It's unclear as to whether the Cincinnati Bengals will re-sign Cedric Benson for the 2011 season and beyond. Most believe that the Bengals will be able to sign the running back for his seventh year, fourth with the Benglas, though. Geoff Hobson has reported that the team's first priority is to re-sign Benson as well as cornerback Johnathan Joseph once the lockout is lifted and free agency is allowed to begin, and members within the Bengals organization have gone as far to say that they would "dearly love" to have Benson in the backfield in 2011.
As for Benson, he liked the kind of things he heard from the Benglas new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, during a long conversation they had, saying, "We had an interesting conversation about a lot of things. We have a lot of things in common as far as the way we see the game."
While it's not a 100 percent guarantee that Benson will be a Bengal again in 2011, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that his chances of playing in Cincinnati this season are pretty good... maybe 75 percent good.
Since that's the case, I decided to take the time to find Benson's stats against every team the Bengals play in the 2011 season.
Here we go.
The Bengals open the regular season on Sept. 11 in Cleveland. Benson has played against the Browns in Cleveland four times in his career, three of those times in Cincinnati ('08, '09, '10) and once while playing for the Chicago Bears (2005). In Cleveland, Benson has:
76 Carries, 311 Yards, Zero Touchdowns and a 3.45 yards per carry average.
Next the Benglas travel to Denver to take on the Broncos (9/18). Cedric Benson has never played against the Broncos in Denver but h has faced them twice, once in 2009 and once in 2007 (while playing with the Bears). In those two games, Benson averaged:
29 Carries, 123 Yards, one Touchdown and a 4.75 yards per carry average.
After the Broncos, the Bengals come home to play host to the San Francisco 49ers. Benson has never played the 49ers as the Bengals running back, but he did play them twice while playing for the Bears, once in 2005, and once in 2006. In those two games, Benson had:
20 Carries, 76 Yards, one Touchdown and 3.71 yards per carry average.
Next the Bengals stay at home to play the Buffalo Bills. Benson has faced the Bills twice in his career, both times playing for the home team (2010 with the Bengals and 2006 with the Bears). In those two games, Benson had:
39 Carries, 172 Yards, three Touchdowns and 4.12 yards per carry average.
After the Bengals play the Bills, they travel to Florida to play the Jacksonville Jaguars. Benson has never played in Jacksonville before but he has played the Jaguars once, in 2008. In that game, Benson had:
24 Carries, 104 Yards, one Touchdown and a 4.33 yards per carry average.
Next, the Bengals are at home against the Indianapolis Colts. Benson has played against the Colts three times, twice as a Bengal and once for the Bears. The game he played against the Colts with the Bears was in Super Bowl XLI. In those three games, Benson had:
32 Carries, 80 Yards, zero Touchdowns and a 1.59 yards per carry average.
That game takes the Bengals to their bye week.
After the bye, the Benglas travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks. Benson has never played against the Seahawks as a Bengal but he did play them three times as a Bear, once in 2007 and twice in 2006 (once in the playoffs). Two of those three games were in Seattle. In those three games, Benson had:
34 Carries, 171 Yards, one touchdown and a 5.07 yards per carry average.
Next, the Bengals stay on the road and travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans. That is the one team on the Bengals' 2011 schedule that Benson has never faced in his pro career.
After the Titans, the Bengals re-open their AFC North schedule at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Benson has played at home against the Steelers three times in his career, all of them with the Bengals. In those three games, he had:
48 Carries, 182 Yards, two touchdowns and a 3.82 yards per carry average.
The Bengals stick with their AFC North schedule the next week, traveling to Baltimore to face the Ravens. Benson has played at Baltimore only twice in his career, both times with the Bengals. In those two games, Benson had:
48 Carries, 173 Yards, one Touchdown and a 3.48 yards per carry average.
Next the Bengals come back home to play the Browns for the second time in 2011. Benson has only played the Browns with the home team once in his career, that was in 2010. He was hurt for the home Browns game in 2009 and hadn't signed with the team yet in 2008. In that one home game against the Browns, Benson had:
31 Carries, 150 Yards, one Touchdown and a 4.84 yards per carry average.
The Bengals then travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers for the second time in 2011. Benson has played three games against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, all three times with the Bengals. In those three games, he had:
31 Carries, 76 Yards, zero Touchdowns and a 2.57 yard per carry average.
After playing four straight AFC North opponents, the Bengals come home to face the Houston Texans. Benson has played two games against the Texans, both times as the Bengals running back. One of those games was in Cincinnati and the other was in Houston. In those two games against the Texans, Benson had:
29 Carries, 93 Yards, one Touchdown and a 3.26 yards per carry average.
Next, the Bengals travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams. Benson has played one game against St. Louis in his career. He traveled to St. Louis in 2006 with the Bears and had:
16 Carries, 64 Yards, zero Touchdowns and a 4.00 yards per carry average.
After their game in St. Louis, the Bengals come home to face the Arizona Cardinals. Once again, Benson has only played the Cardinals once in his career and once again it was with the Bears in 2006. That game was in Arizona and Benson had:
1 Carry, 4 Yards, zero Touchdowns and a 4.00 yards per carry average.
Finally, the Bengals end their season at home against the Baltimore Ravens. Benson has played against the Ravens as the home team's running back three times, all of them with the Bengals. In those three games, Benson had:
67 Carries, 212 Yards, one Touchdown and a 2.84 yards per carry average.
There you go. If Benson is the Bengals running back in 2011, those are his stats against ever team he will face. If he isn't the Bengals running back in 2011, I'll be pissed that I just did all that.