Game 1 - Bengals at Ravens Pre-Game Thoughts

Each week this season, Stripe Hype will provide a “Pre-Game Thoughts” piece. There are write-ups that might offer more statistics, or more extensive details on certain players or guidance on how to wager but Stripe Hype’s piece will be designed to offer the Benglas fan some insight as to what to expect from their beloved orange and black attack. Enjoy.

Game 1 - 2008 Bengals Season

Bengals at Ravens, September 7, 2008 - 1pm EST

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How will the Bengals Offense Look?

Stripe Hype –Carson needs to set a tempo with a steady and expected mix of no-huddle and key audibles to get the aging Ravens D on their heels early. Everything about this offense flows through Carson’s head. If there is any question about Carson being rattled after his nose was cracked as he was abused by the Saints, it will show early. Carson has traditionally played well versus the Ravens, expect him to keep with tradition. Watch his feet (planted and solid or dancing and edgy?) for clues.

RB :

Stripe Hype – This is tough to judge this early because I think the success of entire Bengals season hinges on the run-game. Perry, Watson and Dorsey will have their work cut out for them against the Ravens D, no matter how aged they are at this point. Fact is, the Bengals backfield must get going and find the right ratio of carries between the 3 players. The Ravens D will be making an effort to come out physical and test Perry’s toughness. How he reacts will be telling.

O-Line:

Stripe Hype – Oh jeez, where to begin? Maybe in the middle with Mr. Ghiaciuc. The learning curve at Center is steep but Eric has found a way to turn this curve into an un-scalable cliff. His play needs to be more consistent or look for the Bengals to seriously consider juggling the line-up. LT Levi Jones needs to show any health issues are gone against the Ravens D, who will work very hard to disrupt. Guards Whitworth and Williams are expected to be solid, which leaves RT Andrews as the other question mark. Earned/Handed the starting spot, he must immediately show he has what it takes to carry on the tradition of high-level play by the now departed Willie Anderson. How Andrews embraces his role and performs will be scrutinized in light of the decision to cut Anderson.

WR/TE:

Stripe Hype –What to believe? Chad is 100% (curious as he has a torn labrum), TJ is 100% (curious as he has missed most of pre-season with a tweaked hammy), Chatman is 100% (despite only being 100% maybe 15% of his time with the team) while Holt, Simpson and Caldwell (foot injury) round out the roster. Depth/Health at WR is a serious concern and will be this season. Expect the Ravens to be physical with Chad and TJ to see how they react.

TE play will suddenly be closely watched as newcomer Utecht is expected to figure in the game plan each week. Having Utecht as a functional piece of the passing game could prove to be another way that Carson can hurt you. Whether O-Coordinator Bratkowski understand this and the extent of which he utilizes Utecht will also be closely watched.

How will the Bengals Defense Look?

D-Line:

Stripe Hype – Until they exhibit better play, this is still a weak spot on the D. DT Peko is an athlete, DE Geathers has game but another newcomer DE Odom has been hurt and limited. DT Thornton starts another year, for reasons unknown to us, and is a weakness that is often exploited. DT depth is a very raw Shirley and recent addition Harris. Both are big guys but very inexperienced. DE depth is also thin, with Rucker and Fanaene, guys who might see rotational play given Odom’s recently “un-booted” foot. The Raven O-line has health issues but the recent addition of former Bengals Willie Anderson could go a long way to restoring some semblance of steady play.

LB:

Stripe Hype – What a change since last year… ‘07 saw the Bengals start Safeties and Defensive Ends at LB, sign league cast-off’s to start the same week and very little continuity from game to game. Taking Keith Rivers #9 overall in the draft was the first step in the direction of long-term LB play. No longer counting on Landon Johnson (FA to Carolina) to lead the team in tackles or Brooks to disappoint, this group has new players in Blackstock and Brandon Johnson from AZ and carry-over with Jeanty, Mays and Jones. If for no other reason, this squad will be better because their health and talent level is better. With McGahee dinged up, the Ravens will employ rookie Ray Rice to get the run game going. Bengal backers should show their improvement early but will be challenged by elite FB Lorenzo Neal.

