Bengals get an 84 grade

[The Big Orange]

Just read an article while at Kroger from a Pro Football Magazine...Street & Smith (I think) which was giving teams grades. We score pretty well I thought...It had 3 solid pages of really interesting stuff on the Bengals and if I wasn't so cheap I would have bought it. But it gave the Colts and Pats 95's, ATL 90, and then a bunch in the mid 80's. The Browns were 76 (I think). It says that opposing teams scouts believe Madeiu was THE steal of last years will be a pro bowler.

It rated our O-line 4 (out of 5) stars

Receivers 5

Quarterback 4

D-line 2

LB's 3

Secondary 5

Special Teams 4

Coaching 4

This is all from memory so I may have screwed some of it up

[NJ29]

Just read an article while at Kroger from a Pro Football Magazine...Street & Smith (I think) which was giving teams grades. We score pretty well I thought...It had 3 solid pages of really interesting stuff on the Bengals and if I wasn't so cheap I would have bought it. But it gave the Colts and Pats 95's, ATL 90, and then a bunch in the mid 80's. The Browns were 76 (I think). It says that opposing teams scouts believe Madeiu was THE steal of last years will be a pro bowler.

It rated our O-line 4 (out of 5) stars

Receivers 5

Quarterback 4

D-line 2

LB's 3

Secondary 5

Special Teams 4

Coaching 4

This is all from memory so I may have screwed some of it up

What the crap? I understand that our D-Line has had some problems, but our D Line gettinga two and our linebackes getting a three?

I guess they'll have to prove Street & Smith wrong when they crack some heads this season.

[JPW]

Offensive Line - Steelers 4, Bengals 3, Ravens 3, Browns 3.

Quarterbacks - Bengals 4, Steelers 4, Ravens 3, Browns 2.

Running Backs - Ravens 5, Bengals 4, Steelers 4, Browns 3.

Receivers - Bengals 5, Ravens 4, Steelers 3, Browns 2.

Defensive Line - Steelers 5, Ravens 3, Browns 3, Bengals 2.

Linebackers - Ravens 5, Steelers 4, Bengals 3, Browns 3.

Secondary - Ravens 5, Bengals 4, Steelers 2, Browns 2.

Special Teams - Bengals 4, Ravens 4, Browns 4, Steelers 2.

Management - Steelers 5, Bengals 4, Ravens 4, Browns 3.

Power Rankings:

Pittsburgh Steelers 88

Cincinnati Bengals 84

Baltimore Ravens 84

Cleveland Browns 67

They see the Standings as the same as last year:

1. Pittsburgh

2. Baltimore

3. Cincinnati

4. Cleveland

But they think that if the Bengals can avoid a bad start, we will have a shot at winning the Division.

[membengal]

Two quick thoughs:

1. Street and Smiths usually revels in banging on the Bengals pre-season, so those position rankings are a whole lot interesting coming from them.

2. I have not seen "Bengals management" graded so favorably in about 16 years. Thanks again, Marvin Lewis.

[NJ29]

Two quick thoughs:

1. Street and Smiths usually revels in banging on the Bengals pre-season, so those position rankings are a whole lot interesting coming from them.

2. I have not seen "Bengals management" graded so favorably in about 16 years. Thanks again, Marvin Lewis.

Really? Didn't know that. Maybe this is a sign of a slight amount of credibility being earned. Either that or we're better and they're still knocking us.

[Spain]

Well if you ask Marvin are D line is just fine and its the arm chair QBs that dont see the whole picture. IMHO Jsmith Thorton Robinson Geathers will be one of the biggest suprises next year. :player:

[NJ29]

Spain, could you at least try to type correctly?

