Nov 26th 2008 5:30PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, NFL Fans
Bengals fans might feel differently, but in remembering the reason for the season, I’m thankful for Chad Javon Ocho Cinco. I’d never want him playing on my team, but without a vested interest, he’s fun to watch in a John Daly “train wreck” sorta way.
And it’s with this in mind that I thoroughly enjoyed his Wednesday morning press conference. Johnson talked about getting sent home from last Thursday night’s Steelers game, his long-term future in Cincinnati, as well as his plans for the offseason. Via the ’s Mark Curnutte:Continue Reading
Nov 23rd 2008 1:00PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Eagles, NFL Fans, NFL Rumors
Chad Javon Ocho Cinco is back with the Bengals after being deactivated for Thursday night’s Steelers contest because of a severe case of drowsiness. And while I’m sure Ryan Fitzpatrick will happily welcome his return, when you’re staring at 1-9-1, it doesn’t much matter who you trot out there for the next five weeks.
The real issue, however, is what will the organization do with Mr. Cinco after the season? Common sense might dictate running his ass out of town and getting whatever you can for him. Of course, the Bengals could’ve had a first-round pick (or two, depending on who you believe) from the Redskins last summer, but they weren’t willing to deal. In retrospect, yeah, they probably should have.
But according to CBS’ Charley Casserly, the plan — as of right now, anyway — is to keep Johnson in Cincy for 2009, too. It seems like an insane notion given all the trouble he’s caused in recent seasons, but nobody’s ever accused the Bengals of being smart.Continue Reading
Nov 24th 2008 12:02AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, NFL Coaching
Normally when your team is 1-9-1, you have one winning season in eight years and you have to deactivate players for talking back to you, you are most likely looking for a new job when the season ends.
Not the Bengals’ Marvin Lewis. Lewis doesn’t believe he’s on any hot seat.I’m not saying I’m on the hot seat. I have a responsibility here.
{ … }
After (the last) five games, it’ll be the offseason and I’ll have to answer a whole different bunch of questions from (the media). We’ll go into the offseason with a much younger football team because of all of the rookies and the guys we have right now that are playing, rather than some of the 7-to-12-year veterans we had a year ago at this point.Either Lewis has no idea that he will be gone after the season or there honestly isn’t any thought of firing him at all. I believe the latter.
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Nov 22nd 2008 11:30AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North, NFL Fans
Save the first 12 minutes of the game, the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh Thursday night affair went pretty much as you might expect: the undermanned Bengals couldn’t keep up with the division-leading Steelers and after 60 minutes of football, they were 1-9-1 (thanks, Philly!).
In Week 7, last time these two teams met, Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward knocked linebacker Keith Rivers out for the year. There were the inevitable conversations about payback and revenge, but ultimately, Ward emerged from the Week 12 tilt unscathed. Santonio Holmes, however, did not.
Early in the third quarter, Ben Roethlisberger, facing a Cincinnati blitz, hit Holmes on a slant pattern. It was a well-executed pass-and-catch except that Bengals safety Chris Crocker read the play perfectly. Amazingly, Holmes’ head didn’t come detached from his body. Not so amazingly, Holmes staggered off the field and didn’t return.
After the game, everybody in Pittsburgh’s locker room agreed: Crocker’s hit was a clean one, and since this is still (although barely) tackle football, players should be allowed to, you know, tackle other players.Continue Reading
Nov 22nd 2008 12:30PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, NFL Coaching
On Thursday night, as he gave his post-game press conference, Marvin Lewis looked about as sad and dejected as I’ve seen him during his six-year stint as the Bengals’ head coach. Cincinnati had just lost their ninth game of the season, and had sent one of their best players, Chad Javon Ocho Cinco home earlier in the day because the Pro Bowl wideout couldn’t — or, more likely, wouldn’t — stop sleeping during a team meeting.
