Football: The Exhausted Modifier

I've put this off long enough.

To all the coaches, analysts and other talking heads: the overuse of the word “football” is now completely out of hand and if it isn't curbed soon, no other modifier will ever be used when describing the game and its action.

When talking about the sport, it's obvious that the ball used is indeed a football; there's no need to specify. Following that thinking, it's also obvious that the teams are football teams, the field is a football field and that the plays ran are football plays.

We're also aware that the NFL stands for the National Football League and most of us agree that restating which league specifically it is you're referring to only makes you sound redundant, not smarter.

It starts with the coaches; they speak like this. Analysts want to sound as intelligent and contemporary as the coaches, so they speak like this too. Then radio personalities, who are desperate for buzz words and terms of emphasis begin to speak like this, then the callers to these radio shows, then the callers' children who watch the game with Dad on Sunday, and eventually their make-believe friends are talking about the football plays on the football field with the football uprights and football water coolers which carry football water to the hardest working and thirstiest of the players which announcers and coaches affectionately call “football” players.

Do you see what's happening?

I'm not sure when this all started, but it's popularity has grown to alarming levels. As a country who has too many people in college for its own good, certainly we, who make up the “football” universe, can invent and create new ways of talking about the sport without resorting to such an obvious and repetitive term.

I'm not saying we should cut out the use of the word altogether---sometimes it's necessary and can't be avoided---but I'm convinced that we can do better.


Mojokong---if I wanted to hear the word football spoken over and over, I'd buy a parrot.

Week 12 Preview: Seeing Brown

After being shamed by Oakland, the Bengals this week are a salty, irritated bunch of grumps who badly need to hit something,anything, and do it soon.

Luckily for them, the Three Stooges phase of the schedule continues. The Curly of the trio, the Cleveland Browns, come wafting into Cincinnati this weekend.

Oakland is not a good team, but Cleveland is the worst, proving it last week by letting fellow bottom-feeder, Detroit, climb back from a three touchdown lead and beat them. With that recurring life lesson about there being no sure thing in life still fresh on the minds of the Bengals and their fans, another upset doesn't feel so plausible as it did last week. Still, the team has to approach this game with all seriousness, so we as fans should follow suit.

The Browns did play a little offense last week against the worst defense in the NFL. Brady Quinn got to show off his arm strength early as he found receivers deep after play-actions and pump-fakes, and their screen plays looked effective and fairly well practiced.

Rookie receiver Mohamed Massaquoi put up nice numbers against the Bengals in their first meeting and has become Cleveland's biggest offensive threat. I expect keeping Massaquoi from getting open deep will be this week's focal point for Mike Zimmer and his game-plan.

I also think getting more pressure on the quarterback has to be a defensive priority this week. Not getting to Bruce Gradkowski, especially late in the game, was a major contributing factor in allowing Oakland to escape with a win. Quinn has shown glimpses of quality quarterback play in his two years but he still makes a lot of rookie mistakes. The best way for a defense to force a youngster into making more errors is to create situations that demand the quarterback to make quick, impulsive decisions. Turning up the heat on Quinn could freak him out and force a few fumbles on sacks, or pick-sixes.

Lastly, Cincinnati should be prepared to face Josh Cribbs in the wildcat formation. Cribbs has uncanny field vision, plenty of speed, and is bigger than he seems. He's obviously one of the most explosive return-guys in the league, but the defense mustn't take him lightly on screens, end-arounds, and in the wildcat.

All of it means that Zimmer can fire the blitz at will as long as Massaquoi is covered with some safety help on deep routes. Cleveland might sneak into the red zone a few times by countering with a well-timed screen or draw for a big play, but I wouldn't count on the Brownies putting up many points against this load of angry defensive pirates.

Life should be a lot easier on the other side of the ball. The Cleveland defense is a mess. They have one giant sea-monster at nose tackle in Shaun Rogers but the concern ends there. They have no real pass rush, their secondary is slow and easily fooled, and the unit as a whole struggles at tackling.

Like last week, the Bengals would prefer not to pass many more than 20 times this Sunday. They should stick to the motto: get an early lead, run the ball, use clock, and this time don't fumble. If Benson sits out again, I would like to see more Larry Johnson.