[HoosierCat]

Well, I'll give S&S this much: at least they most of the scale they employ (2 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 5). I've always loved the nitwits over at Lindy's who claim to use a 10-point scale, but then don't give out any ratings lower than 5.5! (Here's last year's rankings: http://www.lindyssports.com/home/fbpro2.html )

I do have to pick one nit with S&S, tho: how do we get a 2 for the d-line and the Clowns get a 3? I mean, c'mon, I don't hold our d-line in very high regard, but WTF does Cleveland have? Let's see, they signed 33-year-old Jason Fisk who was let go by the Chargers...shoot, Bryan Robinson's at least as good, if not better, and a couple years younger. Orpheus Roye? Thornton is twice the player Roye is. Kenard Lang? Good player, but no better than Justin Smith. Alvin McKinley? Might be a little better than Langston Moore, but McKinley is in year 6 while Moore is only in year 3. Rest of their d-line is young guys with little or no experience, and they didn't make any big additions in the draft (first d-line guy was a DE in the fifth round).

If we're a 2, the Clowns are a 1.

[NJ29]

Well, I'll give S&S this much: at least they most of the scale they employ (2 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 5). I've always loved the nitwits over at Lindy's who claim to use a 10-point scale, but then don't give out any ratings lower than 5.5! (Here's last year's rankings: http://www.lindyssports.com/home/fbpro2.html )

I do have to pick one nit with S&S, tho: how do we get a 2 for the d-line and the Clowns get a 3? I mean, c'mon, I don't hold our d-line in very high regard, but WTF does Cleveland have? Let's see, they signed 33-year-old Jason Fisk who was let go by the Chargers...shoot, Bryan Robinson's at least as good, if not better, and a couple years younger. Orpheus Roye? Thornton is twice the player Roye is. Kenard Lang? Good player, but no better than Justin Smith. Alvin McKinley? Might be a little better than Langston Moore, but McKinley is in year 6 while Moore is only in year 3. Rest of their d-line is young guys with little or no experience, and they didn't make any big additions in the draft (first d-line guy was a DE in the fifth round).

If we're a 2, the Clowns are a 1.

There is no way Alvin McKinley is better than Langston Moore. And Bryan Robinson is much better than Jason Fisk. But Orpheus Roye is probably closer to Thornton than you think. Orpheus Roye actually is pretty under rated.

[HoosierCat]

There is no way Alvin McKinley is better than Langston Moore. And Bryan Robinson is much better than Jason Fisk. But Orpheus Roye is probably closer to Thornton than you think. Orpheus Roye actually is pretty under rated.

You could be right. I haven't seen Cleveland play lately so all I have to go off of is the numbers...but Roye seemed to tail off last year. Maybe age is starting to catch up with him, or maybe it was just being surronded by guys that suck (Brown, Warren, etc.) But he'd played well with them around before...so I dunno. Certainly I don't think he's ever been as a good a player in 5 years with the Clowns as he was in his last couple seasons in Pitt.

McKinley had a decent year last year, tho he padded his stats by picking on Houston (2 of his 3 sacks, big whoop, everyone kills Carr) and got 11 of his 49 tackles in 2 games (NYG & SD). But I'll take your word Moore's better .

According to the Clown Town papers, Crennel plans to have McKinley, Fisk and Roye as the 3 up front (with Lang moving to OLB). For the life of me I can't see how those three rate higher than Geathers, Smith, Thornton and Robinson...

[NJ29]

They're moving Lang to a 3-4 Linebacker? Wow. In no way is Lang quick enough to even handle the occasional coverage of a tight end or full back. He's closer to a defensive tackle than a linebacker. I thought he'd be an end up front. Oh well, more good news for Bengaldom.

Who-Dey :player:

[jjakq27]

Just read an article while at Kroger from a Pro Football Magazine...Street & Smith (I think) which was giving teams grades.  We score pretty well I thought...It had 3 solid pages of really interesting stuff on the Bengals and if I wasn't so cheap I would have bought it.  But it gave the Colts and Pats 95's, ATL 90, and then a bunch in the mid 80's.  The Browns were 76 (I think).  It says that opposing teams scouts believe Madeiu was THE steal of last years will be a pro bowler. 

