Slay The Cupcakes

Late last year, Cincinnati came to grips with the limits of their young offense.  By the end, it seemed they had pulled all the rabbits from their hat.  Now, in their second year together, Jay Gruden and Andy Dalton must widen the scope of their mutated west-coast offense. 

The defense should be fine. It brings back ten starters from last year with Mike Zimmer still at the helm.  It has added depth at key spots and is relying on young guys to further develop in order to truly reach the ranks of an elite defense.  Therefore, it seems to me that the ability to score points, especially against the weaker teams is most paramount.

The schedule is a tease this year for the Bengals.  After the opener in Baltimore on Monday night, it forms into a constellation of cupcakes with Cleveland twice, Washington, Jacksonville and Miami.  Yet after the stroll down easy street, the path becomes a bit more rocky and at least some losses will occur.

Such a lopsided schedule makes for more pressure to win all of the easier games early on.  That way, when in the weeds, Cincinnati still would have that five-game win streak in its pocket.  A stretch like that can make up for a rough patch later on and still get a team into the wild-card round (see: Bengals, 2011).  So win or lose (hopefully win) after that Monday Night game, Dalton and his mates are going to have to cruise and win at least four of the next five games.

Bad teams like playing ugly football.  Sometimes low-scoring games are unavoidable, the NFL is a competitive league, and the Bengals were kind of built for those kinds of games last year.  But this offense has the tools to be a Patriots Jr. type of group and should see more point production in 2012. 

One of the big problems early on last year was converting third downs, hitting the home run play and getting touchdowns in the red zone.  After AJ Green established himself as one of the better receivers in the league despite his rookie status, the big plays, and then third-down conversions began to trickle in and so did the wins.  Now that Dalton, Green and Gruden are no longer rookies, those growing pains should be a thing of the past.  The trust-level should increase between coordinator and quarterback, and the ability to attack the opposing defense rather than just settle for field position should be evident early on against potentially vulnerable teams.  Four of the five games mentioned feature likely rookie starting quarterbacks, and the fifth guy is Blaine Gabbert.  The idea is to force young signal-callers into comeback mode, a mode often laden with mistakes and 'learning opportunities'. 

This training camp should emphasize quick-strike plays that put defenses on their heels right away.  The first fifteen plays should be scripted around getting points now and worrying about field position and time-management later.  With the change of personnel, especially the departure of Cedric Benson, the time is ripe for a noticeable switch in philosophy.

Obviously, the comparisons and parallels of the Bengals offense with that of the Patriots begin with the arrival of BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  He was the main cog in New England's rushing attack but never did the Pats allow him to carry the heavy load.  Instead they broke it up between multiple backs, an approach the Bengals only toyed with at times, but appear to taking much more seriously this season.  Green-Ellis will have a major role with the team, but I don't think it will be as anchored as Benson's was. 

New England's offense last year was heavy with short passes and yards after catch.  Their running backs were so versatile, that in their no-huddle offense, they would line up in three different spots in consecutive plays.  While I don't think Gruden is going to employ the hyper hurry-up mode that Tom Brady orchestrated last year, I do think the Bengal offense has prime short-yardage receivers. 

We've all heard the comparisons of Wes Welker to Jordan Shipley and a lot of us think it's because they are both white receivers, but they do play with similar style and both are reliable as hell when they're healthy.  Shipley appears designed as an ideal slot receiver and his return from knee surgery made Andre Caldwell's departure a kind of no-brainer.  But it's the other slot receiver that I think makes this offense more intriguing than what is noticed at first glance.

Andrew Hawkins is another little guy, built for small spaces on the football field, but at the end of the day, he gets the most out of every play he's involved in.  After AJ Green hurt himself making a terrific touchdown catch, I felt Hawkins became Cincinnati's most viable option on third down last year.  He runs good routes, catches the ball, and is surprisingly tough to tackle.  Having two slot guys like this allows the Bengals to enjoy mismatches aplenty and short-route receptions can be used in lieu of the running game—just like New England does.

