Yardbarker: Cincinnati Bengals

[Bengals] Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick Will Start Week 7

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:36:01 -0500

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis has named Ryan Fitzpatrick the starter for Week 7 against the Steelers. Lewis said "a further conservative approach,"...

[Bengals] Bengals QB Carson Palmer Will Not Need Tommy John Surgery

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:36:01 -0500

Carson Palmer will not need Tommy John surgery on his elbow, as had been speculated, according to John Clayton of ESPN.com. *Source:* rototimes.com...

Fantasy Football Week 7 Rankings - Quarterbacks

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:45:18 -0500

There is big news surrounding the quarterback position this week in the NFL. The biggest, of course, is that Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo, has a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand and could miss up to four weeks, paving the way for backup Brad Johnson. In Buffalo, starter Trent Edwards, who had suffered a concussion after a taking a vicious hit in week 5, is back to practice after resting during the bye week. Buffalo has already gone on record saying he will start. Then, we have situations like Seattle, Cincinnati and Detroit, where injuries to starters caused for some atrocious play out of the backups, play that we may very well be privy to again in week 7. With four good quarterbacks on bye this week and many more injured, check out the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 7 Quarterback Rankings to help you decide who to start and who to sit. -------------------- 1. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) at Carolina Brees and the Saints continue to play at a high level despite not having all their starters in place. Reggie Bush is still struggling as a running back, but has become a great receiving threat out of the backfield for Brees and that's helped open up the offense for New Orleans. On paper the Carolina defense looks stout, but look at who the Panthers have played so far this season. Out of San Diego, Kansas City, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Minnesota, only the Chargers could be considered an elite offense. Don't hesitate in playing Brees this week, it should be yet another good game for him. Point Projection: 24 Points -------------------- TO FIND OUT WHERE THE REST OF THE QUARTERBACKS RANK IN WEEK 7, CLICK THE LINK...

Week 7 NFL Power Rankings

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:37:48 -0500

Wow what another wild weekend in the NFL. I'm not going to go into details as you can except my weekly round up later today, but I will say this weekend has completely shaken up the standings and the rankings.

How Low Can the Bengals Go in Season of Disaster?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:55:55 -0500

Weeks upon weeks of "close but no cigar" is getting a bit old. The Bengals again on Sunday at the Meadowlands put forth a solid effort against the Jets, but again, didn't have enough on offense and gave up a couple plays too many on defense enroute to a 26-14 loss. While the [...]

The Fantasy Football & The Trade Deadline

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:20:50 -0500

Deadline Daze There seems to be an added buzz surrounding this year's Oct. 14 trading deadline. But owners should know better than to get excited about the deadline period. In years past, there has been little to report in the way of players - let alone, fantasy-relevant ones - switching threads. And even the most significant deadline deals that have been executed took place before fantasy football became the cultural phenomenon it is today. In 1987, running back Eric Dickerson was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Colts as part of a three-way swap that sent linebacker Cornelius Bennett to the Bills and running back Greg Bell and three first-round selections to the Rams. Dickerson had averaged nearly 24 carries per game over four seasons with the Rams, so his treads were a bit more worn than what you would typically find on a 27-year-old running back. Translating this to the present, this would be like Clinton Portis being traded for Andre Hall and three first-round selections. To read more about fantasy football and the trade deadline, click the link below...

Suddenly the Tough Schedule Doesn’t Look So Tough

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:43:13 -0500

It was no secret that coming into 2008 the Steelers had the toughest schedule in the NFL. Now, as the team sits at a very good 4-1 getting ready for a bad Bengals team that has yet to win in 2008, the schedule has suddenly taken quite a turn. Let's break down what [...]

Satan Lives on the Jersey Turnpike

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:38:09 -0500

This weekend a Bengal fan friend of mine* that I have dialed me up and told me that he had an extra ticket to the game so I obliged and headed down to the wonderful Meadowlands for the game. We headed out after my flag football game and gave ourselves 2 hours to drive 59 miles. Was that enough? Well it was enough to be able to see the stadium with 40 minutes left to get into it. But nope not enough time to get. In fact at one point a person was walking on the side of our car about a mile, mile and a half away from the stadium and we rolled down the window and asked if he needed a ride. He responded, no thanks I need to get there by kickoff. This followed with us watching him in his casual walk fade into the distance as we stayed mostly stationary. We finally were able to park at around kickoff time (in some restaurant lot because no longer is the Meadowlands lot big enough for all the fans) and we ended up miss about 1/2 of the first quarter.

The actual game was enjoyable but far from thrilling but hey who am I to complain it's the first time I've been to a winning Jet game ever. The Jets played sloppily and included some miserable interceptions by Favre but the Bengals offense behind Fitzpatrick was mostly miserable. All in all it was nice to go to the first game in awhile, and then you have to drive home and all of the joyous feelings you have go out the window. Why? Because the Jersey turnpike is the creation and house of Satan.

2 hours. It takes over 2 F'n hours to go 11 miles. 2 miserable tolls that both intelligently merge 8 lanes of traffic down to 2. A trip that should take about and hour and 20 minutes winds up taking 3 1/2 hours in which your soul is slowly extracted by the devil.

