To me the #1 Hurdle are the Jets

[walzav29]

I don't think we've made enough improvements to beat them yet. I think the Colts will take a step back. I don't think a SB loser has went back since Buffalo. The Pats will miss Welker more than they know, The Ben issue is going to linger, and the Ravens secondary is getting old. To me the Jets are the team to beat. They haven't lost anyone on that monstrous O-line. There could be a sophomore slump, and they won't be sneaking up on anyone. I can't wait for the draft. The Bengals for the 1st time in I don't even know. Have no glaring weakness. It will be interesting to see what they feel they need to improve on.

[Stripes]

I still think the Bengals' biggest problems will be in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is likely to compete for the division, whether that means 9 wins or 12 (barring a Ben suspension, but maybe even despite one). Baltimore looks pretty strong across the board on offense, and I think their defensive woes last season were a bit overstated.

Even Cleveland won four in a row to close out their season. I don't figure they'll be able to carry that into this season, but the Bengals just did that themselves so it could happen.

[walzav29]

I think the Steelers will start a steady decline. I know Tomlin won a Super Bowl, but I think that was still with Cowher's guys. They have gotten away from their ground and pound mentality. I'm not going to start ripping on Ben, but if people think Ocho doing reality shows is a distraction well we'll see what a sexual assault charge will do for Pitt. Cleve will be better and so will Baltimore. Cincy will be improved as well. Bryant was a good signing and WR tend to breakout in their 3rd year, so Caldwell could blossom. It will be good, but I favor the Jets, Bengals, and Ravens right now.

[HairOnFire]

I still think the Bengals' biggest problems will be in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is likely to compete for the division, whether that means 9 wins or 12 (barring a Ben suspension, but maybe even despite one). Baltimore looks pretty strong across the board on offense, and I think their defensive woes last season were a bit overstated.

It's early but you can put me in the camp that thinks the Steelers are in a well deserved mess of their own making, the key to the Ravens playoff hopes has always rested upon finding CB's, not wideouts. And always constantly perpetually rebuilding Cleveland can now be best described as a person standing in a turd filled yard with an empty bag in hand. Choices, choices, choices.

And for whatever it might be worth...I see winning the AFC North again as the Bengals best chance for a playoff berth. Furthermore, I don't know why they shouldn't be considered heavy favorites to repeat as champs.

[JoePong]

I don't think we've made enough improvements to beat them yet. I think the Colts will take a step back. I don't think a SB loser has went back since Buffalo. The Pats will miss Welker more than they know, The Ben issue is going to linger, and the Ravens secondary is getting old. To me the Jets are the team to beat. They haven't lost anyone on that monstrous O-line. There could be a sophomore slump, and they won't be sneaking up on anyone. I can't wait for the draft. The Bengals for the 1st time in I don't even know. Have no glaring weakness. It will be interesting to see what they feel they need to improve on.

I don't know how you can say the bengals have no glaring weakness. A pass rushing DE is a HUGE weakness. We don't have one. A DT who can generate some inside pass rush is a huge weakness. The tight end postion. Left guard really needs to be upgraded. We don't have a fullback at the moment. We don't really have any playmakers at LB or at S.

In the NFL today, you need a pass rush. If you don't have one,that's about as important a weakness as you can possibly have on defense.

[JoePong]

I still think the Bengals' biggest problems will be in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is likely to compete for the division, whether that means 9 wins or 12 (barring a Ben suspension, but maybe even despite one). Baltimore looks pretty strong across the board on offense, and I think their defensive woes last season were a bit overstated.

It's early but you can put me in the camp that thinks the Steelers are in a well deserved mess of their own making, the key to the Ravens playoff hopes has always rested upon finding CB's, not wideouts. And always constantly perpetually rebuilding Cleveland can now be best described as a person standing in a turd filled yard with an empty bag in hand. Choices, choices, choices.

And for whatever it might be worth...I see winning the AFC North again as the Bengals best chance for a playoff berth. Furthermore, I don't know why they shouldn't be considered heavy favorites to repeat as champs.

They probably won't be favored because by the end of the season, baltimore had overtaken the bengals as the best team in the division.

[HairOnFire]

I still think the Bengals' biggest problems will be in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is likely to compete for the division, whether that means 9 wins or 12 (barring a Ben suspension, but maybe even despite one). Baltimore looks pretty strong across the board on offense, and I think their defensive woes last season were a bit overstated.