The best part of the Patriot offense is their tight ends, and to say the Bengals have the same kind of talent at the position is overly presumptuous.  Jermaine Gresham has been granted the body of an NFL tight end, complete with every skill he needs to be great.  But I still get the sense that he hasn't completely mastered such a complex and overpowering gift.  Unlike baseball, patience is short in football and teams need to see a player's best as soon as possible.  If Gresham is going to be the unleashed animal he can be, this is the year we must see it.  He can be a difference maker—he can have a Gronk-like impact on the game—especially if the slots are occupied by Shipley and Hawkins, but it's up to him to make that happen.  He's been coached enough, he has the experience, now it's time for him to put it all together and dominate.  As for Orson Charles, he too has the look of a quality tight end and his strengths are reportedly in the passing game.  He is knocked as a blocker, but so was Aaron Hernandez, and he worked out pretty well.

The last category of short-yardage targets are the backs.  We know how the Law Firm worked out in this scheme and there is no reason that we should expect much different if employed the same way.  Brian Leonard is a better receiver than running back and his extra-effort and abilities to make tacklers miss in the open field have been well documented.  Bernard Scott can catch screens but I wouldn't say he has displayed much versatility in that regard.

I haven't mixed Green into this hypothetical offense because the guy can do it all.  If all of this short stuff to other players has any success, safeties will cheat up, and Green will find himself one-on-one with a very worried cornerback trying to guard him.  Green can make the big play, but he showed he can make things happen on shorter routes too.  There are three young receivers who will battle it out this July in order to play second fiddle to Green and they will have to be possession guys to some degree, but whoever wins said battle will not likely be a first option very often.

While all of these individual toys are fun to mentally play with, it's Dalton and his pre-snap reads that will make all of this stuff work.  Brady is exceptional at keying in on one defender to make his quick decision, and rarely is he wrong.  To think Dalton is on that level is unfair to both men, but he is climbing in his aptitude tests and his recognition skills should be improved from his first season.  For the most part, his throws are fine (an improved deep ball would do wonders though), but it's his mastery of the offense that will make the difference.  Learning the looks of pro defenses will assist in the scoring of more points, and a lot of points early on will sink a weaker team's battleship.

This type of an offense would be more spread out than a typical Bengals offense of the past.  The fullback is less present in a scheme like this, overloaded lines aren't necessary.  Four and five-wide formations would be the norm and it would put additional pressure on opposing nickel and dime packages.  This would be a big shift in a Marvin Lewis team and the question then becomes, would he be okay with such a move?  I think so.  I doubt he would consent to the type of player moves that occurred this offseason if he wasn't prepared for a shift.

So if the Bengals want to avoid having to beat all the good teams down the stretch to get into the playoffs, they need to take care of business against the substandard.  Best way to beat a bad team is to get ahead early and dare them to come back.  Best way to get ahead early for the Bengals is to use the short passing game to set up the home run ball. 

If it sounds too easy, that's because it is.  Nothing plays out perfectly as predicted, but something has to be a point of emphasis this training camp, and if a twist to this offense is to occur, it should be to put Andy Dalton more in charge.  More responsibility, more accountability, more points, and more passing.  I think a lot will be different, and I think it starts with Big Red.

Mojokong—and even though the flowers bloom...

The Load Left Behind

Cedric Benson was not a perfect back. He stopped his feet and fumbled too often, had limited catching ability and got grumpy when another man carried the rock. But the guy was durable. He did not get tired or injured very often and his conditioning was extremely reliable. In Benson's case, mileage was never an issue.

The league has firmly adopted the two-back approach to run the ball these days and the Bengals have steered away from the feature-back theory themselves. Gone is Benson, lingering in the free agent market but sidling up to Oakland, reportedly. Here now is BenJarvus Gree-Ellis, but the thinking among the Bengal contingent is that the Law Firm will not see the amount of carries that was dumped upon Benson. Instead, Bernard Scott is expected to get an increased workload, and Brian Leonard and Cedric Peerman could also take more hand offs. It sounds okay going into mini-camps and eventually training camp, but I feel the question still remains: can these guys hold up physically to the wear and tear of more carries?