Bernard Scott is an electric runner who can bust out at any time, but his running style comes with an inherent inconsistency that seems difficult to rely on. Brian Leonard packs more of a wallop, but appears to have narrow field vision when he gets the ball. He's the kind of runner who runs straight ahead until someone tackles him rather than try many jukes or cutbacks (though he is a talented hurdler).

Larry Johnson, however, is the quintessential “normal” running back. At this point of his strange and tumultuous career, he is not as premiere of an every-down back as is Benson, but he can fill the void left by Benson's absence better than the other two options.

Complaints were made to the effect that the offensive line didn't block as well for its runners last week, but I feel that the inconsistencies of the running game was more a result of the personnel used rather than the effort of the line. In other words: you can't use complimentary backs as every-down backs and expect the same results.

The final concern the Bengals must address this week is on special teams. Shawn Rogers blocks kicks as a hobby and he's one of the all-time bests at it, Josh Cribbs returning kicks is probably their best chance at touchdowns, and Cincinnati is coming off a game that some could argue was lost because of shoddy special-teams play.

It's back to basics this week. There's no reason the Bengals should struggle against their interstate rival in this game. A sweep of the division would be a nice bright peacock feather in the Bengals' cap, but they need to go out and earn it first. The Browns get paid to win football games too, isn't that right, Marvin?

Bengals 27, Browns 13


Mojokong---basking in fragrant pools of starch and tryptophan.

Week 11 Recap: Grendel Awakes

Somewhere hidden within the game of football lurks a sleeping beast: the mistake. The most ancient of football sages once accurately observed that football is a game of mistakes and the team that overcomes the most will win the game. It sounds simple and rudimentary, but like Aesop's fables, the moral never changes.

The Bengals fell victim to an earthquake of mistakes near the San Andreas fault line on Sunday, and panic didn't set in until it was too late.

For most of the game, everything went as planned.

Cincinnati ran out to a two touchdown lead and then went conservative in their play-calling. Running the ball, using clock and avoiding risky shots down-field make sense with the lead against an opponent like the Raiders. The Bengals were satisfied with sporadic rushing yards from Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard and Carson Palmer was on his way to throwing under 20 passing attempts---exactly how the Bengals wanted the day to unfold---but events that don't normally happen, of course, sprang out at the most inopportune time and Cincinnati was unable to overcome “the mistake.”

If it's blame you thirst for, then allow me to move the microscope under our very own franchise-player, kicker Shayne Graham. While Graham's statistics have been hampered by some bizarre special-teams play from his teammates this season, he continues to struggle at living up to his contract. His miss from 37 yards in the third quarter is less acceptable than the fumbles later in the game. Fumbles, by nature, are freak occurrences, but missed field goals, barring a poor snap or hold, are just bad plays.

The Bengals are now a grind-house team that runs the ball, controls the clock, plays good defense and wins with field goals. I'm willing to cut Shuga Shayne some slack on the attempts from 50-yards or more, but anything inside the 40 is a must for a man getting paid the average of the top-5 wealthiest kickers.

Graham had a solid game in Pittsburgh, and he was a major reason that Cincinnati came out of there with a win, but he needs to be the consistent component to an otherwise unpredictable place-kicking unit if the Bengals are to win more of these close games. I know it's a lot of pressure and that it damn sure ain't easy, but it has to happen; it simply must.

Graham, however, is safe for now, because Cincinnati has its own default scape-goat for times like these. It's been scientifically proven that after any loss, Bengal fans whip themselves into a frenzy and rally a witch-hunt to wherever Bob Bratkowski is hiding; he is always to blame in the Queen City. Often times, especially this season, the scorn has been unfair, and the Oakland game is no different.

Bratkowski has been instructed to play-call under a new philosophy and he has done just that. No longer does this team wait for the few opportunities to go deep on offense. Carson's role has shifted from play-maker to game-manager, and oddly enough, makes more plays as a result. The offensive line looks comfortable devouring defensive front-sevens in the running game and Cincinnati is collecting running-backs like bobble-head dolls. We play power football now and everyone might as well get used to it.

