Saturday morning links and notes

by Josh Kirkendall on Jul 19, 2008 10:08 AM EDT

After Rexx predicted the Ravens beating the Bengals 27-13 during opening weekend, he predicts the season sweep after the Ravens beat the Bengals 27-17. The Ravens haven't swept the Bengals since the Bengals 2002 season when we went 2-14. On the other hand, the Bengals have two season sweeps (2007, 2005) over the Ravens in the past three seasons.

Even the Pro Football Weekly guys are expecting the Bengals to have a good year rushing the ball.

With RB Rudi Johnson returning to full strength after having fought a hamstring injury last season and Chris Perry back in the fold after missing the '07 campaign with an ankle injury, the Bengals have the makings of a deep, talented backfield. And they will also have reason to put the ball in the air a little less this season, the way we hear it. Among AFC teams, only pass-happy New England threw more than Cincinnati did last season. The Bengals can still air it out when necessary, but more of an emphasis on the ground game is expected. You can expect the backs to be active in the passing game, too, especially Perry and Kenny Watson, both of whom catch the ball exceptionally well.

There's been kind of a trend between bloggers and media writers. Bloggers, local to Cincinnati aren't buying the Marvin on the hot seat argument while the national media (those that try to weigh non-stories with anvils and air craft carriers) says he is (or should be). If you want late breaking news, the national media has their purpose. If you want opinion about the Bengals from guys that surf the internet for hours, then we're a pretty good option.

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Hot (or not) Seat

I think the issue is that through the prism of what would be acceptable in other cities, Lewis WOULD be on the hot seat, and another sub .500 campaign would spell the end of his time in THAT city. However, those of us who are lifelong Bengals fans realize that if the team would allow coaches like Shula and LeBeau to run up historic loss totals before pulling the trigger on them, they certainly won’t be bailing on an 8-8 Lewis, only the third coach in team history with a winning record.

Clearly, that can’t go on forever, even in Mike Brown’s Loyalty Land at some point Lewis is going to have to put some playoff wins on the board. But that time is not yet here. If that seat is warm at all it’s because Brown is kissing Lewis’ backside for getting the team to be good enough to fill the stadium every week, not because he’s in trouble.

by Galaxy CDS on Jul 19, 2008 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

Baltimore = Stupid

I always knew that to be a Baltimore fan, one had to be of below average intelligence. How else could one get past the obvious logical inconsistency of complaining about how the Colts were “stolen” in 1984 (though the city of Baltimore was actually going to steal the team from Irsay using a rather unique interpretation of “eminent domain”) and then stealing the Cleveland Browns in 1996.

Moreover, Baltimore fans forget about their franchise’s past serious trouble with the law when they rag on Bengals fans about the series of player arrests over the past few years. I might be splitting hairs here, but I think having a player that was involved in a murder and a player that SOLD – not used – drugs is a bit worse than having a bunch of immature players with substance abuse problems.

I have always hated the Ravens; when I moved to Washington DC and was exposed to their fanbase, I learned to hate them even more. Adjectives like moronic, thuggish, and evil fail to capture the utter darkness of a Ravens fan’s soul.

The Bengals may lose a lot of games in 2008, but none of them will be to the Baltimore Ratbirds.

"Ryan, Things in here don't react too well to bullets." - Marko Ramius

by TarZander on Jul 19, 2008 1:10 PM EDT reply actions