A kick to the jock....

[BengalsMan3203]

There is talent, and there is trust. Don’t let the Cincinnati Bengals use one as currency to buy the other.

Deep down, if you live outside Cincinnati, you are probably having a tough time reconciling your feelings about this team. They’ve been the league’s rust-bucket for so long, you got used to the reliable failure and predictable disappointment (waaaait for it … waaaait for it … aaaaaaand, yep, Odell Thurman(notes) blew another chance somewhere in the world). Now all of the sudden, the Bengals have the new packaging, and it’s hard to know how real it really is. Without that “Under New Management” sign, can you really trust where this franchise is going?

Come to your own conclusions, but I’m not there. I still don’t trust that something ridiculous isn’t around the corner.

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Henry’s 73-yard reception set up a FG in the win over Baltimore.

(James Lang/US Presswire)

Don’t get me wrong; I am impressed. A 4-1 record with wins over the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers tell me the talent is legitimate. I’ve even gone so far as to say that if you replayed that tipped ball to wideout Brandon Stokley(notes) in Week 1, Cincinnati beats the Denver Broncos 99 out of 100 times. But, hey, the Bengals have gotten their own share of breaks too. An errant pass by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco(notes) and a dropped touchdown by Pittsburgh wideout Limas Sweed(notes) flipped the script on a pair of potential losses. And really, who’s bragging about that 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns in the deepest reaches of overtime?

That said, I think the Bengals are good. The offense is solid and getting better, and quarterback Carson Palmer(notes) has been remarkably clutch late in games. And on defense, I think they’re extremely good. For my money, there isn’t a better young tandem of cornerbacks than Leon Hall(notes) and Johnathan Joseph(notes). And linebacker Keith Rivers(notes)? He’s going to rack up his share of Pro Bowls before he’s done.

But five weeks in, I still don’t have faith that something disappointing isn’t around the corner – both on and off the field. On one hand, I want to see how this team handles success. One of the underrated downfalls of the Bengals under head coach Marvin Lewis is that they’ve never been all that mentally tough. Now that Cincinnati feels perception turning in its favor, this is when the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears come to town and pull the rug out. The Texans are a team Cincinnati should beat, and that’s an expectation that becomes a hurdle. When was the last time we expected the Bengals to beat anyone – OK, excluding the downtrodden Browns? And Chicago is, quite frankly, a better team than anyone realizes.

Then there’s the Week 8 bye, which may actually be the toughest opponent of the season. For all the talk about wideout Chris Henry getting his head screwed on straight, and Tank Johnson(notes) turning over a new leaf, and the majority of the troublemakers getting swept off the team, the checkered histories are all still there. If you were like me, you watched running back Bernard Scott(notes) in the preseason, and thought, “What in the world was this guy doing at tiny Abilene Christian?” Then you dug a little deeper and found out that he was kicked off his high school team for a pretty violent fight, and dismissed from his first of three college stops for running into trouble with police and hitting a coach at Central Arkansas.

And it’s nearly impossible to erase the story I heard about a linebacker-needy NFC team going around the war room before its pick and debating the pros and cons of Rey Maualuga(notes). Let’s just say the conversation ended on Rey’s reputation for enjoying the Southern California nightlife a little too much. So much so, that I later heard from a completely separate NFC team that its scouting dossier of Maualuga actually contained the phrase “party monster.” So, yeah, forgive me if I’m a little worried about the party monster and the coach puncher, not to mention the guy who famously wore his Bengals jersey as he simultaneously broke the law (Henry) and … well, you get the point.

Remember that in 2005, this team started 4-1 and ended with a postseason berth. Along the way, Thurman and Henry were largely well-behaved, and suddenly it looked like the franchise had turned the corner. But in hindsight, the seeds of larger problems were being planted in that same season. So while the talent is there for something special and lasting in Cincinnati, the trust that it will actually be realized and sustained is not.

Here are some of this week’s other inconvenient truths …

You can find it here...Read More

Wait for it... Wait for it...

[HoosierCat]

Yawn. Standard pundit CYA-speak, combined with rehashing a bunch of three-year old crap that has no bearing on the team now.

F**k the doubters. F**k the bandwagon pundits, too. They can all go slurp Brady's schlong, kiss Brett's butt and run their hand lovingly through Troy's Head-and-Shouldered locks.

Meanwhile, back in Cincy, there's work to do.

[Exacta]

Pathetic! Protect yourself just in case.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Ain't coming back to this bad energy place for Bengal fans waiting for something to go wrong.

See you at the Superbowl. You can hop on the train then.

[HoosierCat]

Ain't coming back to this bad energy place for Bengal fans waiting for something to go wrong.

Ain't coming back? Didn't you "quit" less than half an hour ago?