In Oakland, the play-calling followed the new rubric of the offense. Even a first-down hand off to Jeremi Johnson inside the red-zone during the fourth quarter, with the lead, is the right thing to do these days. Sure, the day had its moments of curious strategy---none more so than the fade to Leonard on third & four on the Raider 48-yard line with 2:25 to go---but the theory was sound and would have worked were it not for the Whammy of mistakes late in the game.

Three times this season, the Bengals have followed a tough divisional win with an underwhelming performance against inferior competition (at Cleveland, Houston, and at Oakland). It appears that adrenaline dump is the biggest weakness for this team so far.

The NFL is designed for its teams to fail. It wants to cast away contenders as soon as possible. The further a team gets within such a gruesome maze, the more prevalent their mistakes become. There are difficult opponents along the way, but the most dangerous enemy for the Bengals is likely themselves. Marvin Lewis and his staff have already solved a lot of problems this season; learning the lesson of the Oakland game could put them over the top when it matters the most--- in February.

Mojokong---”Big money, big money. No whammies, no whammies.”

Week 11 Preview: West Coast Warm UP

It seems too easy to pile on Al Davis and the Oakland Raider Asylum; that bit has done before, so we'll just skip it altogether.

Instead, the focus this week for the Bengals is preparing for the best thing the Raiders have going for them: their location.

Every week it seems Cincinnati is issued a new challenge to disprove the Same-Old-Bengals Theory. For Week 11, the challenge is to show they can travel to the West Coast and win.

In a sense, flying to Oakland is the practice-run for the San Diego game later this season. Instead of arriving on Friday like they normally do when heading West, Marvin Lewis has decided to fly out on Saturday to cut down on jet lag and squeeze in an extra day of practice. How effective that decision becomes will likely determine the team's itinerary for the Chargers game.

The game itself shouldn't be much of an issue for the Bengals. While maintaining a few good defenders, Oakland remains laughably dismal on offense, recently exemplified by the benching of former first overall pick, JeMarcus Russell, for the journeyman and third-stringed caliber, Bruce Gradkowski. Bengal fans will recall Gradkowski from when he played for Tampa Bay and beat Cincinnati in a nauseating game in 2006. That game could be the best of Bruce's career; nowadays he seems one step away from video-taping himself throwing footballs in a cornfield, like Uncle Rico.

Yet the Raiders can run the ball some and in close games, that attribute makes them scary, but I don't expect the game to be close. The Bengals stop the run better than they do anything else, which forces obvious throwing downs. Oakland would like to limit Gradkowski's throws to the bare minimum. They know on third-and-long situations, Mike Zimmer will bring the heat with the blitz, so I would expect them to try short throws to their talented tight end, Zach Miller, and screens to the solid running-back trio of Michael Bush, Justin Fargas, and especially Darren McFadden.

The Raider rookie receivers are lightning fast---Al Davis is unabashedly addicted to speed---but they drop lots of passes and are generally unimpressive. Our corners, perhaps the best tandem in the league, might need a little safety help on deep routes, but can take care of these youngsters on underneath routes and around the sidelines on their own.

It makes no sense to think the Raiders can do anything against a run-stopping, pass-rushing defense with excellent corners like Cincinnati's.

Still, I don't see a Bengals blowout this week as should be the case against such miserable opposition.

Oakland has good corners too. Nnamdi Asumugha is a top-5 corner and Chris Johnson has shown a lot of skill as well. The Bengals would prefer not to throw much anyway. A light workload for Carson Palmer this week (and the two weeks after that) can only be beneficial for the quarterback's long-term sustainability this season; I'd rather have him firing touchdowns for three weeks in January, as opposed to three weeks in November.

That means, without Cedric Benson, the other running backs will get a chance to carry the rock, including maybe the newest Bengal acquisition, Larry Johnson. The move to pick up LJ makes sense despite all of the obvious character concerns.

