Against the Bears, the Bengals, who have a ton of depth at wide receiver, were supremely confident. Evan Mathis hinted the same thing.
“You could see it in guys’ eyes,” he said. “Every guy next to me was ready to go, and wanted to keep the ball moving no matter what. We got a two- then three-touchdown lead and nobody relaxed. It doesn’t mean the game is over. We still went after it with max effort.”
We've known that these guys have the talent; it's always a matter of putting it together. No more drive-stalling penalties, drops or turnovers. Give it to your play makers (Chad Ochocinco) and keep pounding the football (Cedric Benson). And when they played their best game of the year, their most complete game of the year, when they bring their A-game, this team appeared invincible.
Even though Rey Maualuga was nominated for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in September, there's other rookies making a bigger impression on Scout.com NFL Rookie Rankings. Last week, he was ranked 14th. This week, he dropped to 17th with Scout.com saying "Maualuga's production over the last couple of weeks has suffered..." Maualuga has 30 tackles his year, which ranks sixth among rookies. His two forced fumbles ties him with Brian Cushing, Aaron Curry, Everette Brown, Malcolm Jenkins, Kaluka Maiava for most among rookies. I would agree that Maualuga's production has gone down, but only because the last two opposing teams choose to pass 64% of the time, which lowers tackle production among the front seven anyway. But it also limits Maualuga's playing time if the opposing team is showing a passing formation; Brandon Johnson is on the field in nickel packages.
The Bengals invited three players on Thursday for a workout: running back Jehuu Caulcrick, fullback Bill Rentmeester and Tight End Michael Matthews.
Geoff Hobson interviewed Marvin Lewis, who now calls this a nine-game season.
Chad Ochocinco's #1 Top Ten on the Late Show: "I thank the Lord every day that I don’t play for the Lions."
Who Dey Fans say if you want to buy a ticket to next weeks showdown between the Bengals and Ravens, then don't let other influences make the choice for you.
Given the choice, WDR would rather have Daniel Snyder than Mike Brown as an owner. Snyder bought the Redskins in 1999. Since 1999, the Redskins have won .467 of their games (78-89) compared to Brown's .404 clip (67-99-1) during that same timeframe. Just for kicks and giggles, since Marvin Lewis was hired, the Bengals have won exactly .500 (51-51-1) while, during that same time frame, the Redskins are .437 (45-58). Furthermore, the Bengals have never finished last in the division -- one first, two seconds, three thirds.