Impressions of the Bungals

I don't know that I can keep referring to them as the Bungals.

I don't know that they'll win the AFC North, but I do think they'll field a pretty formidable team.

Sure, the schedule is a killer at New England, at Indianapolis, at the Jets, at Atlanta and home vs Miami, Carolina, and New Orleans.

Simply having a winning record could top last year's division title.

But there's hope in Bungaldom (see, there I go again).

First,

The offense has more weapons. After the win at Pittsburgh, our offense went in the toilet. There were far too few big plays and far too many three and outs and penalties.

There still are the penalties (far too many this preseason), but weapons have been added. T.O. will make his presence felt. The rookies, Jordan Shipley and Jermaine Gresham, respectively, have been all over the place this preseason. Shipley will be a weapon on third down as a slot receiver. And Gresham will give the Bengals their first legit tight end weapon since the days of Rodney Holdman.

Second,

Carson Palmer. People have dogged him this offseason. But he is the whole key to the offense. The Bengals have zero chance without him. If he returns to his '05-'07 form, we're back in business.

Third,

Defense. In 30 plus years of being a Bengals fan, I've never seen a defense this good or deep. The corners (Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph) are as good as it gets in the NFL. The safeties (Roy Williams and Chris Crocker) are injury prone, but there is depth (Gabril Wilson and Chinedun Ndukwe). And if that's not enough the nickle back spot is three deep (Adam Jones - formerly Adam 'Pacman' Jones, David Jones, Morgan Trent - last year's nickel back, and third round pick Brandon Ghee).

The linebackers are fine. Rey Maualuga is great. Dhani Jones is okay at middle linebacker. Keith Rivers looks just okay at outside linebacker (not what you want from the 10th pick in the entire draft three years ago). Brandon Johnson - a free agent from Arizona who signed as a back up - could well beat out Rivers.

The defensive line might just prove to be better - and deeper - than our secondary. The ends are good to great. Antwan Odom was headed to the Pro Bowl with 8 sacks in five games until he tore his Achilles tendon. Robert Geathers is fine at the other end. Jonathan Fanene (the sole member remaining form the abysmal '05 draft class) is a fine starter if he has to be. Carlos Dunlap was added in the second round from Florida this year. The wildcard is Michael Johnson. He was a back up defensive end last year, but showed great pass rush ability. He has worked at outside linebacker much of this training camp. They'll likely put him all over the place and let him wreak havoc. The tackles are great. Domata Peko was totally snubbed in the Pro Bowl last year. Sure, the AFC North has some great defensive tackles/nose tackles (Holi Ngati in Baltimore, Sean Rodgers in Cleveland, and Casey Hampton in Pittsburgh), but Peko is as good as any of them. Tank Johnson is a great defensive tackle. And there is plenty of depth. Pat Sims is a solid back up and could start if needed. The talk of the preseason has been rookie fourth round pick Geo Atkins. He's a bit small, but he's been a nightmare for opponents this preseason.

Our kicking situation scares the hell out of me, especially since our former kicker, Shayne Graham, is now in enemy Baltimore. But he choked in the playoffs last year and we had to jettison him.

Given the offense's penchant for penalties and meltdowns in key spots, the kicking game could be more vital than ever.

Over all, I'm happy with 9-7. But secretly, I'm hoping for a lot more than that. But 9-7 would be great. But . . . Well, they haven't earned the nickname Bungals for a reason. So we're hoping for 9-7.