It would only make sense that Marvin Lewis feels good about loosening the reigns on Andy Dalton coming into his second year. All the protection the team provided the ginger last year with a heavy run attack and simple-game planning becomes less of a priority as Dalton masters the offense and the game. The receiving corps looks more formidable entering into this season, and the offensive line has been upgraded at both starting guard positions. I would expect Dalton's pass attempts to grow from last year's total and that alone will help the run game.

Still, this is the AFC North and despite the constant evolution of the passing game, running the ball remains important, especially late in the season. Green-Ellis is a tough runner but he isn't very big. Leonard is a big runner but he's better catching short passes in space. Scott is a fast runner with good vision, but is easily brought down. Peerman is a bowling ball runner but unproven and coaches worry about him protecting the ball. Many thought the team would add a running back as high as the first round in this year's draft. It didn't happen in any round. Michael Bush visited along with Law Firm, but no one expected them to sign both players. Instead, Bush went to Chicago and the Bengals felt better about BenJarvus.

In the last three years, Benson averaged right around 300 carries each season, while Green-Ellis has never topped 230. I had rallied for two years to get B. Scott more touches, but when he finally did, I felt underwhelmed by the outcome. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed with him last year.

Only time will tell if this is a concern even worth raising, but it feels like the farm finally sent Boxer to the glue factory and are now replacing him with a couple of ponies. Can they pull the weight? Will they hold up this winter? Much depends on the draft horses. They move an entire offense.

Mojokong—mini burst. 

Survival of the Illest

The NFL is naturally selective.  Like our old homeboy Chuck Darwin pointed out, species prevent extinction by adapting and genetically evolving traits that work for them.  Each offseason, every team goes through a mini-blast of evolution, keeping what they think already works and trying out new things like adding an extra finger or a bunch of cornerbacks, whatever makes the most sense at the time.  Some teams are forced to constantly rebuild in the primordial soup of failed draft-pick development, while the winners have found their home on land, stomping around upright on two legs, breathing with lungs and using thumbs and eventually nuclear power. 

If the Giants then, Super Bowl champions and conveniently nicknamed for this metaphor, are fully-formed humans, the Bengals are a close hominid, Neanderthal perhaps.  Now that the draft is over, aside from some minor shuffling, we see this specimen emerge from its cave—a bit less slouched than last year—stretch, take a leak, and go off to kick some ass and find some food. 

It seems wise to make only minor changes to a young playoff team like the Bengals—meddling is what ruined 2010—and nearly everyone agrees they made off like thieves in the draft, but I can't help but worry (I'm a worrier) that some major questions remain.

Most of you loyal readers are aware of my concerns about the safety position.  It's razor thin right now with four guys listed and only one of them used to starting.  With the two-dozen corners Cincinnati collected in the offseason, one if not two will likely be thrown back there in training camp to see if they can hold up.  It seems like for many years tight ends have enjoyed a lot of open space to catch footballs against the Bengals.  Often times we would blame whichever journeyman safety was too slow to keep up at the time.  Marvin Lewis has searched long and hard for a fixture at strong safety with older free-agents and very little success.  Taylor Mays has made strides since donning stripes, and by the lack of effort in acquiring a new one, it seems the team is comfortable penciling him in as a starter for now.  He is a natural-born hitter, but his coverage skills have hounded his reputation since entering the pros.  Robert Sands has good size and year of tutelage under his belt, but he is still very raw and I would be uneasy to see him forced into a starting role just yet.  Don't know much about George Iloka, but it's safe to say his immediate contributions will likely come on special teams.

My other concern is the elusive number-two receiver.  In the stretch run of both 2009 and 2011, multiple receivers became injured, rendering the offense too limited and predictable to win a playoff game.  While Jordan Shipley is back in the slot, along with new fan-favorite Andrew Hawkins, having a capable player opposite of AJ Green will open things up for everyone else.  If Green were to miss any time, God forbid, the number-two would become crucial to maintaining a capable passing attack.  If that player cannot threaten the opposing secondary by getting open deep, defending the short-routed possession guys will be a breeze from that point on.  The run would then become more difficult and things fall apart from there. Of course, that's a fairly doomsday outlook on the future and I hope that doesn't happen, but we've seen it—felt it—happen before.