First of all, if you come to play for Marvin Lewis, you're there to work. This locker room will not tolerate any person not trying hard enough to win a Super Bowl. Johnson may be a big name, but he has little relevance to this team, and therefore must prove his worth by the effort he demonstrates in practice. Larry has looked lethargic the last few years and he's beginning to remind me of an aged Jamal Lewis on the field, however, he is a runner who can “carry the load” should Benson find himself further injured at any point this year.

Bernard Scott has exciting potential and his patient running style will serve him well in this league. Brian Leonard has proven himself as a talented third-down back and extra-effort guy. Yet neither is at their best if they have to carry the ball more than 15 times. Johnson can lift some of that burden by simply owning a fresh pair of legs, which are also vital to winning Playoff games in the snow.

Seeing LJ in stripes, railing against the Raiders like he's done so often before with Kansas City, would be an exciting development to an otherwise dull and lopsided affair in Oakland. Crazier things have happened and Any Given Sunday and yadda yadda yadda, but c'mon, it's the Raiders.

Bengals 20, Raiders 6


MK---the real Al Davis must be tied up inside a yacht somewhere near Costa Rica. The looney before us is an imposter hellbent on ruining an otherwise, really cool franchise. Too bad, Al. Too bad.

Week 10 Recap: Meet The New Boss

There is a luxury suite on the top floor that overlooks the AFC North. It's shiny and comfortable and smells like the Playoffs. After milling about their new digs for a while, the Bengals put their feet up on the glass table, lean back and smile to themselves. This is the life.

Suddenly Marvin Lewis bursts into the room and banishes his team to the boiler room.

“We can come back when we win it,” he tells them as they file out and head to the basement.

In the parking lot below, Pittsburgh walks to its car holding a cardboard box, escorted by two NFL security guards. Behind them is Pittsburgh's secretary, Baltimore, also carrying a box but walking alone.

Most of the world still has a hard time accepting the facts: In the toughest division in football, Cincinnati has clubbed their way past Darth Raven and the Steeler Emperor twice each. This past week, experts everywhere declared that the Bengals were not ready to succeed on a big stage like the one at Pittsburgh. “They're not that good,” they said of the Bengals, yet all season long, no one has adequately answered why not.

We in Cincinnati have been shat upon for so long, that we crave a little recognition when something goes right. Yet in the face of the best Bengal season in a long time, very few believe in them. I admit it's frustrating but we can take solace in knowing that the Steeler Nation is still beside themselves with rage and disappointment. Eat crow, you vermin. And before you resort to that lame historical comeback regarding your Super Bowls remember this: no one is disputing you've been better in the past. All we're saying is that our team is better than yours this season. Today. Now. Go polish your trophies while you cry and lick your wounds. You can find us up here sitting on top and laughing at you if you want to give it another go in January.

The best part is that the Bengals don't care what any of us have to say; they have work to do. I get the feeling they aren't even enjoying their success. They're playing like they've been sentenced to hard labor until they win it all. No smiles. No relaxing; just pick axes and a half-mountain of concrete that still needs busted up.

They are a strong team. The offensive line is a group of angry elephants protecting their treasured quarterback and slamming d-lines out of running lanes for Mr. Benson and crew. The defense is a stubborn roadblock that forces opposing teams to turn around and go back where they came from. The backups on this team are as good as the starters, and everyone is held to the same standard.

They are also a smart team. We're witnessing perhaps the best collective coaching effort this franchise has enjoyed since the Paul Brown Era. The game plans are superior and unwavering, players appear totally prepared and demonstrate excellent technique when doing their job. The roster is made up of forgotten toys and castaways and isn't the most talented in the league, but the discipline and focus emphasized on the practice fields each week have this team in place for a first-round playoff bye.

Who cares if the world refuses to believe it? It's happening either way. Fans and media will continue to find reasons why the Bengals are unable to win it all, while Marvin and his staff will continue to disprove each stigma that resides in the minds of humans who know football. So go ahead and assume the Bengals can't; you'll be cleaning out your office next.

Mojokong---in the here and now.

Week 10 Preview: Tell Me Why Not

The way to approach this weekend's epic struggle in Pittsburgh is to ask yourself: “Why won't the Bengals win?”

