Cincinnati Bengals
Head Coach: Marvin Lewis (90-85-1 all-time in Cincinnati)
Last Year's Results: 11-5, lost in Wildcard Round to San Diego Chargers
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Andy Dalton (AS)
RB: Giovani Bernard (GS)
FB: Orson Charles (PS)
WR: A.J. Green (E)
WR: Marvin Jones (GS)
TE: Jermaine Gresham (BAS)
C: Trevor Robinson (BAS)
RG: Kevin Zeitler (GS)
LG: Clint Boling (AS)
RT: Andre Smith (GS)
LT: Andrew Whitworth (E)
DEFENSE:
DE: Carlos Dunlap (GS)
DE: Wallace Gilberry (AS)
DT: Domata Peko (PS)
DT: Geno Atkins (E)
WLB: Vontaze Burfict (HQ)
MLB: Rey Maualuga (BAS)
SLB: Jayson DiManche (???)
CB: Leon Hall (GS)
CB: Terrence Newman (AS)
SS: George Iloka (AS)
FS: Reggie Nelson (GS)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Mike Nugent
P: Kevin Huber
Schedule:
vs. @ Baltimore
vs. Atlanta
vs. Tennessee
BYE WEEK
vs. @ New England
vs. Carolina
vs. @ Indianapolis
vs. Baltimore
vs. Jacksonville
vs. Cleveland
vs. @ New Orleans
vs. @ Houston
vs. @ Tampa Bay
vs. Pittsburgh
vs. @ Cleveland
vs. Denver
vs. @ Pittsburgh
Predicted Results: 9-7 (3-3 in division)
Team Analysis: It seems like people can't make up their minds when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals. One guy will tell you that they easily have the talent to be considered one of the best teams in the NFL, while a completely different guy will tell you that as long as Andy Dalton is the QB and Marvin Lewis is the head coach, these guys will just be average. I'm probably somewhere in the middle. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Bengals go 11-5 and win the AFC North again. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the wheels completely fall off this season and the Bengals under-perform at 6-10 and Marvin Lewis is finally sent packing. What's the deal with Marvin Lewis anyways? How does a mediocre head coach stay employed by a team for 10+ years when he's only won the division three times and is 0-5 in the playoffs? Good coaches get fired all the time in this league (Andy Reid, Jeff Fisher, etc.), so it's mind-boggling when you consider how long Lewis has been head coach of the Bengals when he's just 5 games over .500. What kind of blackmail does Lewis have on the Bengals owners?
If Lewis' team is finally going to get over that playoff hump that's floated over him for some time now, he's going to need more consistency out of QB Andy Dalton. Dalton is an extremely streaky NFL player who people still don't know what to make of. He's shown that he has the arm to make plays in the NFL, but he's also shown that he has a big-time tendency to be careless with the ball and not take care of it. There are some people who are ready to give up on Dalton, but you have to give the kid some more time. He's shown that he can play in the NFL and sometimes it's takes a QB a couple of years to get the big picture (Drew Brees) and fully understand how to be a successful NFL QB. This is going to be a huge year for Dalton. It's good thing the Bengals have him surrounded by decent pieces on the offense. A.J. Green is one of the best wide receivers in the league and it's not even close. There's only one man (Calvin Johnson) who can say that he's better than Green at his position and no one would laugh at him. Other than Green though, the Bengals have some decent WR's. Marvin Jones had a coming out party last season and he should continue to improve if he's able to stay on the field and if he's not, Mohamed Sanu will be ready to step in. The Bengals are fine on the offensive line and are set at running back. The only position they really need an upgrade at is tight end, but I'm still a believer in Tyler Eifert as it wouldn't surprise me to see him replace Jermaine Gresham in the starting line-up real quick.
While Cincinnati looks fine to me on offense, there are some questions on the defensive side of the ball. There are some players that I absolutely love (Geno Atkins, Vontaze Burfict) and there are some players who probably shouldn't be starting on this squad (Domata Peko, Rey Maualuga). Cincinnati doesn't have a lot of depth at LB and in the secondary, so when they meet up with teams that can continuously throw the ball down-field, don't be surprised to see them get torn apart. The Bengals have had a top 10 defense in 4 of the past 5 seasons, but the loss of Mike Zimmer will be felt. Zimmer was an excellent defensive coordinator who really meshed well with Lewis, and his absence will easily be the biggest one felt by Cincinnati this season. Like I mentioned earlier, the Bengals are one of those teams that no one can seem to make their minds up about. I can see them taking a step back (they play the toughest schedule in the AFC North), but not too far back. I have them winning 9 games, but it wouldn't shock me to see them win 13 games and it also wouldn't shock me to see them win 4. Either way, I'll be watching.....
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