Your Links and Notes for the day may be light due to my food hangover this morning as I finished my Steak Fonduta from the Olive Garden late last night. 

It was goooooooood. 

Here's hoping that you all had a joyous Easter holiday weekend and didn't have to go to work or anything silly like that, but we know that now since you're back to work you need something to kill your productivity.  And what kind of blog would we be if we didn't provide you just that kind of excuse? 

From ProFootballTalk.com, now that Donovan McNabb is a Washington Redskin, could the long-talked-about possible union of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens be even less likely now? 

Joe Reedy takes a look at the possibility of Dez Bryant slipping to the Bengals when they make the 21st selection in this month's NFL Draft. 

Former Bengals TE Ben Utecht will be singing the National Anthem at Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon at Great American Ball Park. 

 Okay, it won't be because of my full belly that today's Banter is a bit on the light side.  It appears that this article will be shorter than normal because there really isn't anything else going on in Bengal Nation that we can discover at the moment that hasn't already been discussed or linked. 

Oh, one more thing.  Don't make stupid bets to national sports reporting figures. 

OK guys.  It's been a little while since I've posted -- sorry, I'm still not over the loss to the J-E-T-S (Suck, suck, suck) -- but I do have a public service announcement to make:  Cincy Jungle, the best Bengals blog on the web, now has a Facebook fan page.  It pulls RSS feeds from CJ, while also giving us another place to congregate at.

All in all, it sounds like a win-win to me... Unlike Shayne Graham's kicks against the Jets.  Anyway, enough crying over missed field goals.  Join the Cincy Jungle Facebook fan page and lets continue to show our undying support for the hardest franchise in the NFL to love.

;)

I'm really confused this morning as the national media types are trying to give analysis of last night's laugher in New York. James Walker, in particular, seems to be putting a lot of stock into last night's result. So does John Clayton, who wrote in his AFC Playoff Preview that both teams can use the same game plan next week, reducing the potential impact that a short week of preparation could have. I don't know why any self-respecting football fan would think the Bengals would use the same gameplan, but they pay Clayton the big bucks. ESPN's senior football guy also thinks that the Chargers and Colts will be untouchable, despite both teams' historic struggles in the post-season.

Here are some other interesting stories from around the web.

• James Walker wonders if the AFC North playoff teams can make some noise in the playoffs. Since they won't butt heads until the AFC Championship Game at the earliest, the division's representatives have the potential to wreck havoc in the playoffs.
• CNati's Jerry Beach writes that the Bengals essentially surrendered to the Jets. With the guys we had inactive, I'm inclined to agree. But as Chad Ochocinco pointed out, "There's no trickery they can add to their game plan. We know their offensive and defensive scheme. It just comes down to executing the plays."
• Joe Reedy clarifies the playoff picture for us. This article reminded me that if the Ravens upset the Patriots, they'll be the team going to Indy in round 2, not the Bengals.
• Chick Ludwig continues to be hillarious in his old age. He believes that the Bengals tried really hard last night and got their butts kicked anyway, and will be one-and-done. Nevermind that 4 starters never played, the Bengals never used an unbalanced line or tried to establish the run, and that the defensive gameplan was vanilla and backup-laden. I understand being upset about a loss, but that doesn't mean you have to give into senility.
• Clark Judge correctly points out that the Bengals didn't have much to play for. He also says some mumbo jumbo about stopping that wide receiver the Jets lined up at QB and the Bengals let run it up the middle for many yards. They played like they didn't care. You may disagree - the third seed would be nice, I guess (but the Patriots are 1-6 on the road, so they'll lose before we could have another home game anyhow), but the tell-tale sign for me was the benching of Cedric Benson. If he's not playing when he could be playing, they're mailing it in.

What was your take on the game last night? Do you think the Bengals gave it their best effort?

As you may or may not be aware, the Bengals have clinched the AFC North and will be going to the playoffs for the second time this decade. While it is not ideal to only make the playoffs 20% of the time, that rate under Marvin Lewis is almost certainly one of the best for any coach in Bengals history. Chad Johnson needs just over 70 more yards to break 10,000 on the career - I'd love to see him finish that off this season.

Without further delay, here are the major stories from the internets about our playoff-bound Bengals.

