Bengals face crucial year, NFL power rankings and more
For years, the Cincinnati Bengals were guaranteed to make the playoffs, only to be equally guaranteed in the following result. Now? It’s a new world in the Queen City.
Marvin Lewis has the job security that so many Americans long for. Lewis is beginning his 15th season as the Bengals’ head coach, despite failing to win a single playoff game throughout his tenure. The last time Cincinnati advanced in the postseason? January 6, 1991.
Going into the 2016 season, the Bengals had reached the playoffs in five consecutive years and were largely returning the same core. Another run into January was expected, but plans went awry. Losses piled up, injuries mounted, and the result was an ugly 6-9-1 record, leaving the future of both Lewis and the roster in doubt.
Owner/general manager Mike Brown decided to kept Lewis on for another year, but his level of confidence could be wavering.
“For the first time since 2010 season, he doesn’t have an extension beyond this season,” said Paul Dehner Jr., the Bengals beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “What does that mean? Who’s contract means anything in the NFL? But the bottom line is for the last few years he’s always had a contract beyond that season and this year he doesn’t. It’s the one tangible difference.”
The offseason roster shuffling also left many questions. Cincinnati allowed left tackle Andrew Whitworth and right guard Kevin Zeitler to leave in free agency for big money, creating uncertainty along the offensive line. Zeitler, only 27 years old and a former first-round selection who chose the Cleveland Browns, was particularly painful to see walk.
However, neither move was unexpected. In 2015, the Bengals selected Cedric Ogbuehi in the first round with the expectation that he would replace Whitworth this year. Their next pick was Jake Fisher, a 6-foot-6 tackle with good athleticism. Going into training camp, Lewis is hoping to see Ogbuehi stake his claim on the left side while Fisher acts as his bookend on the right. Inside, Zeitler will likely be replaced by either Christian Westerman or Andre Smith.
“The concern comes in because Ogbuehi played so poorly at right tackle last year,” Dehner Jr. said. “They plugged him in and they viewed him as a top-five overall player in that draft, with the only reason he was available was the injury. He was benched midseason and he was one of the least-efficient pass blockers last year. … It was a turnstile over there at times.”
In the draft, the Bengals went after offensive help with speedy receiver John Ross in the first round. In the second, Cincinnati plucked the controversial Joe Mixon out of the University of Oklahoma. Ross fills a void left by the departures of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu a year ago, while Mixon’s arrival gives the Bengals more explosiveness out of the backfield. It also spells the end of Jeremy Hill in any meaningful form.
Predictably, the Mixon addition has come with plenty of raised eyebrows. After punching a woman at college, the star running back slid into the second round, perhaps a few dozen spots past where he would have gone if his character concerns didn’t exist.
Cincinnati felt the talent outweighed the risk at that juncture, but there are those who wonder if the Bengals are too lenient. Throughout Lewis’ tenure, the team has been known to take on risky situations, including Adam “Pacman” Jones, A.J. Nicholson, Chris Henry, Deltha O’Neal and others. In 2006 alone, Cincinnati had a whopping 10 players arrested.
Lewis has run a cleaner program since, but the stigma remains. If Mixon runs afoul of the law, both he and the team will be heavily scrutinized, something they were well-aware of when they turned in the card.
“Without doubt they got great on-the-field football value at No. 48,” Dehner Jr. said”. “…His versatility fits what they want to do offensively. That point is buried and rightfully so. The bottom line is in recent years they saw what character guys did to their team in the 2000s. It really derailed some very talented teams. Since the 2011 draft with A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, they have tended to stay away from those character types. … This selection that just reopened some old wounds.”
As summer approaches, the Bengals might be the toughest prediction of any NFL team. Certain position groups including the offensive line and secondary are in flux. Still, Cincinnati has standouts on both sides of the ball including Green, Geno Atkins, Giovani Bernard, Carlos Dunlap and Vontaze Burfict.
If Ross and Mixon can become a new pair of playmakers at Andy Dalton’s disposal, and if the offensive line can hold up, Cincinnati should be a strong contender in the AFC North. Those are plenty of ifs, making this season stressful for the fan and intriguing for the impartial observer.
Regardless of the result, the Bengals aren’t the same team we’ve seen in recent years. Whether that is for better or worse remains a mystery.
Power rankings
Next 10 players in line for major paydays
1. Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins
3. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
4. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
5. Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons
6. Kam Chancellor, Seattle Seahawks
7. Malcolm Butler, New England Patriots
8. Xavier Rhodes, Minnesota Vikings
9. Jimmy Garappolo, New England Patriots
10. Malcolm Jenkins, Philadelphia Eagles
Quotable
"“I don’t want to make this no competition thing with me and my quarterback. I’m just talking about from based off that [Super Bowl] game. Let’s [say] it like this: if I would have kept getting the ball, if I would have stayed in the game, I don’t know why I got out of the game actually. But if I would have stayed in the game, I would have got MVP. I’m looking at my stats and I see my numbers didn’t lie. Look at my numbers.”"
-Falcons running back Devonta Freeman on Super Bowl LI, and what might have been
Nobody can blame Freeman for his take. He was having a terrific game with 75 yards on 11 carries, but what’s the point of bringing this up now? Atlanta needs to focus on the upcoming season, or risk the dreaded Super Bowl hangover.
