FanPost

Positives from tonight's game

Let's talk about the good things we saw tonight, shall we?. For me:

1.) Bernard Scott. If he's not the #2 RB by week 1 there's a serious problem. Dude has mad skills.

2.) This receiving corps is stacked. I was even impressed with Simpson tonight. There is no room for Antonio Chatman on this roster.

2a.) Chris Henry is the player he was in 2005 without the off-field stupidity. There is nothing bad that can come of that. He put forth full effort on every play he ran and seems to have been cured of his acute case of alligator arms. He made a big leap up my fantasy board tonight.

2b.) Chad Ochocino. Back to form, baby.

3.) Chris Crocker laying good wood. I am thrilled to have this guy on our team. THRILLED.

4.) Keith Rivers is going to have a monster year. He's just as solid as they come. I can not WAIT to get Maualuga on the field with him.

5.) Michael Johnson is going to give opposing tackles and quarterbacks nightmares. In his first NFL action tonight he was the only one who was causing any kind of "discruption" (h/t Ahmad Brooks) for the offense from the line. As he gets into the season he's going to be a legitimate player that you have to gameplan around. What a friggin' steal.

6.) I love you, Kevin Huber. Thank you for being you.

7.) I actually wasn't disgusted by the offensive line for the most part while the first team was on the field. Randy Jackson has to GO, yes, but it's not his fault we're too cheap to bring Andre Smith in to sign a contract. Most of the time Carson was on the field he had time to go through his progressions which is progress over last year. They've got some work ahead of them, yes...but I think what I saw tonight (read: Carson not running for his life and the Saints not breaking his face again this year) could be a sign that this group could gel more than we originally thought.

I really don't want to focus on negatives, right now. Some come to mind (Carson looked rusty, O-line had its bad points too, we have NOTHING at corner behind J-Joe and Hall which we already knew but tonight confirmed in spades), but I don't want to dwell on that tonight. We some some good things, good things that over the next three weeks can be built upon.

This team has a chance to be special this year, the pieces are in place (or at least in most of the places). It's a long shot, but what I saw tonight showed me that there is potential.

Who wants to take the negatives?

Sincerely,

A Pragmatic Bengals Fan

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.