D-backs:

Stripe Hype – Having two r1 picks starting on the corners should make new D-Coordinator Mike Zimmer feel pretty good. Having the nickel back be one David Jones, a r5 virtual rookie, might cause Coach Zimmer some concern. Also, safety play will boil down to how well SS Dexter Jackson and FS Marvin White can support the run without forgetting about their corner support responsibilities. The Ravens WR’s are not exactly game-changers but Derrick Mason is a savvy veteran who knows how to get open and exploit coverage issues and Todd Heap is a 3rd down conversion machine. Ravens rookie QB Joe Flacco getting the start means the Bengals DB’s will be licking their chops hoping for tipped/errant passes to convert to turnovers. Here’s to hoping the Bengals D does not make him look like the next Dan Marino.

How will the Special Teams Look?

Stripe Hype- Ho-hum. Taking a cynical perspective on this is rough but when we think of Bengals ST’s, we basically hold our breath. Very little to be excited about here, except maybe Shayne Graham being a reliable leg. Let’s just hope they can get decent kick coverage on the Ravens and not give up any big plays. Fingers crossed.

Intangibles/Other:

Stadium/Fans –  M&T Bank Stadium is a relatively hostile place, with the Baltimore fans being loud and annoying. Not as loud as Arrowhead and not as dangerous as Philly or Oakland but certainly unpleasant. An early lead will do wonders to shut their yaps. Putting the hurt on Flacco will provoke the boo-birds early.

Weather – With Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hannah sputtering, the outlook calls for partly sunny, 86F with high humidity, i.e. hot and humid. Will we see Chad Ocho Crampo? Probably sooner than later.

Historically – Ravens lead the series 13-11.

 

 

 

 

Anderson Signs With Baltimore

Former Bengals RT Willie Anderson has signed a 3-year, $11 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Bengals open the season against the Ravens this Sunday.

Thursday Reads: Palmer, WRs Syncing Up

Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski likes what he sees of Carson, T.J. and Chad’s rhythm in practice. Thanks to Chad’s offseason antics and T.J.’s injury, all three have barely been on the practice field together since the end of last season.

Rookie WR Andre Caldwell returned to practice yesterday. Caldwell had shown some promise early in camp and preseason but was slowed by a foot injury. Full injury report for both Cincinnati and Baltimore here.

Keith Rivers talks about the upcoming Ravens game and what cutdown day is like in his latest blog post.

B.J. keeps us up-to-date on the bizarre case of Rudi Johnson, Tatum Bell and The Missing Luggage.

4864 words….13 of them summarize the Bengals

 

Apart from being a profession filled with laziest sacks on the planet, sports writers are known for their dogged drive to get the most gain, or irritation, via the least amount of effort.

 

What we have here, at least on the surface, is a finely crafted piece of journalistic effort:

 

Read drivel here.

 

Here you will find the most recent musings of Gene Mr. Wojciechowski, the “senior national columnist for ESPN.com”, whatever that means. He delights in pimping and punking the various teams in the NFL, comments on players, estimates performances, judges values, and provides his view on the outcomes of the season. All teams are covered.

 

How to tell that your NFL team is not respected:

 

Indication #1: 34 words

 

Despite the accurate inclusion of Marvin Lewis as a vulnerable coach, he cites a mis-fact as support for his view (research anyone?) by stating ML’s flip-flop on Henry will be part of ML’s downfall. Anyone viewing or reading about the presser dealing with the return of Henry who did not think ML’s behavior and mannerism clearly illustrated his disgust with the situation is an ignorant buffoon. Gene? Does this sound familiar? When someone yells out “Hey, ignorant buffoon!” do you naturally snap your neck and look at the person yelling?