It's early but you can put me in the camp that thinks the Steelers are in a well deserved mess of their own making, the key to the Ravens playoff hopes has always rested upon finding CB's, not wideouts. And always constantly perpetually rebuilding Cleveland can now be best described as a person standing in a turd filled yard with an empty bag in hand. Choices, choices, choices.

And for whatever it might be worth...I see winning the AFC North again as the Bengals best chance for a playoff berth. Furthermore, I don't know why they shouldn't be considered heavy favorites to repeat as champs.

They probably won't be favored because by the end of the season, baltimore had overtaken the bengals as the best team in the division.

6-0

[Stripes]

And for whatever it might be worth...I see winning the AFC North again as the Bengals best chance for a playoff berth. Furthermore, I don't know why they shouldn't be considered heavy favorites to repeat as champs.

I don't really disagree. The Bengals will likely be shoved aside by most objective observers simply because of what they appear to be at first glace: one-year overachievers. They've all the pieces in place necessary to win the division again though, something I didn't necessarily feel heading into the '06 season.

[JoePong]

I still think the Bengals' biggest problems will be in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is likely to compete for the division, whether that means 9 wins or 12 (barring a Ben suspension, but maybe even despite one). Baltimore looks pretty strong across the board on offense, and I think their defensive woes last season were a bit overstated.

It's early but you can put me in the camp that thinks the Steelers are in a well deserved mess of their own making, the key to the Ravens playoff hopes has always rested upon finding CB's, not wideouts. And always constantly perpetually rebuilding Cleveland can now be best described as a person standing in a turd filled yard with an empty bag in hand. Choices, choices, choices.

And for whatever it might be worth...I see winning the AFC North again as the Bengals best chance for a playoff berth. Furthermore, I don't know why they shouldn't be considered heavy favorites to repeat as champs.

They probably won't be favored because by the end of the season, baltimore had overtaken the bengals as the best team in the division.

6-0

Like I said, by the end of the season, Baltimore had overtaken the bengals as the best team in the division. Are yo actually disputing that fact? 6-0 has nothing to do with who finished the year as the better team. i totally agree the bengals were the best team in the division throught the first 8, 10 games of the year. Then they slipped big-time and were not nearly as good by the end of the season as they were the first half. Baltimore started strong, then slipped, then recovered and was playing bery well at the end, surpassing the bengals.

By posting 6-0, you are just telling me you never took calculus in high school. Do you know what calculus is used to study? If you did, you would understand the difference between a team's "average" over the course of a season, and how good they are at any one "instantaneous" point in the season.

[cincyhokie]

This is great. A thread on my new favorite team to hate, the Jets. I copied this from another thread I posted on:

I think the Jets are not as close as some people think to taking the AFCE. They played great football at the end of the year, much of which was emotionally charged from their head coach. The release of one of their key leaders in Thomas Jones was not well received by the players. Add in some turnover at defense, a potential sophomore slump from Sanchez, and the inability to play at the emotional level they did in the playoffs and they could easily be around .500 again this year.

Plus, I think Comartie struggles in coverage and is not the physical type that should be in that defense. They would have been better off drafting one of the talented safeties in the draft. Now there will be one more sitting there for us in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Fine with me.

They kind of remind me of the Browns coming off their 10-6 year in 2007. Alot of hype and some lofty predictions. We'll see.

[COB]

A pass rushing DE is a HUGE weakness. We don't have one.

Antwan Odom. You totally forgot about one of the Bengals best players.

[COB]

Do you know what calculus is used to study? If you did...

My understanding was that there would be no math.

[JoePong]

A pass rushing DE is a HUGE weakness. We don't have one.

Antwan Odom. You totally forgot about one of the Bengals best players.

No, I did not forget about the guy with the ruptured Achilles. Did you forget about his injury?

[COB]

No, I did not forget about the guy with the ruptured Achilles. Did you forget about his injury?

No. It's an injury, they didn't cut his foot off. He had surgery and will be back.

The defense we saw the last few games of the season was missing several guys. They'll be back. And we'll win the AFC North again, leaving you with nothing to do but to wait until March to start bashing the Bengals hoping no one remembers that they were actually good the previous season.