Like all rookies, the two new Bengal wide outs fill us with hope.  Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones seem to have some NFL pedigree, a lot of scouts like them, but they're rookies nonetheless.  Local college graduate, Armon Binns, is quietly garnering a lot of hype within the Bengal fan base and there are many who expect him to surprise the league very soon.  Ryan Whalen showed flashes of reliability late last year and knows the offense better then the others mentioned here, yet he certainly doesn't scare anyone.  The two tight ends, Jermaine Gresham and Orson Charles, are big athletic targets capable of exploiting mismatches all over the field, but wide outs they are not. I realize that the number-two wide receiver is not the most crucial piece to the puzzle, but in the NFL, any inadequacy can and will be exploited by the competition.

There is much well-founded optimism in the shape of this year's striped Neanderthal.  Many good and productive tasks have been completed this winter and spring and now we can watch the blooming fruits of that labor come to harvest this autumn, but those fruits will not be without flaw.  The Bengals will have to work even harder to overcome their shortcomings.  An NFL-ready strong safety and a play-making number-two receiver must be in place to allow this team to move farther into the playoffs.  The candidates are young, but the coaching is good.  Only time will tell, survival of the fittest.


Mojokong—using my thumbs.

Bengal Beef

Defensive tackle wasn't all that recognized as a team need, yet the Bengals took two in the first three rounds. Could be a response to the Browns drafting Trent Richardson or could just be the best guys on the Bengals board, either way, 600-plus pounds were just added to the pack of wilder beasts on the defensive front, and running just became more difficult.

I like the stockpiling for a variety of reasons.

Teams should have identities. Those who don't drift through their schedule with minimal long-term impact on the league. The reigning champs load up on pass-rushers and come after quarterbacks. The Bengals are loading up on tackles and daring teams to run against them. Thanks to the youth in the position, this kind of draft strategy could have those lingering benefits good teams enjoy once their identity has been crafted.

Secondly, I developed a concern about the rush defense once a couple of good run-support ends left this offseason for greener pastures. Johnathan Fanene and Frostee Rucker were thicker guys with motors, yet the Bengals replaced them with sleeker speed-ends in Derrick Harvey and Jamaal Anderson. Retaining Pat Sims for another year was a key move for this defense, but until the draft, that still only left three tackles which in retrospect, seemed flimsy.

Also, choosing two tackles so early could be a response to the abilities of both Ray Rice and now Trent Richardson. In Week 17 of last year, Rice sliced up the Bengals defense with two long touchdown runs, then, a week later in the Wild-Card game, Arian Foster did the same. Now the Cleveland Browns have selected an all-world talent in Richardson who promises to be a problem for the division right away. These two guys aren't going away anytime soon and countering with a beefier defensive line makes a lot of sense.

I like the look of Devon Still. Not a fat man, this broad-shouldered mountain was pretty highly praised by a lot of draft wizards consistently mentioning his immediate readiness on the pro level. The Big-Ten defensive player of the year had 4.5 sacks last year indicating an ability to disrupt the quarterback. He seems like another three-technique guy and am excited to watch him this summer.

Brandon Thompson is a natural run-stuffer whose major criticism seems to be one of technique when double-teamed. If he is considered stellar against the run but plays with poor technique, some good coaching could making him a monster up the gut. He's got the proverbial motor, he gets the push at the point of attack, he's thick enough to disrupt, and he is the right kind of guy to collect.

Just imagine the forlorn faces of those worn out guards that are forced to go up against fresh 300-pound bodies on what seems like every snap. First it's Peko and Atkins, then it's Still and Thompson, and then, just for kicks, they mix in Pat Sims and laugh about it on the sidelines.

Of course the linebackers play better with improved defensive tackle play, and if any linebacker in the league could use less block shedding it's Rey Maualuga. The one-time man-child hopeful is still best when he can seek and destroy. Rey is not a thinking man. After years of defensive coaches telling him to think less and react more, Rey has taken the philosophy to the literal extreme and often appears as lost as a babe in the wood when used in coverage. If the beefcakes up front can fill their holes and keep Maualuga uncovered, he will have the impact on the game that we all dreamed he would when he was drafted.