The Falcons don’t have to look far for motivation. Their NFC South counterpart, the Carolina Panthers, went 15-1 and reached Super Bowl 50, only to lose and finish 6-10 the following year.
Random stat
The only NFC not to appear in multiple Super Bowls are the Buccaneers, Cardinals, Saints and Lions. Detroit is the only NFC team never to appear in one.
The AFC tells a different story. A whopping seven teams haven’t been to multiple Super Bowls, including five that existed before the AFL-NFL merger of 1970 (Jets, Chiefs, Browns, Chargers, Titans/Oilers).
Info learned this week
1. Derek Carr gets paid in record-setting fashion
The Oakland Raiders ponied up in a major way last week, inking their star quarterback to a five-year, $125 million extension. The pact includes $70 million guaranteed. Oakland now has to figure out the deals for Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper in the coming years, but at least the largest of the three contracts is done.
Is he worth the largest contract in NFL history? Depends on perspective. The cap is rising and with it, contracts. In that sense, Carr deserves that moniker. Conversely, he’s a borderline top-10 quarterback, despite national fawning. For more on my feelings toward the promising but imperfect youngster, click through to my column from Thursday.
2. Dolphins tried to bring back Manning last season
When Ryan Tannehill injured his ACL in December during the Dolphins’ postseason chase, head coach Adam Gase had a singular thought: Peyton Manning. Manning, who had retired prior to the season, received a text from Gase asking if he would be willing to come back, per NFL.com. Obviously, the answer was no.
Manning was clearly done during his final season, albeit resulting in a Super Bowl victory. After one of the most accomplished careers in NFL history, Manning wasn’t looking for a third team. If Manning had come back, it would have been one of the wildest stories in league history. What could have been…
3. Chiefs extend Andy Reid; fire John Dorsey
After making the playoffs in three of his first four seasons in Kansas City, the Chiefs awarded head coach Andy Reid with a contract extension. While terms are undisclosed, this ensures Reid will be paired with quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the long-term future, barring the unforeseen.
Reid has been one of the most successful coaches in league history. Between his time in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Reid has a 173-114-1 record with seven division titles, five conference championship appearances and one Super Bowl trip. With the Chiefs, Reid turned a 2-14 around instantly, going 43-21 with the club since arriving in 2013.
Meanwhile, minutes later, owner Clark Hunt fired general manager John Dorsey in a stunning twist. Dorsey is highly-regarded in NFL circles, having drafted three First-Team All-Pros in his four years with the Chiefs. Additionally, Kansas City allowed Chris Ballard to leave for the Colts’ GM job earlier this offseason.
This has been a long, strange few weeks for the Chiefs.
4. Cowboys players feel confident Dak, Zeke will avoid sophomore slump
Nobody could have envisioned the rookies seasons that Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott enjoyed in 2016. Elliott ended up leading the league in rushing while Prescott supplanted Tony Romo and started all 16 games, earning a 13-3 record. The Cowboys are a hot pick to reach the Super Bowl this season, and their players don’t believe there is any reason to doubt their young duo.
The Dallas Morning News ran an interesting piece with lengthy quotes about both players, suggesting it’s title or bust for the Cowboys. Prescott and Elliott may have even more of the burden heaped on their shoulders, with Jason Witten being a year older and the defensive backfield gutted by free agency.
5. Frank Kush passes away at 88
The football world lost a notable coach last week when Frank Kush died at 88 years old. Kush was a great college football coach with the Arizona Sun Devils before trying his hand with the Baltimore Colts in 1982. Unfortunately, Kush was only a footnote to disaster with the Colts, lasting three seasons before his ousting.
Kush was one of the main reasons John Elway forced his way out of Baltimore after being drafted by the club in April 1983. Elway had little interest in playing for the coach with a run-first style and reputation for intensity. Elway went on to play for the Denver Broncos and win two championships, while Kush stayed on long enough to be the first coach in Indianapolis Colts history.
History lesson
In 1965, the Chicago Bears drafted Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers with the third and fourth-overall picks in the NFL Draft. Still, the Bears never reached the playoffs with either. Chicago toiled in the NFC Central, consistently finishing in last place behind the Packers, Vikings and Lions.
While Chicago should feel disappointment over the above paragraph, the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers should feel shame. Respectively armed with the first two selections, the Giants took a running back named Tucker Frederickson, while the 49ers settled on fullback Ken Willard. Frederickson was a Pro Bowler in his rookie season and then declined due to injury, while Willard was a four-time Pro Bowler.
Still, neither compared to the brilliance of Sayers and Butkus, who wound up with busts in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Parting shot
The Patriots have dominated the AFC East since making Tom Brady a starter in 2001. New England has only lost the division once, due in part to Bill Belichick, but also to sheer incompetence throughout the rest of the East.
This year, not much seems ready to change. The Miami Dolphins are the second-best team and should challenge for a playoff spot, but they aren’t approaching being a threat to New England. The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets are varying degrees of bad. Buffalo might win 6-7 games, while New York would be lucky (or unlucky) to win more than two.
New England would likely win any division in football this season, but perhaps the story of the Brady/Belichick era would be different if it was challenged more frequently. Since 2003, New England has enjoyed the AFC’s top seed six times.
While the Patriots would be great regardless of bi-annual opponents, it might have had to play more road games if saddled with a few extra divisional losses. History might have looked much different.