[volcom69]

Ill admit im still not sure what to expect from this Bengals team, but why write about this teams character, the character of this team is the least to worry about. This team has more heart then i have ever seen! With that said they have gotten lucky sure but what team hasnt, but if they could stop all the mistakes then this team has a great shot of being great. Imagine if the offense wouldnt shoot themselves in the foot, protect the ball, catch the TD passes when there right there....wow think of the points they could put up. I guess im still alitte nervous about this team, not the character, but how they will deal with all this media hype and how they deal with winning. They can not play to the level of there compition, they can not be scared to be a "great" team. Now go beat the Texans!

[Kazkal]

I'd love to kick that PoS in the jock...

[gregstephens]

Yawn. Standard pundit CYA-speak, combined with rehashing a bunch of three-year old crap that has no bearing on the team now.

F**k the doubters. F**k the bandwagon pundits, too. They can all go slurp Brady's schlong, kiss Brett's butt and run their hand lovingly through Troy's Head-and-Shouldered locks.

Meanwhile, back in Cincy, there's work to do.

For my money, you can go ahead and add all those that are still 'Romo-sexuals'.

[Clackwoods]

Yawn. Standard pundit CYA-speak, combined with rehashing a bunch of three-year old crap that has no bearing on the team now.

F**k the doubters. F**k the bandwagon pundits, too. They can all go slurp Brady's schlong, kiss Brett's butt and run their hand lovingly through Troy's Head-and-Shouldered locks.

Meanwhile, back in Cincy, there's work to do.

That was the best post I have ever seen you do. Motivating

[ArmyBengal]

I've been guilty at one point or another of questioning things that I have no idea if they will come to fruition and have realized that it's like anything else in the world, I'll worry about it when the time comes, but I've stopped trying to predict the bad things that may or may not happen with this team.

I mean really, why bother ?? Maualuga a party animal ?? Lets rehash somethings here... Jock ?? Check. Big guy on campus at a party school ?? Check. Young guy in college ?? Check. Is that different from any other player in the same position at that stage in their life ?? It may vary, but it's all the same in that aspect of things.

Worried about Chris Henry and Tank because the bye week is coming ?? Just plain stupid. Even with their past, you have no idea what they may or may not do and bottom line is, none of us are going to control that, so why bother spending time worrying about it ?? Get the f*ck over the fact that those criminal issues this team faced are in this teams past and at this point in time, better than 3/4 of the NFL have MORE criminal issues than the Bengals have had in the past 2 years.

Have the Bengals had their share of breaks this year ?? I suppose you can call it that, but here's a question for you. Why is it when the Patriots or Steelers catch breaks it's because they are such a solid, well ran organization and when the Bengals catch breaks, it's because we are lucky ?? I call bullsh*t on the whole stinking lot of that crap !!! What about the bullsh*t roughing the passer call against Tampa Bay ?? Was Tampa Bay a better team because of that or were they lucky the refs felt so generous that day ??

He tries to sugar coat the rest of it, but after listening to the rest of his sorry ass excuse for accurate writing, I'm left thinking of two words:

F*CK OFF !!!

[cincy9275]

this is a new team and new year what has happened in the past is just that the past. don't really care what some hack thinks. for that matter i don't care what any pencil jockey thinks. some people just can't stand to see this team have success. guys i learned a long time ago that most writer only write garbage to get attention. this is nothing more that pure garbage. this hacks sister is probably the chick that was giving rudi a hummer in the parking lot.

[Ickey44]

this is a new team and new year what has happened in the past is just that the past. don't really care what some hack thinks. for that matter i don't care what any pencil jockey thinks. some people just can't stand to see this team have success. guys i learned a long time ago that most writer only write garbage to get attention. this is nothing more that pure garbage. this hacks sister is probably the chick that was giving rudi a hummer in the parking lot.

Did the Cardinals take this much flack last year? I don't seem to recall anyone saying these kind of things about them leading up to the Superbowl.

[cincy9275]

this is a new team and new year what has happened in the past is just that the past. don't really care what some hack thinks. for that matter i don't care what any pencil jockey thinks. some people just can't stand to see this team have success. guys i learned a long time ago that most writer only write garbage to get attention. this is nothing more that pure garbage. this hacks sister is probably the chick that was giving rudi a hummer in the parking lot.

Did the Cardinals take this much flack last year? I don't seem to recall anyone saying these kind of things about them leading up to the Superbowl.

if you dig far enough you probably will find some thing. our past has made us a easy target. so it really takes no skill at all to come up with some bs about us. it's kinda like the jock picking on the school nerd. it's easy and poses no real threat. what it really does is just show how much of a bitch they are. the writer in this case.

[Ickey44]

Wasn't that the Cardinals first Superbowl? I know this team hasn't been the best in the last 20 years, but other teams have far more ridiculous pasts than the Bengals. The Browns and Lions have never even been to a Superbowl. I mean, c'mon...