• Here's a question for you: Who would you rather play if the first round, Denver or New York? Or Baltimore? Or Pittsburgh? What a convoluted playoff picture in the AFC.
• Post-game quotes from Bengals.com.
• Coaching through tragedy, as Clark Judge points out in his weekly "judgements" column, doesn't Marvin Lewis have to be a coach of the year candidate? I mean, I think we all know he has flaws - like calling timeouts - but this team was 4-11-1 last year and has suffered immensely off the field this year, yet continues to stick together and perform. That's worth something, right?

"No [Gatorade] shower, no hat," Lewis said. "We want to earn another hat. There are two more to earn. It's a little different atmosphere than it was a few years ago (2005). This group knows there are more of them."

• James Walker talks about AFC playoff scenarios. I'll admit, I'm a little confused by the whole thing. I just know I'd rather see Denver and NYJ make it than Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
• The Cincinnati Enquirer's game day photo gallery is exceptional this week. 
• All of our favorite writers from the Enquirer's sports page contributed recapitulations of the Bengals triumphant effort over the Chiefs that secured a playoff berth. Joe Reedy, first, gives his thoughts, pointing out that it took a 4th "Cardiac Cat" drive to seal the deal. 
• Paul Daugherty says this Bengals squad is more mature than the 2005 club that lost Carson Palmer on its first offensive snap in the Wildcard round. They have to be after the tragedy they have faced as a team this year. Do you think any other team in the NFL is as familial as the Bengals? These guys really have each others' back. Daugherty praises Dhani Jones (maybe we should do that a bit more around these parts, I heard his name a lot yesterday) and concludes that the Bengals are "good."
  

Speaking of good, how far does "good" get you in the playoffs? I gues what I'm asking is, do you think this team can win the Superbowl?

• Chick Ludwig recaps the emotions that Bengals fans have endured nearly every Sunday afternoon this year, but reminds us that we're capable of getting hot and running the playoff table.
• Joe Reedy also featured Cedric Benson's record-setting efforts this year. 6 100-yard games. Talk about turning a career around. Mike Brown the Redeemer, we have to give you credit.
• Chris Henry is still close to our, and the Bengals' thoughts and hearts. CNati.com's Paul Dehner revisits Henry's impact on the Bengals victory over the Chiefs yesterday.
• Dehner also focuses on Leon Hall's bounceback week. If the guy has an achilles heel, I guess it's his height. But I still think he's one of the best in the NFL. My Pro Bowl Ballot on the defensive side goes something like: Domata Peko, Leon Hall, Dhani Jones, Johnathan Joseph. What do you think?
• Here's the always-phenomenal CNati photogallery of the week.
• C. Trent Rosencrans notes, among other things, that the Bengals have been flexed to Sunday night against the Jets. One thing this means is that if the Patriots win during the day, the Bengals probably rest players in the evening contest because the game becomes meaningless. I'd expect that, if the Pats close down #3, we'll send out starters for a quarter or two to work on some things in a live game, then shut it down until the post season.
• Dehner points out that despite first-half problems rushing the ball, and despite the Chiefs persistent and predictable run blitz, the Bengals ran the ball with Cedric Benson 20 times for 99 yards in the second half. It wasn't pretty or all too consistent, but we've got to give Ced props... again.
• Finally, to conclude this behemoth of a Bengals Banter, here's C. Trent's thoughts on clinching the playoffs and his recap of the game.

On the morn after the Browns' defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers (essentially knocking them out of the playoff picture), things are pretty quiet around the interwebs in regards to our 9-3 Bengals. 

I hope you all enjoyed that game as much as I did last night.  Living in Northeast Ohio, you should have seen my facebook homepage during and especially after the game.  It was quite entertaing, to say the least.  Of course, I didn't participate in the ribbing or the smack talk.  I would never do such a thing.  Now, links ensue! 

Florio notes in his Friday One-Liners that Chris Crocker has returned to practice and he says he plans to play Sunday at Minnesota.

Mr. Florio also questions the validity of the Bengals however in his weekly 10-Pack for SportingNews, wondering if the Steelers' and Ravens' recent struggles undermine the Bengals' achievements so far this season. 

Clark Judge over at cbssports.com calls Bengals at Vikings the game of the week in his Peek-at-the-Week.

cbssports.com also gives us a video preview of Sunday's game.  I typically like Pat Kirwan, but he seems to be much higher on the Vikes than he is for the Bengals going into the weekend.  Nothing like continuing to prove folk wrong, am I right?  