If your response consisted of: a) because they're the Bengals, b) because it's the Steelers, or c) because it's a big game on the road, please leave now. Cincinnati has spent this season dispelling exactly that kind of hogwash, and it doesn't lend itself to very interesting conversation anyway.

Of course there are legitimate concerns for the Bengals heading into their biggest game in three years.

The defense is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Three starters (Antwan Odom, Roy Williams and now Keith Rivers) are out and plenty of others are sore and hurting. Pittsburgh once again seems comfortable with its running game now that Rashard Mendenhall has emerged as another one of those squat, tough runners possesing both wheels and power. The Steelers' run-blocking is in a commanding rhythm after consecutively bullying two tough defenses in Minnesota and Denver. A battered Bengals unit could have problems stopping a young, fresh tailback running behind a rugged and confident line like Pittsburgh's.

Another area of concern for the Bengals defense is covering rookie receiver, Mike Wallace. This sleek cruise-missile in the slot position has become a serious deep threat, averaging over 17 yards a catch, and is the perfect complement to Ben Roethlisberger's ability to scramble and improvise. Wallace already had over 100 yards against the Bengals in Week 3, blazing past our own speedster, Johnathan Joseph, on one memorable long ball in the first half. The Steelers like to use Wallace on deep crossing routes that open up once Big Ben starts to rumble out of the pocket. Our own rookie, conerback Morgan Trent, will likely be tested on these kinds of plays and the Bengal safeties will have to lend extra support against deeper patterns.

If Pittsburgh can effectively run the ball, the Steelers' offense will roll to a big day; if they're forced to pass, Mike Zimmer can send extra pressure and force Roethlisberger into making wild decisions on the fly. The key to stopping any NFL offense is to force them into throwing downs and preying on the predictability of the pass. Cincinnati is ranked second at stopping the run, but this will be one of their stiffer challenges of the season.

On offense, losing Chris Henry is certainly unfortunate but not ruinous. There are two high-profile draft picks in Jerome Simpson and Chase Coffman just hanging out on the sidelines, ready to catch passes. Practice-squad guy Maurice Purify has impressed those who watch him in practice everyday and may be another Marvin gem, but it would be nice to see the other kids get a chance, especially Coffman. I can see Simpson not being prepared for the NFL---he played at Coastal Carolina---but Coffman set records in the Big 12 with Missouri and shouldn't be shell shocked by the pros.

Either way, the real reason that losing Henry won't make much of a difference is because the Bengals are now a running team. Cedric Benson is our own Boxer the Draft-Horse, pulling the offensive sled behind him and racking up crucial yards along the way.

We've all witnessed the philosophical shift away from relying on Carson Palmer's arm, and the game-plan will not change against the Steelers just because they're tops at stopping the run. The new script says that Benson gets it 30 times a game until he drops, and Palmer wins on third down. The theory ignores its inherent predictability and emphasizes the long-term effects it has on opponents. The Bengals perform better later in the game, echoing Marvin Lewis' recent mantra of “make your last play better than your first play.” In the fourth quarter, the offense has consistently appear to be the physically tougher team, gashing opponents with chunks of rushing yardage and finishing with wins.

Both of these teams know what's coming on Sunday; it's unlikely that either will be caught off guard. No one is looking past this game because it's the game. It's going to be a bloodthirsty cage match; Mad Marvin and the Thunder Dome. Only the most bad-assed will survive such a familiar and intimate fight. It comes down to discipline, will-power and toughness. So ask yourself one more question before you go: Who has demonstrated more toughness this season than the Bengals?

Bengals 21, Steelers 13



Mojokong---No premonitions this week; just an educated guess.

Week 9 Recap: Saw it Coming

This was a game of cognition.

On October 27th, I wrote this:

I had a dream that night that the Bengals were beating the Ravens 17-0 at home. For some vague reason, I was unable to sit and watch the game in the dream, but when I caught the glimpse of the score, I remember turning to someone there who also was impressed. We nodded and smiled, and agreed that the nation will finally take notice of the Bengals now. It remains to be seen if that's what will happen against Baltimore, or if I was really only seeing the Bears game and simply had my facts wrong. Stay tuned.