It rated our O-line 4 (out of 5) stars

Receivers 5

Quarterback 4

D-line 2

LB's 3

Secondary 5

Special Teams 4

Coaching 4

This is all from memory so I may have screwed some of it up

What the crap? I understand that our D-Line has had some problems, but our D Line gettinga two and our linebackes getting a three?

I guess they'll have to prove Street & Smith wrong when they crack some heads this season.

I wonder what they had the Chargers at last year?

[NJ29]

very good point, jjakq.

wait a second... 100th post!

[HoosierCat]

They're moving Lang to a 3-4 Linebacker? Wow.

That's what Romeo sez, at least right now...

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindeale...1051.xml&coll=2

If Browns coach Romeo Crennel had to line up his 11-man defense for a game today, just how would the longtime defensive coaching wiz arrange his pieces?

Crennel says defensive linemen Alvin McKinley, Jason Fisk and Orpheus Roye would comprise his front line, linebackers Matt Stewart, Ben Taylor, Andra Davis and Chaun Thompson would be behind them and Chris Crocker, Daylon McCutcheon, Gary Baxter, Brian Russell or Sean Jones would form the secondary.

Crennel says he wants longtime defensive end Kenard Lang in the starting mix as an outside linebacker - and has already drawn up some plans with that in mind. But Crennel says Lang's absence during off-season team sessions in Berea has kept him from knowing how much work Lang still needs to handle a switch to LB.

[Ickeyshuffler]

Spain, could you at least try to type correctly?

He might very well be trying. Of course, I don't presume to know the situation so please disregard any assumptions I am making by saying this, but...I am a native English speaker and recently studied abroad in Chile -- being forced to rely on my less than perfect Spanish skills. I did OK, but certainly made many mistakes, and if everyone I talked to or wrote to would have been an a**hole I probably would have gone crazy. Of course people were for the most part very tolerant and encouraging, which is the way it really should be...even on the darn internet!

[jditty47]

a**h***s on here arent.

[DontPushMe]

2. I have not seen "Bengals management" graded so favorably in about 16 years. Thanks again, Marvin Lewis.

Why are you thanking the coach for good management? You should be thanking Mike Brown & Family. HE is the one managing the team, not our coach.

[NJ29]

2. I have not seen "Bengals management" graded so favorably in about 16 years. Thanks again, Marvin Lewis.

Why are you thanking the coach for good management? You should be thanking Mike Brown & Family. HE is the one managing the team, not our coach.

PonPushMe, Marvin Lewis might not own the team, but as coach he is overseeing the development of the players and the way the play.

[NJ29]

Spain, could you at least try to type correctly?

He might very well be trying. Of course, I don't presume to know the situation so please disregard any assumptions I am making by saying this, but...I am a native English speaker and recently studied abroad in Chile -- being forced to rely on my less than perfect Spanish skills. I did OK, but certainly made many mistakes, and if everyone I talked to or wrote to would have been an a**hole I probably would have gone crazy. Of course people were for the most part very tolerant and encouraging, which is the way it really should be...even on the darn internet!

a**h***s on here arent.

I apoligize for being ignorant and understanding that his name might imply that he is from Spain. Honestly, I feel like a dumbass now. I don't want to be an a**h***, I just didn't think before typing. I guess I'll lay off from now on.

[TJJackson]

Why are you thanking the coach for good management? You should be thanking Mike Brown & Family. HE is the one managing the team, not our coach.

Ah yes

Thank you, Mike Brown, for managing to (mostly) stay out of the way and out of the picture.

You've finally managed to realize that the less Mike Brown involvement, the better (in general) the Bengals are.

Thank you.

as an aside: I wish I could get a second job managing some organization in this same fashion, and getting paid a lot of money to do so. I think I could manage that.

[derekshank]

As far as our d-line and LB rankings, I think by years end we will be much better than that ranking has us, but let's not be too hard on these guys. You have to go on proof, and for the past two years the knock on our defenive line has been that we are too small. We continue to explain away the need for size, when you have quickness and strength (and to some degree I can buy that), but the fact remains that we were one of the worst run stopping teams in the NFL.