For as much as it would have sucked for Manhattan to add football traffic, I know at least for myself if I was heading to a Jet game on a Sunday with a stadium on the West side I would take the F'n train and it would afford me skipping out on the testicle clamping pain that is the George Washington bridge.

Jersey Sucks...

*Why He's a Bengal fan is still to be determined.

[Bengals] Bengals To Bench RB Chris Perry?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:34:37 -0500

Is Bengals starting tailback Chris Perry about to get benched in favor of Cedric Benson or Kenny Watson? Sure sounds like it. Perry rushed 11 times...

NFL Punchlines: Did You Doubt the Mike Smith Hiring? Don't Worry, So Did We

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:02:31 -0500

The Rams second round pick of this year's draft, Donnie Avery, finally had an impact yesterday vs the Redskins. (Post Dispatch)

The Seahawks held Matt Hasselbeck out of yesterday's game vs Green Bay and he will undergo more tests on his injured knee this week. (Seattle Times)

Crisis time in Dallas, the Cowboys have two losses! (Arizona Republic)

JaMarcus Russell is a young QB who with all of the stuff going on around him is not even being given a fair chance to develop. Can we give him a little bit of a pass on his poor play yesterday? (San Fran Chronicle)

Comparing the '08 Saints to the '02 Raiders. (San Fran Chronicle)

Frank Gore isn't exactly getting Martz'd, but they could have used him more in the 4th quarter yesterday to hold the lead vs the Eagles. (SacBee)

Maybe the Raiders should have fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan instead of Lane Kiffin. (SacBee)

The NFL league office's have seen an increase in violent hits this season and they are not happy about it. (Post Gazette)

You know who had a good day yesterday? The Vegas sports books. (Philly Inquirer)

Is he still on your waiver wire? Cause if he is Correll Buckhalter might be a good pickup for the oft-injured Brian Westbrook. (Philly Inquirer)

Why does every team try and bury Jeff Garcia? He started yesterday after being benched the three weeks prior and led the Bucs to a dominating win over the Panthers. (Orlando Sentinel)

When David Tyree comes off the PUP list, will their be a place on the Giants roster for him? (NY Times)

If the Saints can even play defense half as good as they have the past two weeks they will be a playoff team. (Times Picayune)

DeSean Jackson was fined $10,000 by the league for celebrating a punt return TD last week vs Washington. (Star Ledger)

Leon Washington did a little bit of everything for the Jets yesterday in their win over the Bengals. (Star Ledger)

Floyd Reese can take a bow for the part he played in constructing the roster of the undefeated Titans. Why haven't the Lions signed him yet? (Tennessean)

Adrian Peterson needs to go to the school of Darnell Jefferson and start holding on to the football. (Star Tribune)

Are we still talking about this? (Journal Sentinel)

As we have come to expect, Joey Porter found his own way to class up the Dolphins loss to the Texans yesterday. (Miami Herald)

Stephen Ross might soon be the majority owner of the Miami Dolphins. (Miami Herald)

5 fantastic finishes from yesterday's NFL slate. (Miami Herald)

Whitlock: Trading Gonzalez to contender would be right thing, but price might not be right. (KC Star)

Larry Johnson is not happy about the subject of this article. (KC Star)

The Jaguars D looked like the unit we were all expecting to see this season vs the Broncos yesterday. (Times Union)

Marvin Harrison and the Colts looked like their old selves yesterday, and in Marvin's case he acted like it too. (Indy Star)

Dominic Rhodes should be a prized waiver wire pickup this week. (Indy Star)

When healthy Andre Johnson has to be considered a top 5 fantasy receiver. (Houston Chronicle)

The Lions could look to trade some of their bigger names by Tuesday's trade deadline. (Detroit Free Press)

A look back at the glory days of the Browns-Giants rivalry. (Plain Dealer)

The pressure will be on Derek Anderson to perform tonight. (Plain Dealer)

Kellen Winslow was released from the hospital on Sunday with an undisclosed illness, but will likely not play tonight. (Plain Dealer)

Carson Palmer is going to have his elbow examined by a New York specialist today. (Cincy Enquirer)

All it took was 11 seconds for Matt Ryan to get the Falcons in position for the game winning field goal vs the Bears yesterday. (Chicago Tribune)

All CAPS headlines involving your team are either a real good thing or a terrible thing to read on a Monday morning. (Charlotte Observer)

Coach of the year thus far has to be Mike Smith, right? (AJC)

Top 10 reasons Pittsburgh is better than Cincinnati

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:18:07 -0500

A humorous comparison of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Bengals Updates - Palmer out Week 7, RB Woes

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:45:13 -0500

Marvin Lewis has named Ryan Fitzpatrick the starter for Week 7 against the Steelers. Lewis said "a further conservative approach," has been recommended for Carson Palmer's inflamed throwing elbow. "But I'll talk with Carson in person further about what the doctor thought and what he thought the options were," Lewis said. "I don't think anything has been ruled out." The options for Palmer are, playing in two weeks in Houston, or waiting until after the Nov. 9 bye, or shutting it down for the season."I want to talk to Carson to see where he is," Lewis said. Cincinnati Bengals starting tailback Chris Perry may be getting benched in favor of Cedric Benson or Kenny Watson. Perry rushed 11 times for 14 yards (1.3) with a long gain of four yards. "We're going to look at all that," head coach Marvin Lewis said in the aftermath of the Bengals' 26-14 loss to the New York Jets.

