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Remembering Chris Henry

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December 17th, 2009 is a day that stands out to a lot of Bengals fans. Today, December 17th, 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of former Bengals wide receiver Chris “Slim” Henry’s sudden death at the young age of 26.

In his sophomore season at West Virginia in 2003 Henry broke out and had 1,006 yards on 41 catches for 10 touchdowns, clearly showing how much of a deep threat he was with his speed. In his junior season in 2004, he finished with 872 yards on 52 catches and 12 touchdowns.

In the 2005 NFL Draft Henry was overlooked and avoided by many teams because of his reputation of being a headcase and getting into trouble off the field. In classic Bengals (and Marvin Lewis) fashion, they took a chance on Henry in the third round of the 2005 draft and he had an immediate impact and became a big play guy out of the slot. The Bengals offense was a juggernaut in 2005 with quarterback Carson Palmer leading the way with a supporting cast of running back Rudi Johnson, and fellow wide receivers Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh in addition to Henry. In 2005 Henry had 422 yards receiving on 31 receptions and 6 touchdowns, including a big 66-yard catch on the first play of the 2005 AFC Wild card game against the Steelers.

After that 2005 season, Henry got into trouble several times and was suspended by the NFL for 2 games in the 2006 regular season for violating the leagues Personal Conduct and Substance Abuse Policies. Once again in 2007 Henry was suspended, this time for the first 8 games of the season. And in March of 2008 Henry punched a man in the face and threw a beer bottle through his car window, Henry was waived by the Bengals the next day.

In August of 2008 Henry was allowed back in the NFL and the Bengals resigned him and he stayed out of trouble for the entire 2008 season. According to multiple teammates, Henry was headed in the right direction. He did not get into any trouble through the first 14 weeks of the 2009 season, as the Bengals themselves seemed to turn their season around and were making a playoff push. Henry and his then-wife got into an altercation and he fell out of her truck while she was driving and suffered a severe head injury and he ended up passing away.

Rip Slim #15

Finley Finally Gets His Shot

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On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30th, just three hours before the trade deadline, the Bengals made a big announcement. It was not a trade, but a benching of 9-year veteran quarterback Andy Dalton in favor of rookie quarterback Ryan Finley (a 4th round pick out of NC State). With the Bengals’ record at 0-8 there is seemingly nothing to lose. Starting Finley will give management the opportunity to see what they have and ultimately decide if they should draft a quarterback with their potential first-round pick.

Andy Dalton has struggled the last few weeks, especially against the Jaguars in week 7 when he threw 3 interceptions in the 4th quarter alone, one of those being a pick 6. This season Dalton has a 60% completion percentage with 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and 2,252 passing yards.

Ryan Finley will be making his NFL debut on Sunday against the Bengals AFC North rival the Baltimore Ravens. Finley began his college career at Boise State where he played in just three games his freshmen year (2014) and four games his sophomore year (2015).  After a 2016 transfer to North Carolina State, he finished his senior season with a 67% completion percentage, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for 3,298 yards. 

Finley looked impressive during the preseason when playing against backups. He had a 73% completion percentage for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception and 414 yards.


Bengals vs Rams – Week 8 Preview

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The Cincinnati Bengals are headed to London, England to play the Los Angeles Rams in their Week 8 matchup on Sunday, October 27th at Wembley Stadium.

The Bengals are coming into this game 0-7 after a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars by a final score of 27-17. The stories of the game were the four turnovers by the Bengals and the offense’s inability to get the run game going with Joe Mixon. Mixon only had 2 yards on 10 carries and Giovani Bernard had 0 yards on 4 carries. You know your run game is bad when quarterback Andy Dalton leads your team in rushing, he had 33 yards on the ground on 4 rushes. Dalton finished the game with 22 completions on 43 attempts for 276 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. The Bengals were leading 10-9 going into the 4th quarter, but three interceptions thrown by Dalton (one being a pick six by Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue) put an end to any comeback for the Bengals.

The Rams are coming into this game with a 4-3 record after a blowout win against the Atlanta Falcons by a final score of 37-10. This was a much-needed win for the Rams. Coming into last week they had lost 3 straight games after starting the season 3-0. Rams Quarterback Jared Goff had 22 completions on 37 attempts for 268 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a rushing touchdown. Rams running back Todd Gurley had 41 rushing yards on 18 carries and a receiving touchdown. The Rams defense forced three turnovers and had over fourteen more minutes of time of possession than the Falcons.