This means that our D-line hasn't earned the right to be respected yet, and with rookies supporting our LB crew, you can't expect too much respect there either.

I'm not saying I agree with these rankings, I'm just saying that to a non-Bengal fan reading this magazine, they are pretty reasonable arguments.

[Ox]

Bottom line is I am happy if Cincy is underrated and under respected from now on. To me the more teams assume we are the same ol' bungles, the better it will be when we paste their a**. I swear I cannot wait until the AFC is absolutley shocked at the bengals point production this year. Seems like I've been waiting my whole adult life for this year.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Bottom line is I am happy if Cincy is underrated and under respected from now on. To me the more teams assume we are the same ol' bungles, the better it will be when we paste their a**. I swear I cannot wait until the AFC is absolutley shocked at the bengals point production this year. Seems like I've been waiting my whole adult life for this year.

I don't know about that Ox. I mean if the Cincinnati offense plays anything close to their potential in '05, I don't see many teams being too shocked about the "X" amount of points scored by the "Y" amount of talent that's currently on the Bengals roster.

Also nobody kept the final score a secret from that record setting shootout game against the Browns, hiding it away the rest of the league. I think every other NFL team is fully aware of Carson, Chad, Rudi, and the rest of the offensive unit, and their capability to score at will, even against the NFL's premiere defenses, as Palmer's orchestrated comeback in Baltimore demonstrated!

I suspect the one thing that would have other teams totally shocked is having the Bengals DEFENSIVE unit step up into the top 10 or 12 in the league and dominate play like a defensive unit under Marvin Lewis is expected to play! A jump for the Cincy defense, going from 26th overall against the run, up into the top 10 or 12 would leave far more people astonished than anything the offense may achieve. Even if that were a Peyton Manning and the Colts level of eliteness. The Bengals QB was the 2003 draft's #1 pick overall. Isn't such greatness almost expected from a person chosen there? Unfortunately, not always realizing such greatness was demonstrated by another of the Bengals #1 overall QB picks in one David Klingler.

I personally would rather see a feared Cincinnati defense, and a very capable and respected offense. It's the Cincy defenses turn to (to use a USMC term...) walk point for the team. The offense has seemingly always carried the Bengals to what ever success that's been our fortune to enjoy. During the good years, the bad years, whatever. And it was never enough to make over the final hurdle and win a Super Bowl. It's time for the defense to make amends. Let the offense switch to cruise control, and let the "D" :player: spearhead :player: the 2005 drive to Detroit, or is that simply too shocking a concept for us to accept?!

[walshfan]

You want to know the real ABSOLUTE rating besides all this driveling ratings I see posted all the time?

Vegas bookies have it listed as so:

Ravens 10 wins over and under

Steelers 9.5

Bengals 8.0

Browns 4.5

That is the rating system as of today...

You think its wrong then put money on it ......

Until the Bengals can stop the run and who's to say we will, it wont change.

remember the only reason the team had 8 last year was a gimme at Philly.

If they's started the regulars and played Philly ball the team would be 7-9.

[The Big Orange]

remember the only reason the team had 8 last year was a gimme at Philly.

If they's started the regulars and played Philly ball the team would be 7-9.

This is an excellent point Walsh. In addition to this we almost lost the shoot out to the Browns (at home) and to the Giants (at home)-both against suspect defenses anbd not so great offenses. The Bengals have serious work to do and most people think we are going to waltz into the playoffs. Every game will be a fight this year.

We may be successful, but the comments I hear are as if we just came off a season where our offense preformed like the Colts and our defense is easily as good as the Ravens and Steelers and our coaching matches the Pats...this is simply not true...can we get there, yes, best case scenerios. But it's not just going to fall on us because we have ML and a few talented players.

These defenses and offenses took years to develop and pull together. If our defense is in the top 15 then we will have grown tons, but there will still be a lot of points scored against us. Hopefully our offense can keep up consistently.