[Kazkal]

Dunno depends when we play them,I think if we were healthy it would have been closer more defensive Game.

The tight end postion. Left guard really needs to be upgraded. We don't have a fullback at the moment. We don't really have any playmakers at LB or at S.

Manthis was not a Weakness,When healthy problem was subbing in Livings who subpar player....But agreed on needing passrush

[HairOnFire]

Baltimore started strong, then slipped, then recovered and was playing bery well at the end, surpassing the bengals.

So for the Ravens it was up, then down, then up again, then crushed in the playoffs. A rollercoaster ride of rising and falling fortunes that I remind you was built in large measure on losses to Cincy early and late. Not to mention a divison championship the Ravens didn't win, but the Bengals did. Yet you now say their season was a success that will carryover for the Ravens despite the crushing playoff loss they suffered....and their inability to beat the Bengals in head-to-head play.

By posting 6-0, you are just telling me you never took calculus in high school.

Actually, by posting a reply only three characters long I was telling you your opinion is utterly worthless in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Because 6-0 means you've got nothing.

You're the zero, Joe. You do realize that, right? You do understand that in the debate about which team should be considered the favorite to win the AFC North division this year you're claiming the reader has to ignore the team who never lost to a division rival.

Do you know what calculus is used to study?.

I assume it isn't used to prove Baltimore is better than Cincy in head-to-head matches OR in a combined struggle against division rivals. Because as much fan as math games can be they can't be used to prove one team is better than another if the so-called superior team can't manage to beat it's rival in any meaningful manner.

If you did, you would understand the difference between a team's "average" over the course of a season, and how good they are at any one "instantaneous" point in the season.

I'm not pointing to one instantaneous moment. But I could. In fact, I could point to several of them. Nor am I pointing to an overall average that no longer relates. But I could. Because the truth of the matter is the overall average relates to things that still have incredible relevance.

Rather, what I can do is point to the Bengals superior overall record, it's superior head-to-head record, it's superior record against division foes, and it's longstanding superiority in head-to-head matchups over the Ravens. By comparison, you can't even make the claim the Ravens can beat the Bengals even once...let alone in a combined struggle against common foes.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

]

No. It's an injury, they didn't cut his foot off. He had surgery and will be back.

As much as it pains me to possibly agree with JoeBong, Achilles injuries seem to sap some explosiveness and speed. I'm not saying he can't come back, but it's worrisome. I don't know that I'd necessarily expect him to be the same player.

[Sea Ray]

Michael Johnson is the definition of a young pass rushing DE that most every team would love to have.

[Sea Ray]

Anybody notice that Rex Ryan just had lap band surgery? Basically the fat ass is saying that the only way he can keep from stuffing his face is if they surgically prevent him from doing so.

/>http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4993938

What a guy...

[Kazkal]

Michael Johnson is the definition of a young pass rushing DE that most every team would love to have.

Well I love MJ 2 problems.

-He's still all upside and needs produce up to it (though I was truly happy with how he played)

-He's only one Passrushing End out of four we need someone who can create Pressure from the other side a Robert Mathis-Dwight Freeney combo.

[Sea Ray]

Well I love MJ 2 problems.

-He's still all upside and needs produce up to it (though I was truly happy with how he played)

-He's only one Passrushing End out of four we need someone who can create Pressure from the other side a Robert Mathis-Dwight Freeney combo.

Well first of all I was disagreeing with Pong when he said:

A pass rushing DE is a HUGE weakness. We don't have one.

Obviously you disagree since you clearly state we have one. I'd love to get another Michael Johnson in this draft. Of course Johnson needs to improve this year. That's often the case when talking about 2nd yr players

[ArmyBengal]

So if the case is all the safeties are gone by #21, there's no WR worth the #21, and Iupati is off the board, which way would you go ??

I can envision both the DE from Michigan, Graham and the DE from S. Florida, Paul-Pierre being available.

Sorry, I just hate the thought of Gresham.

I think they go DE with the pick if the above happens.

[membengal]

In that scenario, best DE or DT on the board.

[walzav29]

Graham

Mayes

Pierre Paul

Mike Iupati

Jared Odrick

[Wraith]

Don't sleep on the Ravens, getting Boldin and Stallworth will really help their offense and if they have a healthy Ed Reed their D will still be formidable.