OK folks here is the thread for week #6 of our Cincinnati Bengals player pick 'em contest.  (We didn't start until week 3 – and then the BYE week screws it up even further – for those of you curious about the mismatched numbers.)  To see the full write-up of the original rules see here.  Last week's scoring results and a summary of the rules are repeated below the jump.  Here are the current score standings:

1 – brandone – 78 pts
2 – Deisel2405 – 60 pts
3 (tie) – CincyMike56 – 54 pts
3 (tie) – Vman in Germany – 54 pts
4 – FriarBob – 50 pts
5 – The Dealio – 44 pts
6 – Carsonorbust – 43 pts
7 – Mr. X – 39 pts
8 – ZJiff30 – 35 pts
9 – Richard L – 30 pts
10 – Bengals FTW – 21 pts
11 – Greener’s eyes – 20 pts
12 (tie) – IFChris – 19 pts
12 (tie) – featherman – 19 pts
13 – Kabash – 17 pts
14 – WHYUS!! – 16 pts
15 (tie) – jsl413 – 15 pts
15 (tie) – JohnnyK – 15 pts
15 (tie) – ritalin – 15 pts
15 (tie) – indesignkat – 15 pts

Last week the Bears were kind enough to oblige us with a nice bounce-back week.  And what a bounce-back week it was, I don't know about you guys but I'm going to watch that game a few extra times because it was entirely too much fun to only watch once.  Of course, it always helps when your boys are embarrassed by a team they should really have at least made a lot more respectable, if not outright beaten.  Emotions can play a big part of the game and when you are dedicated to go out and prove that the previous week isn't the "real" you, it helps a lot.

Unfortunately, that could very well be the situation for the Ravens coming in here on the 8th.  If they beat Denver they prove to themselves that they should have beat us because the Broncos did (sort-of, I'm still convinced the "out of bounds" interception was at best a horrible time to not review the play and at worst an outright blown call).  On the plus side, if that happens they might have a bit of let-up after finally breaking their losing streak.  Maybe.  But if they don't win then they come in on a four game losing streak and will be absolutely pissed as can be looking for blood.  And unless that causes them to commit personal fouls out the wazoo and throw the game in that fashion, that could be a bad thing for our boys in stripes.

Of course, if Carson and Cedric play like they did against the Bears it might not matter.  But will we?  Or will we slack off too much during the bye and come out looking as sluggish as the Saints did early on against the Dolphins?  And if so, will we struggle back so that the Cardiac Cats return at the end, or will we be treated to another blowout loss to a team we should at least compete against?

Time to place your bets.  Do you expect an offensive shootout?  We've got plenty of WRs and RBs to pick for the scores here.  Do you expect a defensive slug-fest?  We've got some secondary players who can catch INTs and linemen who can force fumbles now, so maybe they are the way to go instead.  Either way, pick your player to hang your hat on, and best of luck to all.

The scoring recap post from last week is repeated here as well:

Well, this is certainly the right way to bounce back from a disappointing loss. You get your butt whooped one weekend, go out and whoop somebody else’s the next. Since we have a BYE I won’t be posting the new thread immediately, probably late in the week instead.

By the rules of the game the following players scored points: Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco, Laveranues Coles, Chris Henry, J.P. Foschi, Dhani Jones (x2), Leon Hall (x2), and Chris Crocker (x2). Unfortunately (for carsonorbust and myself at least) the official NFL stats do not give JJ any part of the forced fumble — even though it looks to me like he did 95% of the work on it — so its worthless to those of us who picked him. Oh well. I’ll recheck the stats later in the week to see if it was corrected, but if not then we’re out of luck. With only 18 participants the maximum point value for uniqueness is only 17 points. Nobody picked J.P Foschi, Dhani Jones, or Chris Crocker, so their points didn’t help anybody.

So here is our weekly scoring only:
brandone – 34 pts (Leon Hall)
Kabash – 17 pts (Chris Henry)
Vman in Germany – 16 pts (Laveranues Coles)
WHYUS!! – 16 pts (Laveranues Coles)
jsl413 – 15 pts (Cedric Benson)
JohnnyK – 15 pts (Cedric Benson)
ritalin – 15 pts (Cedric Benson)
ZJiff30 – 15 pts (Chad Ochocinco)
CincyMike56 – 15 pts (Chad Ochocinco)
indesignkat – 15 pts (Chad Ochocinco)

This leaves us with a five week leader board of:
1 – brandone – 78 pts
2 – Deisel2405 – 60 pts
3 (tie) – CincyMike56 – 54 pts
3 (tie) – Vman in Germany – 54 pts
4 – FriarBob – 50 pts
5 – The Dealio – 44 pts
6 – Carsonorbust – 43 pts
7 – Mr. X – 39 pts
8 – ZJiff30 – 35 pts
9 – Richard L – 30 pts
10 – Bengals FTW – 21 pts
11 – Greener’s eyes – 20 pts
12 (tie) – IFChris – 19 pts
12 (tie) – featherman – 19 pts
13 – Kabash – 17 pts
14 – WHYUS!! – 16 pts
15 (tie) – jsl413 – 15 pts
15 (tie) – JohnnyK – 15 pts
15 (tie) – ritalin – 15 pts
15 (tie) – indesignkat – 15 pts

If you see any problem with the scoring above please speak up ASAP.

If you haven't played yet, here is a brief recap of the rules:

1) Pick one player (Make it easy on me, make him the title of your post.  Both first and last name please.) who is NOT officially listed as a QB, P, or PK on the roster.
2) An offensive score is worth one point per participant who did not pick your player.
3) A defensive player is worth 3/2/1 point per participant who did not pick your player based on if he 3) actually scored, 2) gained possession of the ball for the team but didn't actually score, or 1) allowed the Bengals to gain possession by causing a fumble (or blocking a kick) that another Bengals player recovered.  Sacks or tackles behind the line of and by themselves are not worth anything unless they are a strip-sack (1 point if we recover) or they are also a safety (3 points).
4) You score the maximum possible points for your player but only one time.  So a defensive player who forces an opponent's fumble that Cincinnati recovers and recovers another opponent's fumble at a different point in the game is worth 2x points (not 3x cumulative).
5) Keep commentary to the bare minimum please.
6) Predictions on how they will score are not required, and if you provide one they don't net you any bonus if you are right nor do they detract if you are wrong (so long as they do actually score by game rules).
7) Try to be original yet still pick somebody you think has a realistic chance to score or cause a turnover.
8) Only ONE (1) player entry per contestant, per week is allowed.
9) Deadline for player entries each week is THIRTY (30) minutes prior to kickoff.