You can catch this week’s game at 1:00 pm (EST) on CBS. 

Cardinals vs Bengals – Week 5 Recap

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The Cincinnati Bengals lost yet another heartbreaker Sunday afternoon to the Arizona Cardinals by a final score of 26-23. This loss pushes the Bengals to 0-5 for the season.

After the first half, the Bengals were only down 13-6 as neither teams’ offense could get anything going. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had only 4 completions on 10 attempts for 42 yards. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had 12 completions on 18 attempts for 129 yards and a rushing touchdown. The Bengals added a short field goal in the third quarter to pull within 4 points at 13-9 but on their next possession while driving, they went for it on 4th and 1 and Andy Dalton was tackled short on a questionable quarterback run out of shot gun. Arizona gained momentum adding 10 points to go up 23-9 in the forth quarter. The Bengals did not quit though as late in the fourth quarter they went on a surprising 10 play, 79-yard drive that ended in an Auden Tate touchdown to cut the deficit to 23-16. The Bengals defense got a three and out and with under three minutes to go the Bengals had a chance to tie the game. They then went on a quick 4 play 81-yard drive which resulted in a 42-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Tyler Boyd. Even so, the Cardinals and Kyler Murray were too much in the end. The Bengals had Nick Vigil on an island against David Johnson who made a nice catch on the sideline for 24 yards resulting in a game-winning field goal from kicker Zane Gonzalez.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton finished the game with 27 completions on 38 attempts for 262 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray finished with 20 completions on 32 attempts for 253 yards, no passing touchdowns and no interceptions in addition to 93 yards rushing on 10 attempts with a rushing touchdown. The Bengals rushing leader was Joe Mixon with 93 yards on 19 attempts. The Bengals leading receiver was Tyler Boyd with 123 yards on 10 receptions with 1 touchdown.

The Bengals and Cardinals played a clean game without a single turnover. The Bengals leading tacklers were Nick Vigil with 13 tackles (6 solo) and Shawn Williams with 12 tackles (10 solo). The Cardinals leading tacklers were Byron Murphy with 9 tackles (8 solo) and Jalen Thompson with 8 tackles (5 solo). The kickers played a big part in this game, Bengals kicker Randy Bullock was 3 for 3 on field goal attempts and Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez was 4 for 5.

Next for the Bengals is a divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, October 13th at 1:00pm EST. 


Cardinals vs Bengals – Week 5 Preview

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The Cincinnati Bengals are headed back home for a Week 5 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, October 6th at 1:00 pm EST. 

The Bengals are 0-4 after getting blown out on the road by the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-3. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had 21 completions out of 37 attempts for 171 yards and 1 interception while getting sacked a career-high 8 times. Running back Joe Mixon had 62 yards on 15 attempts and the leading receiver was Auden Tate who had 50 yards on 4 receptions. The Bengals defense played relatively well in the first half, only allowing 10 points and even forced a fumble. However, in the second half they looked overwhelmed and tired, giving up 17 points. 

The Cardinals are also coming into this game winless at 0-3-1 record after losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks 27-10. Quarterback Kyler Murray had 22 completions on 32 attempts for 241 yards with 1 interception. Running back David Johnson had only 40 yards on 11 attempts but was the Cardinals’ leading receiver with 99 yards on 8 receptions. Seahawks tight end Will Dissly fumbled once and quarterback Russel Wilson twice, yet the Cardinals did not recover any of those fumbles.

If the Bengals want to get head coach Zac Taylor his first win, they have to be able to set the tone upfront. The Bengals offensive line had the worst performance of any team in Pro Football Focus history last week. Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard need to be more involved now that wide receiver John Ross has been placed on injured reserve. Mixon and Bernard should see the ball more in both the passing and running games. 

If the Cardinals want to get head coach Kliff Kingsbury his first win, Kyler Murray has to stay clean and not turn the ball over. The Cardinals will have to take advantage of the Bengals slow linebackers, run the ball to the outside with David Johnson or do more read options with Kyler Murray. If utilize their tight ends, it will cause matchup advantages for the Cardinals since the Bengals linebackers continue to struggle in coverage. The defense will need to be opportunistic and force turnovers whenever they can against the struggling Bengals offense.