 

Indication #2: 13 words….and I quote:

 

“Quarterback Carson Palmer deserves better than this. Too bad he won’t get it.”

 

13 words. An entire off-season of drama, draft and dallying summed up in 13 words. This was the shortest write-up of the 32 teams. STL was next lowest with 17 words. But 13? That is not journalism…that is pure laziness.

 

I am not saying the above is untrue, it is simply incomplete. As in, too lazy to write more than two sentences about a team no one respects.

 

As with a moldy piece of cheese, it is not all bad. The unspoiled nugget about Reggie Bush/Mario Williams (No. 4) is actually quite decent. Simply cut off the moldy edges of the article and that part is consumable, whereas the assessment that Pittsburgh will win the AFCN is not just misguided, it shows a clear lack of understanding of the state of the Steelers. Shabby O-line, aging Hines Ward, hurt Polamalu, depth issues at most positions…heck, they are a lock to take the title!

 

To be sure, Mr. Wojciechowski is peddling hot air and smoke as the 2008 NFL Season rev’s up. Soon, there will be ample stories for “Mr. Senior National Columnist for ESPN.com” to half-ass his way through and games to mis-write about. Until then, it is just way too easy to laze ones way into Thursday, when the SB Defending Giants will host the Redskins, aka, respected teams.

Bengals Lose Starting FB Johnson for Year

Bengals starting FB Jeremi Johnson has been placed on IR after suffering a knee injury in practice Monday. Johnson spent much of training camp on the sidelines after he came in overweight. Second-year man Daniel Coats, an undrafted free agent in 2007 who played at tight end last season, and worked at FB all summer in a bid to stay on the roster, looks to be the starter against the Ravens this Sunday.

Update: The Bengals have signed former Dolphin Reagan Maui’a to fill Johnson’s place. Maui’a appeared in all 16 games, with 9 starts, for Miami last year.

Hump Day Headlines: Bengals Work Out Wilson, Jackson

The Bengals worked out former Patriot and Buc Eugene Wilson yesterday, an indication that injured SS Chinedum Ndukwe may not be healthy anytime soon. The team will host former Patriots receiver Chad Jackson today.

The Bengals and K Shayne Graham are talking extension.

Teams interested in Willie Anderson include the Ravens, Chargers, Bears, Giants, Bucs and Rams. Meanwhile, in Detroit, Tatum Bell wasted no time pranking Rudi.

Coach Marvin Lewis is set to announce a new partnership with Cincinnati public schools today.

Former Bengals WR Tim McGee will be inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame on September 10. Selected in the first round of the 1986 draft, McGee caught 282 balls for 4,703 yards and 25 TDs in eight seasons with the Bengals.

Tuesday Reads: Coach C in Cincy

First up this a.m., I want to welcome our new co-blogger kingwilly to Stripehype! Willy starts off with some great thoughts on his larger namesake here. Check it out.

Charles Collins, who was Chad Ocho Cinco’s juco position coach, has apparently hooked up with the Bengals as an assistant receivers coach for the 2008 season. Collins runs the Los Angeles-based Phenom Factory, a highly regarded offseason training camp frequented by Chad as well as T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Collins’ role in Cincinnati is to help Chad and T.J. get back in sync with Carson Palmer, and to help develop the young receivers the Bengals drafted last April.

Given Chad’s well-documented respect (.pdf) for Collins, this has to be considered excellent news. If there’s anyone on the planet who can keep Chad’s head screwed on straight, it’s Collins — and a focused Johnson would be of incalculable value to to a Bengals offense that was flatter than flat all preseason. So, welcome Coach C!

DE Antwan Odom, who was hurt in the first practice of training camp, was back on the field yesterday.

Pro Football Weekly ranks the Bengals 17 in their week 1 power rankings.

In the wake of Willie Anderson’s departure, the Bengals were very aggressive in putting out waiver wire claims on offensive linemen.

