maturation.  While logic would indicate that this year is the building block season to carry them to their full potential over the next few seasons… why not now?  Although I thought this year’s team, would only win 5 games–and that could still happen– I’d love to see this team go completely off the charts and win a bunch more games.  Surely the schedule gets tougher as the season grinds on, so let’s be realistic.  While I’d be pleased with an 8-8 record, how cool would it be if they won another another 7… 8… or, why not, 9 more games?   Not likely to happen to the 32nd best team in the NFL 2 months ago, but hey….

I’m afraid to think too far into the future with these guys, because this is the Bengals and Mike Brown is the Man Behind the Curtain.  As much as I like this year’s team and as hopeful as I am that great things are ahead of them, I am tempering my optimism.  After all, this is the Bengals, and ”Bad Luck Schleprock” has his eyes on this franchise.  He always does.  Remember how bright the Bengals future looked playing in their first Playoff game in memory in January 2006, looking to dismantle the hated Steelers.

But in a twist of fate and the snap of an ACL, this team got worse over the next 5 seasons, culminating in last year’s 4-12 trainwreck.

Nuff said.

The Cedric Benson suspension – bring it on. Look, if you Google smash-mouth football, about 90 percent of the results are Cincinnati Bengals preseason quotes describing the team’s entended style of play in 2011. Translation:  Large man running football behind larger men who bang straight into other larger men. Smash-mouth football.

Bengals RB Bernard Scott MUST play more.

To date, though, the Bengals’ running game is more kissy-face than smash-mouth – so, exit Cedric Benson and enter Bernard Scott.

I mean, I get what the Bengals are trying to do – pound, pound, pound Benson into the line time after time. Pound, pound, pound. Over time you wear down the defense while breaking a few 15-yard runs here and there; then suddenly it’s the fourth quarter and Benson busts a few longer runs enroute to a 25-carry, 100-yard game – and to victory.

One problem. We’re hearing two pounding sounds – one, Benson getting hit early by larger men, and Benson hitting the ground. So, exit Benson and enter Scott, because this team can’t yet win the Andy Dalton-only games.

Remember, every positive ground gain is one less great throw Dalton must make later on. But “first down, gain one” and “second down, gain two” is Big Trouble in Little China for any rookie QB-led team.

Yeah I know, Benson’s numbers aren’t all that bad - 401 yards on 101 carries (4.0 average) which ranks him 8th in the NFL. But Scott gives you that big-yardage potential with every tote, while Benson gives you a handful on a good carry. And yeah, Scott doesn’t exactly fit the prototypical smash-mouth mold – but he takes pressure off the OL to hold their blocks, and is one of the more electrifying runners in the league. Trust me, the Bengals offense needs all the electrifying it can get.

I for one see Benson’s pending suspension as a chance to turn Scott loose on NFL defenses. Two sounds – Scott hitting the hole, and Dave Lapham screaming “touchdown!” in the background.

NFL, commense with the Benson punishment.

At Oddbounces, we mock the national sports media because it’s easy and they deserve it. And because overall, they’re horrible. I mean, this preseason didn’t they label Cincinnati the NFL’s worst team, and Andy Dalton its worst quarterback?

Sure, doubts abound about the team that posted a very ugly 4-12 last season, but that’s not why ESPN said the Bengals are the worst. It’s because they didn’t even study the team, watch film or factor in reality over perception. No, this team was called “worst” because of two simple words – “Cincinnati” and “Bengals”. 

Because, you see, to national sports journalists “Cincinnati” and “Bengals” mean forget doing any homework – instead just guess at it. They needed a team to fill the No. 32 spot – okay, Cincinnati, because it’s “Cincinnati” and “Bengals”. So here we are five weeks into the 2011 season and hell hathith frozen over, cuz the “worst team in the NFL” stands 3-2 and is as much in the AFC playoff hunt as anyone.

Hey, really good job “experts” at ESPN and The NFL Network (thank the heavens you’re not selling financial advice).

So, what if we had a national sports media that did it’s job honestly, telling us the Bengals might be 3-2, and could be 6-2, with the potential for 10-6? What if they told us the Bengals might be in the playoff hunt? What if, instead of defaulting to ranking this team No. 32, they actually watched game film, gave it thought, consulted with real football experts, and then provided insight rather than recycled headlines.

So, what if the “NFL’s worst team” wins Sunday at home against the Indianapolis Colts to take a 4-2 record in their bye week – and then comes storming out with wins over Seattle and Tennessee to sit 6-2 at the halfway mark? But wait, super-cool and suave pro football experts Rich Eisen and Jamie Dukes at The NFL Network laughed at the 2011 Bengals – they’re the NFL’s worst, they said.   

So, what if Cincinnati goes 6-2?

It doesn’t take a certified football genius like Dukes to know the second-half schedule is tougher than the first, with two divisional games each against Pittsburgh and Baltimore, one with Cleveland, and non-conference matchups at home with the Texans, Rams and Cardinals. So, what if the 6-2 Bengals win two of their remaining five divisional games, and two of the three non-conference games? Well, I’m no Chinese mathematician, but unless my calculator needs batteries that’s 10 wins.    

A couple weeks ago Oddbounces called the Buffalo game the season’s turning point – a loss and they go 1-3 and risk spinning out of control, while a win means 2-2 and a whole, new life for the 2011 season. Like the Buffalo game, the next two weeks will determine if this young, hungry – youngry - group plays meaningful games in November and December, or for pride and stats.

Who knows where this team ends up. But very few predicted 3-2, with even fewer 6-2, or 10-6. But hey, I’m just a knucklehead blogger doing this for free, not a football expert like Eisen and Dukes (thank the heavens they’re not in charge of national security).

What if Eisen and Dukes had told us months ago to keep an eye on the Bengals defense, that Rey Maualuga could be a solid “mike” backer and the rotating front four might dominate, or that Andy Dalton and A.J. Green will have breakout rookie seasons?

So, what if the Bengals go 10-6? I suspect football experts Eisen and Dukes claim they predicted it all along (just thank the heavens they’re not reading your brain scan).