I don't normally see the future in my dreams, but there's no question that it happened in this case. It seems, however, that I was not the only one who knew what was coming on that day.

The Bengals coaching staff game-planned and executed their strategy to a tee, outmaneuvering the Ravens every step of the way. Even Bob Bratkowski has play-called masterfully in the last two games, and once again, quickly gained what proved to be an insurmountable lead early in the first half. The players are doing their part by keeping penalties and turnovers to a minimum (tuck the damn ball, Chad!), but it's been the preparation and coaching that has made the difference so far this season.

Cincinnati employs four undrafted rookie offensive linemen---Kyle Cook, Nate Livings, Evan Mathis and Dennis Roland---yet all four have contributed nicely so far this season. Offensive line coach Paul Alexander should be showered with superlatives and accolades for assembling a group of nobodies that have pass-protected and run-blocked as well as any team in the league.

These hungry, hungry hippos have quietly chomped down on defenses known for their aggression and fierceness. They aren't afraid of the Bears, or Ravens, or even those loathsome Steelers; bring it on you scum! The Bengals enjoy cycling linemen in and out without losing rhythm or confidence, and manage to achieve all of this without first-round pick Andre Smith. Marvin Lewis and Alexander may find it pointless to try out the gooey young titan any time soon, since the backups don't appear to be a problem at this point.

Another staff-member worth heralding is secondary coach, Kevin Coyle. His two gems, former first-round corners Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph, completely negated any serious contributions from the Ravens' receivers for the second time this season. Even though a statistical analysis may say otherwise, the tandem has elevated their play to a level where coordinator Mike Zimmer can focus on stopping the run first and not worry about who's in coverage. Rookie corner Morgan Trent is also a testament to Coyle's teaching ability, as Trent exhibits excellent technique and fundamentals as the nickel corner. Zimmer, Coyle, Jay Hayes and Jeff Fitzgerald, have all put their own stamp on this impressive defense, and it shows with the play-recognition and cohesion among each unit.

Marvin has talked about how this year's roster is made up of “his guys”. He has trusted his team to ignore outside distractions and focus on the matter at hand, and that's winning the division. This group appears goal-driven and steadfast in their commitment to the team's success. A lot of that has to do with heart, but most of it stems from good coaching.

If the preparation and game-planning continue to be so thorough that it appears the Bengals know what's coming, the league will either investigate the team for shenanigans or approve a new Paul Brown Psychic Hotline in the boiler room of the stadium.

Mojokong---a real fortune-cookie

Week 9 Preview: Too Many Aces

In the backroom of a shady saloon just on the edge of town, the Ravens await. They sit there hunkered over a card-table with a half-bottle of cheap rum and an old, shaggy dog named Cleveland, curled up and sleeping at their feet. They've been there since daybreak and they say they ain't leavin' til the Bengals give 'em another chance. On Sunday they'll get their wish, but once again, might live to regret it.

Baltimore is still bitter about what happened last time. Cincinnati caught them by surprise and it took a month for the Ravens to recover. They rediscovered their hot hand last week on the way to pounding Denver 30-7, and now they're ready for revenge.

Cincinnati is ready too. After completing their best win in years, the Bengals enjoyed a relaxing few days away from football and recuperated their damaged bodies. Now they ride back into town, healthier and more prepared than they've been all season, eager to keep the Ravens in their place: behind them in the standings.

The game plan is becoming redundant against these kinds of teams; spread out the wide-receivers, exploit the middle of the field against zone coverages, run hand-offs outside of the tackles to Cedric Benson, throw early to set up the run late. All of these efforts are designed to soften the hard edges of the Ravens defensive front seven. They're still a tough team to run on (fourth in the league), but the Bengals smashed them to bits with the run in their first meeting. If Cincinnati can protect Carson Palmer and the passing-game gets moving early on, Benson and the offensive line will find life easier in the second half and wind down the clock while sustaining long drives.

Let's face it; after last week, the Bengals offense appears that it cannot be defended in any one particular way. Palmer is back to playing at an elite level, Benson has demonstrated a blend of speed and power that now has him ranked among the league's best runners, and the team is suddenly faced with a glut of quality offensive linemen; opponents can't repel firepower of that magnitude!