The Browns, Bengals and Patriots were persistently trying to get offensive line help from the waiver wire. The Browns put in claims on six linemen and ended up getting Scott Young from the Eagles. The Bengals put in five claims and got Frank Davis of the Lions. The Patriots put in claims on three linemen and got Mark LeVoir of the Rams. The most wanted offensive lineman was Andy Alleman of the Saints, a former third-round choice. Seven teams put in claims. Because the Dolphins finished 1-15 last year, they got Alleman. Overall, 32 players had waiver claims, and 22 were awarded to teams.

The Bengals got DE Eric Henderson through waivers and on to the practice squad. He joins LB Dan Howell, RB James Johnson, G Nate Livings, LB Carl-Johan Bjork, WR Maurice Purify and WR Mario Urrutia. Cincinnati still has two practice squad slots to fill.

Like Stripehype, Bengals Nation Daily has a fresh face as well. Bering Sea Bengal voices what many Bengals fans hope: that 2008 is the last year we will see John Thornton in stripes.

B.J. bids farewell to Willie and Rudi Johnson.

Bengal Stripes is OK with letting Willie and Rudi go, but was not happy about the release of Deltha O’Neal, Ahmad Brooks and Henderson.

Kirkendall likes the team’s captains for 2008.

Whodeyfans thinks that the offensive line will suck this season.

19-EEE, Big Shoes to Fill.

August 30^th, 2008 saw the Bengals release Willie Anderson, one of the most formidable, recognized and lauded players in their history. A right tackle, he was a five time selection to the Pro Bowl, his size was as massive as his technique was sound. As the #10 pick overall in 1996, he exhibited durability beyond what any coach would expect, playing in 158 of 160 regular season games from 1996-2006, starting 154 of them. Playing in all but 11 games over his 12 seasons in Cincinnati, with 9 of those missed coming in 2007, when his play and arguably his effectiveness was hampered by injury.

 

Through 2006 and into 2007, “Big” Willie began to have problems with his feet. He had been a picture of resiliency, with just a scoped knee and a few random dings that were on his chart. His feet, though, were a big deal. A right tackle must move, as he moves the left end around the pocket, or as he shifts his focus to the backer standing in his path on an off-tackle run. Feet, more specifically, footwork, is what makes it all possible. Willie has rather large feet, 19-EEE to be exact. Feet that big must be seen to comprehend. At that size, they are more like flippers than feet. And when a foot that big has a problem, it is a big problem. That big problem is compounded by the big-ness of Anderson himself, as what has made him suited for his position, his size, also had contributed to his foot problem.

 

Addressing his foot problem, what by all accounts was acute plantar fasciitis brought on from an injury sustained in 2006 versus Indianapolis, included therapy and an “Electro-Treatment” to promote healing as well as a series of orthotics. These were designed to alleviate the immense pressure on the foot during practice and play. As recently as last week, Willie had been back to Atlanta to retrieve a new set of orthotics for this ongoing issue.

 

Willie signed a contact extension of over $32M in 2006 and was paid a $2M roster bonus on January 15^th. His salary for 2008 was to be $3.15M. Which begs some big questions: What were the Bengals thinking back in January? Were they sure of his health enough to pay the bonus? Were they minding the “store” enough to even notice/care?

 

To be sure, Anderson has neared the end of his NFL-career service life. Linemen who play, let alone start, in the league past 10 years is becoming increasingly rare. He is among an elite group of players who have been at the top of their game over an extended period of time. Names like: Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, Kevin Mawae, Tom Nalen, Ruben Brown, Jonathan Ogden and Will Shields. Shields and Ogden have just retired, this a result of diminished health which is the side-effect of playing such physically demanding positions.

 

Some players can keep pushing on, playing in a platoon/rotation at their position but for many of these highly paid players, this option comes paired with a request to renegotiate their contract. This played out in the same way for “Big” Willie. The club asked him to take a pay cut. He countered with another number and they declined and released him.  Anderson now must consider his next move, going to a team for a short-term deal likely loaded with playing time incentives as mitigation against serious injury.

