Fall Means Football

Well, the Bengals sit at 2-0 in the preseason after wins over the Bears and the Cowboys.  They were two opposite wins.

In the win over the Bears, the Bengals starters took it to the Bears starters, and the Cincy back ups let the Bears nearly pull out a win.

In the win over the Cowboys, though, the Bengals starters did nothing vs. the Dallas starters while the back ups dominated the Dallas back ups to earn a win.

What does this all mean?  The Bengals still have a lot to do.

The good -

The defense looks solid.  Their defensive line is deep (they have veteran Pro Bowlers in Geno Atkins, who could well be in the Hall of Fame one day, and Carlos Dunlap).  They have a budding Pro Bowler in Carl Lawson (who had 8.5 sacks last year as a rookie) and a promising DE in Jordan Willis.  They have a solid vet - Michael Jackson (in the last year of his contract).

The key will be the develop of some more young guys.  First, Andrew Billings.  He is in his third year, but he is recovering from a knee injury he suffered in camp of his rookie year.  At times this preseason he looks dominating.  He is just the perfect replacement for Domato Peko to help out Geno.  Then we have promising third round pick Sam Hubbard out of Ohio State.  He has been very dominant this preseason and all camp too.  To round things out there is second year man Ryan Glasgow out of Michigan who has been very solid this year too and who earned a lot of playing time last year.

The line should be the best the Bengals have had under Marvin Lewis.  Which is vital given some of the other weaknesses this team has.

The bad - the offensive line.

Especially the right side.  I can live with the left side, IF Cordy Glenn (acquired in a trade with Buffalo after the Bengals stupidly let All-Pro Andrew Whitworth walk to the Rams) stays healthy.  I can live with Glenn, veteran Clint Boling, and rookie first round pick, Billy Price, at center.

The right side, though, is a mess.  They haven't figured out who is going to start at right guard.  They have tried Trey Hopkins with mixed results.  They have tried Alex Redman, who is a fans start waiting to happen.  They should try Christian Westerman, who has done well, but they seem intent on making him a left guard ONLY.    The right tackle is even worse.  They signed Bobby Hart after he was cut from the Giants, but he has been just below average at best!  And we have no one behind him.  They have the top two picks from the 2015 draft, but those two, Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher, respectively, penciled in to back up right tackle, but those guys are disasters at the tackle position.

Best case scenario - the line is average.  The skill positions at WR (AJ Green, John Ross, Tyler Boyd,  Josh Malone, and a healthy Tyler Eifert) and RB (Joe Mixon and Gio Bernard) offer enough kick to make up for the line.  And the defensive line offers up enough pressure (especially from Lawson, Atkins, and Dunlap) to make life terrible for opposing QBS.  And Billings (playing like a mad man so far) and Burfict (once he gets back from a four game suspension) paired with the new middle linebacker, Preston Brown, keep the running game in check (they were terrible there last year).  The secondary thrives off the pressure with future star William Jackson developing into a shutdown corner while they are plus double digits in turnovers.  IF that happens 10-6 is possible.  And MAYBE, just maybe a playoff victory.  Is that too much to ask.

Worst case scenario - the line is the worst its been since the David Klingler days.  There are no holes for Mixon or Gio to run through and they can't protect Dalton and his best camp ever is all for naught.  Green still gets his annual 1,000 yards but Ross is hurt and disappoints and Eifter's back flairs up again and he is lost for the season.  The defense struggles to stop the run and can't get the other team off the field and is worn down by a terrible offense.  IF that happens 4-12 is possible.  And that would mean firing (maybe) Marvin Lewis and starting all over again.  Of course, that would have to happen with a new rookie QB plucked from the top of the draft.  And leave it up to fate to have that occur when there are no legit QB prospects and the Bengals have their worst line in 25 years.  At least when Dalton was drafted, they had a very solid O-line.