Unless Lewis gets “Scott Linehan-ed” (fired midseason), or less likely, pulls a “Bobby Petrino” (quits with a month to go), he’s still got to coach the Bengals up for five more weeks. It’s a daunting task considering that virtually everybody in the building checked out for the year sometime around Halloween.
Yet Lewis trudges on. Continue Reading
Nov 20th 2008 7:00PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North, NFL Live Blogging
Sure, the Bengals are 1-8-1. But they deactivated Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco Fnfundachzig for the game. That’s a storyline, right?
And while the Steelers are a big favorite tonight, you have to throw out the record books when these two teams meet. Especially when you’re talking about Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Of course, tonight’s chat could also disintegrate into a parade of bad jokes, stupid questions (”Can I watch the game online?”), and people frantically typing poorly-structured sentences in ALL CAPS.
No matter what, you should plan on joining us for live coverage of the game. We’ll start around 8pm Eastern, which is 4pm in Alaska.Continue Reading
Nov 20th 2008 11:40PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North
There are games you wait months for, and then there are games like Thursday night’s Steelers-Bengals game.
As a Steelers’ fan, this was a game that is best once it’s over. Beat the Bengals by 40 points and you’re slightly happy. Beat them by 17 points and you just shrug your shoulders. And if the Bengals had somehow figured out a way to win this game, it would have ruined the next month. It was one of those games where there was
Thankfully the Steelers did what they were expected to do, although there’s really nothing exciting about beating 1-9-1 Bengals team by 17 points, especially when by the end of the game you had to wonder if Cincinnati would still have 11 players to put out on the field.
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Nov 21st 2008 7:30AM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, AFC North
The out-to-get Hines Ward tour got off to a very unsuccessful start Thursday night.
With an entire Bengals team out to get Ward for breaking linebacker Keith Rivers’ jaw with a completely legal block, Ward walked off Heinz Field with all limbs still attached, no big bumps or bruises, and a 37-yard reception. No Bengals got a good clean shot on Ward all night. Somewhere, Rivers mumbled disappointment through his wired jaw.
It’s a good first step for Ward, but he still has one more stop on the revenge tour. The Ravens have gone beyond just talking about revenge and have stepped it up by putting a bounty on Ward. Then again, every time the Ravens gun to get Ward, he usually ends up laying out Ed Reed or Bart Scott. So, on Dec. 14, Ward will either get his block knocked off by the Ravens, or more likely he’ll just hand out a couple more crushing blocks and ensure the Ravens up the bounty for 2009.
Nov 20th 2008 10:09AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson will be benched for tonight’s game against the Steelers because he violated a team rule, Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting.
It’s not clear exactly what team rule Johnson violated, but the early indications are that he had some kind of run-in with someone at a team function Wednesday night.
It’s the latest in a long line of issues between the team and the wide receiver who legally changed his surname from Johnson to Ocho Cinco over the summer. Johnson spent much of the off-season saying he no longer wanted to play in Cincinnati and wished to be traded or released, although he’s been relatively quiet and peaceful this season, both on the field and off. But that relative peace and quiet now ends, and this benching calls into question whether Johnson has any future with the organization.
Nov 20th 2008 11:00AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North, NFL Fans
Hines Ward has been in the NFL for 11 years, and for most of that time, he’s been known as a gritty, hard-working wide receiver and, more than that, a tenacious blocker. So it should be hardly worth noting when he legally plants an unsuspecting defender on his ass since, you know, it happens a half-dozen times a year.
Yet, every season, a small subset of folks decry Ward’s tactics as dirty, over the line, so on and so forth. His latest victim (see above), Bengals rookie linebacker Keith Rivers, suggested through a jaw wired shut that Ward would “reap what he sows.” Later we learned that the Ravens defense had a bounty on Ward, not to mention the discussion this week that Cincinnati would be plotting their revenge.
Ross Tucker, a former NFL lineman who now writes for SI.com, helps dispel some myths about bounties, revenge and whatnot in his latest column.Continue Reading
