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5 Reasons the Cincinnati Bengals WILL Make the Playoffs

November 6, 2016 Chris Russell 4 Comments

You read the headline right – the Cincinnati Bengals are going to the playoffs. We’re sure of that. You may be wondering how it’s possible. After all, aren’t they 3-4-1 with a referee-funded loss to hated divisional rival Pittsburgh? Yes, and heck yes. But dig deeper into those numbers and you’ll see why this team is in prime position to play more than 16 games. We know they can do it. In fact, we know they will do it. And here are our 5 reasons to back that up.

Cincinnati Bengals Will Make the Postseason for These 5 Reasons

1. The second half of the schedule is easier. The Cincinnati Bengals have played 4 teams this season who either lead their division or are tied for the lead. They play 2 the rest of the year (of those who are leading their divisions now). One will be a rematch against the Steelers in Cincinnati. Their remaining opponents are a combined 27-32. Murderer’s Row, this ain’t.

2. Tyler Eifert is back. Even though Andy Dalton and company have been solid, the Cincinnati Bengals have missed Pro-Bowler Eifert (and his 6’6 frame) over the middle. Because he’s a big target, he creates big matchup problems for opposing defenses. Defenses that are also trying to cover A.J. Green.

3. The running game is hitting its stride. The Bengals have rushed for 962 yards this year, good for fifth in the league. That’s reason enough to be excited – but that isn’t even the strength of the offense! Plus, that total includes games against the Steelers (12th-ranked rushing defense in the NFL), Dallas Cowboys (7th) and New York Jets (4th).

4. They’re only a half-game out of first in the AFC North. Cincinnati has some bad losses this year. But it’s not like they are a mile away from the playoffs, like some other Ohio-based pro football team we know. They’re in a good spot. And considering their remaining opponents have a winning percentage of .457, they are in a great spot.

5. They have 4 division games left. That’s huge because of point #4. Furthermore, any win in those games is doubly good for Cincinnati and doubly bad for their opponents. Beat Pittsburgh and they lose the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. Sweep the Baltimore Ravens and you have one less team to contend with for a wild-card berth. Sounds good to us.

Bengals Mid-Preseason 53 Man Roster Prediction

August 26, 2016 Nate Mallon 6 Comments

With two preseason games complete and two more to go, below is my mid-preseason 53 man roster prediction for the Bengals based on what I’ve seen thus far. The most heated roster battle appears to be at wide receiver, especially when it comes to who the 4th and 5th receivers will be. The Bengals usually keep 6 receivers on the 53 man roster and there seems to be much debate as to whether Brandon Tate will make the team this year as the teams primary return man or if he will be cut as college free agent WR Alex Erickson has shined when he has had opportunity both returning punts and catching the football. Injuries have sidelined receivers such as Mario Alford and Jake Kumerow so we shall see if they are able to contribute over the final two preseason games.

Below is how I see the roster shaping up at this point, the number I think the team keeps at each position is in parenthesis.

Quarterbacks (2): Andy Dalton, A.J. McCarron

Running Backs (4): Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard, Cedric Peerman, Rex Burkhead

Wide Receivers (6): A.J. Green, Brandon LaFell, Tyler Boyd, Brandon Tate, James Wright, Cody Core

Tight Ends (4): Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Ryan Hewitt

Offensive Lineman (9): Andrew Whitworth, Kevin Zeitler, Russell Bodine, Clint Boling, Cedric Ogbuehi, Jake Fisher, Eric Winston, Christian Westerman, T.J. Johnson

Defensive Lineman (9): Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins, Domata Peko, Michael Johnson, Will Clarke, Pat Sims, Marcus Hardison, Margus Hunt, DeShawn Williams
PUP: Brandon Thompson
IR: Andrew Billings

Linebackers (6): Rey Maualuga, Karlos Dansby, Vincent Rey, Nick Vigil, P.J. Dawson, Marquis Flowers
Suspended: Vontaze Burfict

Defensive Backs (10): Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Josh Shaw, Chris Lewis-Harris, George Iloka, Shawn Williams, Derron Smith, Jimmy Wilson, Clayton Fejedelem
IR: William Jackson III