The Ravens freaked out Bronco quarterback, Kyle Orton, early in the game last week by sending heavy pressure on blitzes which caused the scruffy signal-caller to scramble around and lose his composure. Still fueled by their hostility toward Palmer and the Bengals, I would expect Baltimore to cut loose and come after our golden boy with hatchets and spears all day on blitz-packages.

The theory makes sense; Palmer will eat any defense alive if he's allowed time in the pocket to hang back and find open guys, and after their recent success with the blitz, there's no reason to think Ray Lewis and his band of lunatics won't go nuts at the mere sight of No. 9. He's a marked man pursued by nasty renegades, bent on finishing the job and escaping with a win.

Therefore, something as basic as the screen-pass could lead the Ravens right into Cincinnati's trap. Like an experienced matador, Palmer could invite the all-out blitz, wait for its raging eyes to come into sight, and at the last second side-step the violent encounter and dump off the screen to Benson with both an open field and a wall of blockers to work with. Voila!

If the Ravens pick up on the screen, yet continue to send additional blitzers, quick-outs to the Bengal receivers would force Baltimore's corners to make open-field tackles---something they've struggled doing throughout the season. Once Palmer and the Bengals find success in the short-passing game in the face of the blitz, the Ravens will be forced to back off from sending all that pressure, and Cedric Benson will have room to operate on the ground.

At this point in time, it's up to the Bengals to stop themselves on offense because opposing defenses aren't rising to the challenge. If they can come close to matching the success they had against the Bears, the Ravens will have little chance of slowing Cincinnati down and winning the game.

On defense, nothing has changed since the last meeting between these two; stop Ray Rice first and Todd Heap second. Leave their receivers alone in one-on-one coverage, our corners can handle it. Keep the defensive line stretched out and contain Rice between the hash-marks. Play a shallow zone to keep Heap from finding space alone in the flats, and when the Bengals do blitz, send linebackers and safeties up the middle to flush Joe Flacco out of the pocket and make plays with his legs.

Cincinnati did a decent job containing Rice on the ground in Week 5, but missed a tackle to allow the big play on a screen pass; that can't happen again this week. The newest version of the NFL running back---squat and meaty, compact and hard to tackle---has plagued the Bengals defense more than the league's traditional backs. Two smallish, quicker runners, Rice and Houston's Steve Slaton, have had the biggest impact in games against Cincinnati so far. That's why stopping Rice, and not worrying about Willis McGahee or the trio of mediocre receivers, remains the defense's top priority.

There is little reason to worry about the Bengals this week. Sure the Ravens are always a formidable group of roughnecks that seem consistently hellbent on pulverizing anything in sight. Sure they take pleasure in making Sundays a brutal affair where only the gruffest survive and often times bully their way into wins and playoffs. Sure they're dressed like a bruise, but the team they so eagerly await at that rickety card table in the dingy hole-in-the-wall on the outskirts of town will not be out-muscled. They won't be intimidated or shaken from their game-plan. They will take their seat opposite from these goons, stare them in the eye, and beat them for their pile once again.

Bengals 17, Ravens 0

Mojokong---I'm your huckleberry.

The Fall of Rome

It appears the NFL has finally out-priced itself.

The first-place Bengals, fresh off of a near-perfect game against the Bears, are still 4,500 tickets away from selling out this Sunday against the Ravens. The logically impulsive thing to do is stand up, point at Mike Brown and call him a vicious opportunist who preys on the American addiction of entertainment and distraction. At these words, Brown would likely lean back in his chair, wipe his mouth with a white linen napkin, and agree that he is indeed one hell of a capitalist, but as tempting as it is to carry on detailing the swinish attributes of our favorite team's owner, it is actually another greedy hog---a Texan-sized boar rolling around in his mud-puddles of cash and wealth---who is more to blame for our potential blackout this Sunday than Big Daddy Brown.