The cattle ranch is in full effect in Cincinnati these days as one can find multiple large mammals grazing on the practice field grass next to the stadium. These specimens are defensive tackles and they could become the trademark to this team. The franchise now has a layer of its foundation committed to being tough against the run and the Bengals finally have something to hang their hat on for years to come.

Mojokong - beefy things happening.

Improved Study Habits

One of my favorite bailout qualifiers people say before embarking on a rant that may be factually incorrect is, “I don't have the statistics in front of me.”  Once uttered, this phrase allows a few minutes of complete speculative bullshit to be tolerated without intense scrutiny, so while reading the opinions and claims tossed around below, please keep that sentence in mind. 

From my vantage point, the Cincinnati Bengals are taking an especially serious approach to this upcoming draft.  Since hiring not one but two additional scouts this offseason, Mike Brown is finally following the footsteps of fully-grown owners who handle their team in a professional, mature manner. 

Thanks to the raging river of information Cincy Jungle provides its readers, fans have at least browsed past multiple updates the past few months, reporting some kind of Bengal presence at prospect pro-days and personal workouts.  As mentioned, without keeping tabs on these kinds of things, I can't say for sure, but it definitely feels to me that the Bengals have been far more active this year in their scouting endeavors than ever before.

The obvious reason for this peak in scouting is the additional first-rounder from Oakland. While the Raider camp has said all the right things since trading away their foreseeable future, you can get easily discover their true emotions by solving this riddle: what's black and silver and red all over?  Cincinnati has a double-barrel draft gun aimed right at the rich talent pool of the 2012 crop and are still laughing at the now-famous Hue Jackson heist.

The assistants have seen a lot of workouts—even Marv has taken trips to places like Arizona and Boise—and the Bengal war room should be filling up with lots of names and lots of information on each one.
Most of the earlier attention was on the more reputable college players, but the effort has stretched to guys projected to be selected in the deeper rounds and the updates keep floating downstream. 

I think it's important to remember the role of the agent in all of this too.  Sometimes we as fans are sold on a “report” that someone tweeted about how the Bengals are interested in so-and-so.  If you represented a player, you too would want to name teams at any chance you had to drum up interest, even if it meant stretching the truth.  It's sneaky, but it's their job. 

Nonetheless, the pro-activity on the draft mixed with the modest free-agent approach can be taken as roadsigns of sorts to their future.  They don't want to plug-and-play with older players, they don't want the high-profile veterans available on the market.  They recognize an impressive team core that already has taken shape and they want to add additional permanency to it so that they can ensure more of a long-term consistency.

Which players they will choose is left up to the draft wizards—my wizard hat is stored in the back of the closet getting wrinkled and dusty.  I feel all mocked out at this point and rarely does any of it fall into place as neatly as it is predicted anyway, but it seems the wizard guild has decided on a defensive back and either a receiver or a guard with their duel first-rounders.  Running back was tossed around for a while too, but once it became decided Trent Richardson would be gone by the time they picked, the angle cooled and only Lamar Miller or Doug Martin remain remote possibilities. 

I've always been high on DeCastro as he seems like a safe pick and immediate starter, and I still think Alshon Jeffrey will someday reach stardom too, though I know he isn't high on many lists, but if the Bengals do address their secondary with one of the premiere picks, staying away from Mark Barron seems the way to go after his recent double-hernia surgery.  I just don't like drafting hurt players.

The comfort in all of this is that whoever the Bengals choose, they will know a good deal about.  They have done all of their homework this go-around and are perhaps the most prepared they have ever been heading into a draft.  I expect quality contributors—even in the middle rounds—to compete for starting jobs now and for pro-bowls later.  The money is in place, the team-leaders are in place, the culture is positive and the feel is professional.  Nearly every starter returns on defense and the new faces on offense are already upgrades at their positions.  The coaches are the same, the playbooks are expanding, and only the field-turf is completely different from last year's wild-card run. 

So, without having the statistics in front of me, I am going on record to say that this is the draft that propels the Cincinnati Bengals into perennial contenders.  This is the event that tips this franchise over to a bountiful era of winning and satisfaction.  The labor of all of this scouting will someday bear the fruits of playoff victories.  They are building a monster in Cincinnati.  What looks modest and nonthreatening now, will be feared and loathed very soon.  The hell with the statistics, this is happening!