Palmer to be Out Again This Sunday vs Steelers

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:16:45 -0500

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said during his press conference today that QB Carson Palmer is out for the team's Week 7 game vs the Steelers. Lewis said that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback.

Fantasy Football Flops

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:34:24 -0500

There were many performances that were so bad in week six, it should prompt you to seriously consider getting these players off your team. These dreadful stat lines are also indicative of the problems these players have had all season and will probably continue to have the rest of the way. Find a buyer before their value plummets further.

A Win is a Win

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:20:08 -0500

In the NFL you take a win any way you can. Every week each opponent has an opportunity to win no matter what the line is or what analysts say. As a Jet fan, never once did I think we had the game vs. the Bengals in hand. From the opening score (Brett Favre fumble which was recovered and returned for a Bengal TD) to the final whistle the Jets did not look like a Super Bowl contender. A fine tuned team would have put this Bengal team away early and scored often. The Jets did have there opportunities to put this one away but penalties, take aways, and again bad play calling hampered those chances. The Jets can get away with that against teams that have packed it in and have no belief in there teams direction and output. Versus teams that are hitting on all cylinders the Jets will struggle. Special Teams & Defense The box score doesn't tell the entire story all the time. The Jets still need to play the field position game a whole lot better. The kick off and punt cover teams have to get better in a hurry as the season is only going to get harder. The Jets need to find ways of kicking the ball farther and or tackle better and have there opponents go 70-80 yards to score rather then 50-60 yards to score. A longer field means more opportunities to fail. More opportunities to have an INT, fumble, not making a first down and forced to punt or attempt a longer field goal. The play calling on defense will only appear to be better when the opponent has a longer field to work with vs. a short field. For some reason the Jets defensive coaches get in a prevent mode too often and too early in games. I always believe you never let up on the gas pedal in the NFL. Meaning you can not turn pressure on and off. My point is you can not ask players to play aggressive some times and preventive in other times. I still hate watching three men rush the passer and eight go back in coverage. Every time the Jets rushed four or five the QB had to react. When the Jets only rushed three the QB had time to think and make plays. Four quarters of in your face football. That is what I would like to see. Between all the first round draft picks and free agent acquisitions we have the talent to put pressure on the QB and play on there side on the line of scrimmage. Bottom line, Kerry Jenkins is a stud. You can tell when he is not on the field because the Jets get pushed off the line quite often when Jenkins is not in there. The difference in the 3-4 defense, the two gap technique hampers defensive linemen from making tackles for losses. A good two gapper will make a tackle for a two yard gain in a 3-4 scheme. I would like to see more stunts and schemes where you ask them to shoot gaps (one gap) and play on there side on the line of scrimmage. This will put oppositions in worse down and distance scenarios. Meaning you can be more creative when it is second down and twelve yards to go or third and eight situations. Too many times do I see a third down and three situations because we catch up front and get moved back for positive gains. Teams that have both a running and passing game will kill us because they will dictate and move the ball at will because of the bend but do not break mentality. I blame head coach Eric Mangini on that because he knows no other way. That is what he did in New England while he was there. Mangini better wake up fast because he has a gun slinger at QB and mistakes and turnovers will happen. Good teams score off of your mistakes and turnovers. That is why I never once believed we had this game in hand. I wish and hope for the Jet brass to address the kicking game and practice the hell out of it. They need to get better fast in this area. Look at the average staring position rather then hang time and how far the kick went. Ben Graham would either kick it very far or out of bounds twenty five or thirty yards down field where as R. Hodges has good hang time but does not kick it very far. Either or your special teams unit needs to get repetitions after repetitions to get there timing down. I know there have been some injuries but it is how you prepare that makes or breaks you. This area needs some attention to and bringing back players and having new faces only hinders your overall performance. Keep it simple stupid and stick with one punter so that the other 10 can get there timing down. And if Feeley can not kick it off very far work with the other 10 on pursuit angles and position the kick each week to the weaker returner. Does a Nascar driver take his foot off the gas pedal? Did the Giants get passive with Tom Brady in the Super Bowl or during the payoffs? Did the Patriots get passive when trying to go unbeaten and break passing records last year? The new style in the NFL is getting after the QB quickly so he has no time to think. Practice is designed to prepare you for every scenario you may see during the game so that you react quickly. My point is the Jets need to dictate the game on defense. Do not give any QB time to think and so he carves you up and makes you look like Swiss cheese. Get in his face and make him make bad decisions which means better results (INT's, fumbles, sacks, grounding, tackles for a loss etca??)