Sure the recession has a lot to do with it, but it is Jerry Jones, and his Dallas palace of decadence and excess, that has raised the average cost of attending a football game like no other money-wallowing slug before him. It's caused most of the other owners to jack up their own rates trying to keep pace of the league's average ticket price that swelled from last year thanks to the new exorbitant cost of a Cowboys game.

While scores of Americans stoop and settle for new lows in order to find work, Jones moved ahead with a new venue for entertainment that smacks of the Roman Coliseum, not in style or architecture, but in affect and general silliness. Perhaps Jones is the modern Caligula, leading a blind charge into a millennium of scarce natural resource and less common sense.

I agree it's a brazen move. Unveiling a structure the size of the Death Star during the worst economic climate in the last 80 years takes balls. Jerry Jones will probably tell you that he can spend $1.2 billion on his football team because he always makes the most of what he has to work with, and I suppose that's true; no one can blame him for living out the dream that I and many others fantasized about in the backseat on the way to school. The frosted-side in me thinks having your own football stadium would be so awesome!!!, but the shredded-wheat side thinks $40 parking is morally unconscionable.

Jones is simply a triumph of this American market-driven society because he, and the other Stone Cutters like him, continues to push ahead and exceed the limits of what can be done with more money. It's estimated that a family of four spends over $750 on a game there, yet the season is sold out. He's providing exactly the kind of entertainment that we as a country are so desperately addicted to, yet we may be reaching a tipping point back to sanity.

This weekend marks the third time in five chances this year where it will take some outside financial boosting from a player or local corporation to sell enough Bengal tickets in order to see the damn thing on television. After beating the Steelers in Week 3, many figured that would open up the bandwagon again, fans would gobble up tickets to the remaining games, and all would be well in the universe. Not so. I thought that after last week's drubbing of Chicago, fans would want to see that kind of football poetry unfold before them in person, but that's still not the case.

Compared to the league average, the cost of a game in Cincinnati is very reasonable and is actually less expensive than last year. Is the recession the reason the games aren't selling out this season? Based on other cities of comparable market size like Green Bay and Indianapolis both selling out their games so far, I think it runs deeper than that.

Maybe 2008 taught Cincinnati a lesson; Autumn Sundays exist even without football---or at least watchable football. Once the losses piled up and the putrid stench of the corpse that was last season became too much to endure, many people turned away from the television and found something else to do. As a result, the city, as a whole, no longer seems to jones for the sport anymore. The $70 price-tag for an average ticket has become too steep to shell out for these people, and why not?; football can't matter that much, can it?

Any economic turbulence the NFL may feel is somewhat self-imposed by the demand for pricey stadiums and the endless player payrolls, but we as fans allowed this rampant gouging to reach these ridiculous proportions as well. Society shoveled gobs of money into the mouth of the sports entertainment monster for the past 20 or so years, never blinking as we handed over more and more spending cash to friendly people behind glass ticket-windows. The League enjoyed a golden era of team parity that super-charged the sport's popularity and league-wide sellouts became a weekly certainty; the nation was hooked and thought of ignoring your team became simply implausible.

Then the stock market wavered and for one beat of a hummingbird's wing, our way of life was jeopardized. Being the reactionary society we are, Americans reevaluated the costs of entertainment, and some of the more luxurious elements of our life were cut. Electronic appliance stores, investment firms, professional sporting leagues, and other meaningless nonsense all felt the wave of the national skimping. The NFL scurried to push ahead, attempting the razor fine balancing act of fan enthusiasm on one side and contractual commitment to owners and television companies on the other. Then Jerry Jones goes and builds the NFL's own mini Las Vegas equipped with cage-dancers and penthouse suites, and jacks up the market making it more difficult for everyone else involved.

As much as I enjoy watching my beloved Bengals on television every Sunday, it's probably a good thing that people refuse to go broke by keeping a pricey league of entertainment afloat. Team owners and player-agents would likely say that the market drives the costs of the league and it's the people's demand that dictates the market, but it appears that the people in Cincinnati have said to hell with the NFL and it's market by staying home and engage in other activities. Perhaps priorities are beginning to shift around here; whether this takes hold or is just a passing trend that simply reflects a recession awaits to be seen.

Mojokong---if they aren't televised, we should all go play football instead.