Mojokong—frothing through spring.

Subtle Ripples

There has been very little splashing in the AFC North puddle this season.  In fact, one might look closely at its ripples and think it hasn't changed much at all.  The annual free-agency grades have made their rounds, and the greater public of analysts feel underwhelmed by the lack of moves in the division.  Teams have formed a holding pattern and it hasn't made for good copy.  Nonetheless, a larger picture is taking shape, even by the minimal changes, and we can now get the first sense of what kind of team to expect in uniform this season.

By and large, the cards—and the wallets—have been kept close to the chest.  Old-schoolers like Hines Ward, Aaron Smith and James Farrior were thrown into the volcano of cap-space, and others like Ben Grubbs, Jarret Johnson and Cory Redding floated away to other divisions in the free-agent sea.  The Browns picked up a couple of random defensive ends and Ricky Williams retired again.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh are finally facing the facts of human aging and their superhero defenses are now showing more rust than can be ignored.  Both teams are shedding the old husks for the youth next in line.  Each may have improved their long-term future by such a pruning, but the transition may be bumpy early on.

Cleveland is relying on a young team to get better on their own without much veteran assistance.  The perpetual youth movement in Cleveland could gain at least some traction with two more first-round picks in this upcoming draft, but for now, the Browns remain soft and mostly harmless.

In Cincinnati, however, a more tangible improvement can be sensed.  The most frequent criticism of their free-agency so far is that they didn't spend enough money.  Leading the league in cap-space, the Bengals could have splurged all over the high-profile names in this year's class, but guys like the hotheaded Courtland Finnegan and the the big-ticketed Carl Nicks were largely ignored.  Instead of adding the big piece, the Bengals kept the guys they liked, then hit up the thrift store and picked up a few items on the cheap.

Keeping Reggie Nelson was important.  The safety position is one of concern and would have become downright frightening had Nelson scored a contract elsewhere.  Manny Lawson's return also helps with consistency, depth and familiarity purposes.  Adam Jones was given a little less than a mil for one more chance to regain relevancy in what seems like a fair deal for both sides.

The new guys, on the other hand,  read like an odds-and-ends list.

First is a pair of busted first-round defensive ends who once flashed with football brilliance but failed to keep it together enough to live up to the hype.  Jamaal Anderson and Derrick Harvey are DIY reclamation projects that could be cleaned up real nice if Zimmer can do it just right.  Anderson looked good at times last year with the Colts and seems more “ready” than does Harvey.  Each signed low-risk contracts for the Bengals so if they don't pan out, the team isn't tied to them.  Mike Brown loves him a scratch-and-dent sale and these two are fresh off the heap.

Also purchased from the has-been section are a couple of corners added to the collection of average defensive backs the Bengals currently employ.  Terence Newman has yet to sign, but I am rather certain this will happen soon and become reunited with his old bossman Zim.  Newman is older, perhaps past his prime, but not completely useless yet.  I think he can cover better than Nate Clements or Kelly Jennings, and, again, has some previous knowledge of the system.  The other is Jason Allen who I remember being roasted in Miami and thinking the guy didn't look like an NFL player at all.  He was traded to Houston and redeemed himself some there, but terrible first impressions are hard to shake.  It seems he's okay in zone and is a decent tackler, but any one-on-one match-up scares me with Allen out there.

Even if these guys are just filler, teams need filler and there is certainly deeper and dirtier stuff one can scrape from the bottom of the barrel than this group.

The biggest boost for the Bengals though, is on the other side of the ball.  I don't know much about Trevelle Wharton, but I do know that they have ran the ball well in Carolina for many seasons now.  I also know how unimpressed I was with Nate Livings the last two seasons, so Wharton is a welcomed fat body for better depth alone at the guard position.  With no smoke signals coming out of the Bobby Williams camp about his limited football future, the Bengals simply need guys to fill the position; signing Wharton may quietly prove to be one of the more important moves of the off-season for the Stripes.

The biggest splash in the AFC North, however, is adding the Law Firm, BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  When I first heard of the signing I thought, “that's weird”.  Like many, I was attracted to the 245 lbs. of  Michael Bush, but Marvin Lewis and Jay Gruden wanted to go the other direction.