 

Next in line, the Bengals have Stacey Andrews, who was taken in r4 (#123) in the 2004 draft, to play right tackle. He has been groomed for this going on 4 years, spending time at left guard and spelling Willie from time to time. A former track & field athlete in hammer throw and discuss, he only started a handful of games at Ole Miss his senior year. He is about as impressive an athlete there is. Question remains, is he ready to step-up and fill those size 19-EEE shoes left behind by “Big” Willie? He started 14 games last season, mostly at RT while Mr. Anderson battled injury and performed admirably well. So well, he was given the NFL equivalent of capital equipment renting, the Franchise Tag, which will pay Andrews about $7.5M to play for the season.

 

As Bengal-dom waves goodbye to one of the true “Class Acts”, we are confronted with the idea that our rented right tackle, the groomed and slotted player this team has so heavily invested in to develop, could also exit after 2008 via free agency leaving the club embarrassingly thin at one of the most important positions on the football field. Absent a new contract, Andrews will be in high demand in the open market and will surely be paid a kings ransom for a long term deal by one of the more financially motivated franchises.

 

The handling of Anderson, paired with the status of Andrews perplexes this Bengals fan. How can a club be so cavalier about releasing such a decorated veteran, locker room leader, stalwart in performance and character? Sure, injuries happen and player’s performance degrades over time but did this team get better by playing it out like this? Does the team’s future at right tackle seem secure with Andrews ready to enter Free Agency in little more than 6 months? To both I’d argue “No”.

 

No, this team is not “Better” without Anderson. If anything, they would have had Anderson as insurance against Andrew not performing at the expected level this season. Having Anderson as a back-up, even at north of $3M per year would be smart considering who is pulling the trigger at QB and how important it is to protect him.

 

No, the future at Right Tackle is not secure given this situation. With Andrew Whitworth, an r2 (#55) pick and a very raw Anthony Collins, this year’s r4 (#112) pick, the team has talent but little of it on the right side. Whit has spent time at LG and LT. Collins is a natural LT. Both could develop but, again, in light of who is QB’ing this team, do we feel secure at Right Tackle? Nope.

 

How the Bengals offensive line performs this season will dictate the success of the offense. It all starts there in the trenches. Since 1996, it all started with Anderson’s size 19-EEE shoes. This year, it is my sense that his shoes will be missed and the player being asked to fill them has quite the tall task ahead of him.

Bengals Will Face Joe Flacco in Opener

The Baltimore Ravens will open the season against Cincinnati with Joe Flacco as the starting QB. This is both good and bad news for the Cincinnati club. Good news since they face a raw rook in their first outing, bad news since the team specializes in making nobody QBs look like Joe Montana. But as a Bengals fan, I’ll take what I can get.

In related Baltimore news, they have also signed Joey Harrington. My sympathies to Ravens fans.

Update: Geoff Hobson reports that Rudi Johnson is headed to Detroit and Willie Anderson has multiple teams interested in him, including the Ravens.

Update 2: Rudi is a Lion. Muckraker Mike says that the teams after Big Willie are Baltimore, Chicago and San Diego, and that Harrington to Baltimore isn’t a done deal yet.

Roster Shuffle Continues

The Bengals continued to tinker with the roster yesterday, signing guard Frank Davis (Detroit) and defensive tackle Orien Harris (Saints). Trimmed to fit those two in were DT Michael Myers (released) and C Dan Santucci (IR). Harris is a guy I liked when he came out in ‘06 and could thrive in Cincinnati. Not sure what’s up with Davis, though. The Bengals need a center, not another guard.

San Francisco claimed Ahmad Brooks. I have a very bad feeling about his release. Some team — and it looks like it will be the 49ers — is going to put him back in the middle and make the Bengals look rock stupid for letting him go. Now-former Bengals CB Deltha O’Neal is drawing interest from both the Patriots and Rams, while Rudi Johnson was visiting the Lions last night.

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