Special Teams (3): Mike Nugent, Kevin Huber, Clark Harris

3 Reasons To Be Excited About The Bengals in 2016

July 9, 2016 Nate Mallon Leave a Comment

In less than 30 days training camps will begin for NFL teams all throughout the league, including in Cincinnati with the Bengals. As the fall season approaches I always get excited as it is my favorite season here in Nashville where I reside but also because football season will be here. As a Bengals fan for over 25 years I am excited about the potential for the Bengals in 2016–they have a chance to do something great, namely win a playoff game for the first time in 26 years and also to potentially make a Super Bowl run. Yes the team did lose a few key players this off season in receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu and also it is unfortunate that they were not able to re-sign safety Reggie Nelson but other than that I like the moves the team has made to retain their own, bring in a few outside veterans, and it looks like they had another solid draft while keeping most of their core in tact.

Below are three reasons to be optimistic and even excited about the Bengals in 2016 season:

1. A fully healthy Andy Dalton.

In 2015 prior to his Week 13 injury against the Steelers, Andy Dalton was having the best season of his career and his name was coming up in MVP discussions on the regular. Dalton lead the Bengals to an 8-0 start and his season ended with him having thrown 25 TD passes against only 7 INT’s, he also completed a career high 66.1% of his passes with a 106.3 QB rating. The one bright spot to come from Dalton’s injury is that we now know backup quarterback A.J. McCarron is capable and has starter potential in the NFL, but most believed the Bengals could have made a deep playoff run had Dalton not gone down. I can’t help but think what the team may have done had they defeated the Steelers in the Wild Card game and then Dalton been ready to play again the following week. All this to say I think that having a fully healthy Andy Dalton back to start for the Bengals in 2016 is a big reason alone to be optimistic and excited about the Bengals chances of getting back to the playoffs in 2016.

2. A motivated, redemption-seeking Jeremy Hill.

I have been impressed with how running back Jeremy Hill has handled himself after fumbling the football in the Wild Card game with a minute and half left in the game. He has owned it and I believe will come back motivated and seeking to redeem himself and carry the team back to the post season. I heard Hill recently say how awesome it was to see the Cleveland Cavaliers win an NBA Championship because of what it meant for the fans and that he would like to see this happen in Cincinnati. Hill had a down second season in terms of yards per carry and we did not see him break as many tackles and take over games like he did in 2014 but he is still young and has more rushing touchdowns (20) than any other back over the past 2 years. I think Hill, along with the newly extended Giovani Bernard, will be a force for the Bengals in 2016 behind one of the best offensive lines in the league; and with Hill needing a bounce back season I am really looking forward to seeing what he does this year.

3. Defensive upgrades = a dominant Bengals defense.

With the exception of maybe the safety position and defensive end I really think that the Bengals have upgraded all other defensive positions on the team. All defensive starters, besides safety Reggie Nelson, are back for the Bengals in 2016 season and I think overall this defense could be one of the best Bengals defenses of all time. The strongest group in my opinion is the interior of the defensive line as Geno Atkins proved last year that he is back to his All-Pro form, Domata Peko is aging but still fairly solid and then there is a boatload of depth behind those 2 guys in Pat Sims, Brandon Thompson, Andrew Billings, Marcus Hardison, and DeShawn Williams. Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson are both returning at defensive end but the loss of Wallace Gilberry could hurt the pass rush rotation if Margus Hunt and Will Clarke do not step up with more production this year. The biggest free agent signing for the team thus far has been the signing of veteran LB Karlos Dansby who was with the Browns last season. Dansby is 34 years old but has still been very productive and should be the best cover linebacker in the group and is definitely an upgrade over Emmanuel Lamur and A.J. Hawk who are no longer on the team. I also like what I have heard on Nick Vigil who was drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft, mix in Vontaze Burfict, who will be missing the first 3 games of the season, Vinny Rey, Rey Maualuga, Paul Dawson and Marquis Flowers and the linebacker position looks even better than last year in my opinion. The Bengals added another corner in the 1st round of the draft this year as well in William Jackson III and they should have the luxury of bringing him along slowly with Adam Jones returning off a Pro Bowl season and Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard coming in with a lot to prove. Josh Shaw also looked solid in limited time last season and the Bengals are still talking with Leon Hall about a possible return. All of these upgrades and additions to the defense lead me to think that this years defense can at the very least repeat what they did last season in allowing the fewest points of any team in the AFC.