| 04 October 2011
Hey, look who’s in second place, just one game out of first, one-fourth of the way through the NFL’s regular season.
Alright, that makes things sound much better than they actually are, but the bottom line is the Cincinnati Bengals and all their fans are very content with being 2-2 with such a young team in what was expected to be a rebuilding year.
The Bengals are winning with defense. They are, get this, No. 1 in the NFL in total defense at 275.5 yards-allowed per game. Directly behind them are Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Dallas and Washington. Mike Zimmer can coach his ass off and the Bengals have some exciting talent on that side of the ball.
However, they’re also getting solid production out of rookie quarterback Andy Dalton, rookie wide receiver A.J. Green, second-year tight end Jermaine Gresham and veteran running back Cedric Benson. And the special teams combination of kicker Mike Nugent and punter Kevin Huber is as solid as they come in the NFL.
Cincinnati knocked the Buffalo Bills from the unbeaten ranks with a 23-20 victory on Sunday with a Nugent 43-yard field goal as time expired.
Other than a pick-six which really seemed to put the Bengals behind the 8-ball early, Dalton played very well. He finished 18-of-36 for 298 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also tied the game at 20 in the fourth quarter with a rushing TD on a quarterback draw.
And the good news is this week the Bengals will be facing a 1-3 Jacksonville Jaguars team that is breaking in a rookie quarterback as well in Blaine Gabbert.
Following that, the Bengals host the winless Indianapolis Colts who have gone from Peyton Manning to Curtis Painter as their quarterback. That would be like going from Brooklyn Decker to Rosie O’Donnell. (Although, we do hear Andy Roddick has a thing for frumpy lesbians.)
Therefore, there is a very good chance the Bengals will go into their bye week with a 4-2 record. It might not happen, but there’s a better-than-average chance. If I had to bet, I’d say they’ll split these next two games and head into the bye at 3-3, but hopefully they prove me wrong. Suddenly they would be legitimate playoff contenders if they could reach 4-2. I can’t believe I typed that sentence with a straight face.
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