The move makes sense when you think about what Marvin values.  Green-Ellis has never fumbled, that still astounds me.  He gets low to pick up the tough yards.  Marvin loves low pad level, and how frustrating has it been to watch Cedric Benson hop side-to-side on short yardage runs the last two years, forcing a deflating punt of field-goal try almost every time?  Benson's best attribute was his longevity—the guy did not tire easily—but his skill set doesn't lend itself to getting the tough yards up the gut, and even though Law Firm weighs less, he is more of a straight ahead runner than is Benson.

With Green-Ellis, the Bengals can expand the scope of their offense to incorporate more snaps to the other backs and throw more short-yardage stuff out of the backfield, paramount in a west-coast offense.  Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott each have unique abilities that do not fit into the traditional halfback prototype.  Before, Benson dominated the ball and complained about any variation of him getting the vast majority, if not every, carry.  Now the other two can blend more seamlessly with Green-Ellis and be part of the overall offense instead of a jarring in-game shift of style and form.  I understand the pang of disappointment many of us felt by choosing Law Firm over Bush, but schematically, I think the Bengals made the right choice and that the improvement will become immediately visible in games.

There is still plenty of coin left in the coffers and the Bengals are just weird enough to try and pull off some kind of late blockbuster deal like heisting Mike Wallace from Pittsburgh, but ultimately, I think the team wants to keep as much cash as possible around to sign their young studs to forever contracts.  With the pair of first-round picks coming in April and once-quality starters like Leon Hall and Keith Rivers on the mend, things are coming up roses so far in Cincy, even if it isn't making too many waves in the puddle.  A real foundation is concreting within this team and they appear to be stockpiled enough to become both a short-term and long-term threat to their divisional foes.  Detractors beware.


Mojokong—feeling it.

The Carry Over

Expectations are tricky in the NFL. Trends are fleeting, roster turnover is heavy, and prolonged success or failure moves in short wavelengths.  Teams can fall apart mid-season and take months to repair.  Others can catch fire late in the year and win the dadgum Super Bowl. 

The Bengals are a good example of a team that defies expectation.  In 2009, they were supposed to struggle but won the AFC North.  The next year they added TO and the training-camp Super Bowl talk began, but then they flopped to a 4-12 record and left the stage in an embarrassing uproar.  Last year, anyone with a prediction of more than eight wins for the Bengals would have been shunned as a crazy person while all the others said five or less, but with a rookie quarterback and a pretty good defense they made their way to nine wins and a wild-card spot.  Pretty amazing.

Sadly, the trend would point to the Stripes choking once more in 2012, and even if they don't want to admit it, that little obnoxious factoid is alive and well in every Bengal fans' psyche when thinking ahead to this upcoming season.  But worry not, my Bengal brethren, there is much hope this time around. 

Achieving success through multiple seasons starts with team foundation.  When you look around the league, most of the playoff regulars have great ownership.  Bengals owner Mike Brown has been lambasted for decades by critics who point to the team's notorious losing and the shady stadium deal he negotiated with the city in the mid-90's.   He's become a human Montgomery Burns who has been a terrific source of humorous mocking. 

Mike Brown, however, is growing into a real life NFL owner and not some schlep who tinkers around with his daddy's team.  For the first time in my memory, MB has created positions in order to help the Bengals win.  He brought in consultant Jim McNally, made up a useless coaching title for Hue Jackson and now hired a West-Coast scout named Steven Radicevic.  Brown's drafts have been terrific the past  two seasons and his Carson Palmer maneuvering gets an entry into the business-villain handbook.  He's pulled off other trades like nabbing Reggie Nelson and Taylor Mays, scooped up quiet free-agent signings like Donald Lee and Thomas Howard, and positioned himself this off-season with a huge amount of cap-space and two first-round draft picks.  The guy has played his cards well recently, and tyrant or not, he deserves some credit.

The next level of sound infrastructure is that of coaching.  Secondary coach Kevin Coyle headed south for the sunshine of Miami, but Mike Zimmer and Jay Gruden both came back for another go and there is talk about extending Marvin Lewis' contract before the season gets underway.  Cincinnati has stockpiled a lot of coaching talent with the addition of Hue Jackson and new secondary coach Mark Carrier and as a whole, the collection should attract the attention of free-agents in the next few weeks.