Finally over at cbssports, here's the page containing their expert picks.  Even split over the six writers as to whether the Bengals cover the 6.5 point spread this weekend.   

Heading on over to ESPN, Adam Schefter is the only expert on the panel picking the good guys on Sunday.  Bang it here. 

More Schefter here, pondering Percy Harvin's chances of playing through a migraine this weekend.  He also gives the Bengals' offensive line major props toward the end of the article. 

James Walker has a very, very enjoyable edition of "Remember the Offseason?" in which he posts comments from Bengals fans and fans of the other teams in the division in regards to the Bengals' chances in 2009.  It's a quality read.

The experts over at Fox Sports are in line with the others, all but Adam Schein pick the Vikes.   

Here's Fox Sports' preview of the Bengals/Vikings game this weekend.  They also ilst the game as the game of the week. 

The folks over at WDR opine (sarcastically as per uzhe) about Sunday's game. 

Have fun clicking, and we'll see you over the weekend for CLINCHFEST 2009!!!!1!!!1!!1

Sorry.  Got a little excited. 

A Pragmatic Bengals Fan

It's Vikings week, still! I don't have much commentary this time, so here are some links.

• It's Wednesday, so I have some power rankings for you. In ESPN, we stay 5. At CBS, we move to 4. Hooray! We're in the top 13% of teams!
• Sadly, Shaun Smith is likely to return to the Bengals to fill the gargantuan void left by DT Domata Peko's absence due to knee surgery, says James Walker. Peko will be back for the Playoffs, whew.
• Scott Priestle tells us the deets about Peko's status. He also tells us that Carson is ready for the ridiculous crowd noise at the Metrodome.
• He ALSO tells us that Palmer and his wide receivers are out of sync. I agree, but it's interesting to see it from the perspective of a journalist and his access to professional athletes we love.
• Joe Reedy was a busy man, and he brings us much news. First, he tells us about the beloved Zimmer and his preparations for the Favres. Good read. His notes for the off-day include talks about penalty problems, Shaun Smith, and the playoffs.

Your Cincinnati Bengals are 7-2, leading the division by effectively 2 games with 7 to play. They just got done shutting down Big Ben Roethlisberger and those hated Pittsburgh Steelers (video highlights here and here) Four of those remaining opponents combine for a 6-29 record. The other three may be difficult games, but they're winnable (with the quality of our defense, everything is winnable), at Minnesota, at San Diego, and at the New York Jets. The Bengals are right in the thick of things at the top of the AFC playoff bracket. If the season ended today, the Bengals are the second best team in the AFC, and would be the #2 seed with a first-round bye.

After the jump, MANY links and notes in narrative form!

Continue reading this post »

Antwan Odom is done for the year and Domata Peko was injured. Tank Johnson's been hurt. Leon Hall apparently is NOT the best cornerback in the league, and our tight ends have fumblitis. But we're still atop the division, 4-2 and leading in the tiebeaking categories. My hypothesis? We don't like being favorites. I don't think Marvin's track record is so hot when the Bengals are actually Vegas's choice to win football games. Anyway, here's some of the hate from around the net. I'm kinda busy, so this will be abbreviated.

• Walker Texas Blogger recapped the game. Nothing remarkable, but you get the Countdown Daily video, too.
• Reedy says: Comeback was too little, too late. Collapsed in the second half. Nothing we didn't talk about here, already. We already know why we lost. Playcalling, drops, penalties, injuries, execution. None of those 5 factors went our way.
• Doc says: No heart attacks this weekend. Just bad play. This was a "proverbial trap game," says Doc. Good luck selling out any more home games not against Chicago or Cleveland this year after that debacle.
• CNati staff report: Screens kill Bengals. Apparently, contrary to my sentiment (having not watched the game) Leon Hall did a good job on Johnson when they were matched up. Seemed to me like Hall had a lot of tackles, meaning he gave up a lot of catches. Still, very interesting list of notes and things to think about from the game. Also from CNati, and also something we all talked about - Drops were a big problem. I love Dan Coats?

Look for Peter King's MMQB. It'll say something like "the Bengals tricked us. They're a typical Bungle team." I think we've lost all credibility in the eyes of the National media this week, and I think we'll see that in the form of a vendetta against us, since these national hot-shot writers probably think we made them look dumb.

Sorry for the brevity today, Jungle. Go Bengals.