With smart ownership and good coaching in place, Andy Dalton has the support to flourish in this system.  He and Gruden found a spark last season when both men were new to the league and many thought it would take a long time, if ever, to make it work.  With a full off-season together, and a growing familiarity in what is already a logical play-calling scheme, there is no reason to think that Dalton will struggle much next season.  Red is a common-man leader, a smiling grit.  Carson was a company-policy guy and was treated as a precious resource.  Dalton's yeoman attitude doesn't invite the tidal waves of personal pressure that Palmer felt while in Cincinnati; he doesn't have to be the golden god of quarterbacks, he just has to win. 

Attitude goes a long way toward a strong team foundation and is something the team has struggled with in years past.  This team, starting with Dalton, does have an endearing quality of modesty and workman-like charisma, but there are still a few grumps and divas in the mix.  One is Cedric Benson who simply wants the ball on every play no matter what.  I think he officially has complained his way out of town and no one that follows these things thinks he will be back.  While Benson is tireless and always strong, he wants too much too often.  Ultimately it translates into selfishness and there is no room for that in a team setting, ask Chad.

Next is Adam Jones.  Once an out-of-this-world talent, Jones looked pretty mediocre last year when he came back from a neck and a hamstring injury.  He still yells at people at bit too easily for my liking and I am not sure he is worth keeping around due to his explosive personality.  The Bengals aren't particularly deep at corner, especially with Leon Hall coming back from an Achilles injury, but average guys aren't worth big headaches.

Last is, of course, Jerome Simpson.  Gifted but brainless.  Even had he not been involved with pounds of herb mailed to his home, he still has an emotional fragility about  him that frightens me when identified in grown men.  As a football player, he can do the impossible but can't do the routine.  He flashes and you want to put more stock into him, but his dependability is flimsy and he productivity is inconsistent.  When he returns to football, he will surely face a suspension and why would the Bengals put more faith into a project that seldom functioned?

Once they rid themselves of a few bad apples, and cleanse the locker-room culture some, the next factor is the development of their current players.  A lot depends upon the youngsters getting better and the veterans healing up. 

There are many questions on the defensive side of the ball.  Will Keith Rivers be effective again?  Will Taylor Mays and/or Robert Sands be ready to start this year?  Will Carlos Dunlap return to his old monster self?  While Zim's return acts a stabilizing force to the group dynamic, I feel the success of the unit is somewhat tenuous as many young players must now seize the jobs of aged veterans.  The Bengals can no longer rely on old faces like Crocker and Geathers and Clements.  Players like Michael Johnson and Rey Maualuga need to prove they can get better, players like Dontay Moch and Brandon Ghee need to prove they can get on the field, and players like Leon Hall and Rivers need to prove they still got it.  It's a transitional year for the defense, and the smoothness of that transition rests in the development of the younger players.

On offense, many players are expected to improve, mainly Dalton and AJ Green, but it's Jermaine Gresham's development that will be the x-factor next season.  For the past two years we've heard how Gresham could be the best tight end in the league.  He will be entering his third season in 2012, and this is the year that he matures into the star that he is destined to become.  Physically, he can do it all including block which is what many young tight ends lack these days, but he still seems to miss a certain level of concentration.  He has had ball-security issues throughout and his fumble in Week 17 against the Ravens was an absolute killer.  He had too many penalties last year and the coaches are always shaking their heads at him.  I like how he mixes it up with other teams and seems to have a knack for getting under the skin of his opponents, and he has all the ability in the world, but if the Bengals want to be the offensive powerhouse it can be, Gresham needs to boost his rating from 8 to  10.

The Bengals aren't going to sneak up on anyone next year.  They will be expected to do well and make the playoffs again.  Ticket sales will improve, national prime-time games will be scheduled.  The hype will ratchet up in Cincinnati and beyond.  Marvin Lewis will attempt to put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time ever, and he will have a terrific crop of goods to try it with.  If it's going to happen, the kids have to grow up and be men.  A new power is rising; the time is now!

Mojokong—expect greatness.