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Cincinnati Bengals’ 2009 projection: 5-11
Carson Palmer is 100 percent and hopes to make the Bengals a contender again. (AP Images)"]
Ah, the Bungles. They are either snake-bitten or just plain lousy. Their 2008 season was pretty much over as soon as Carson Palmer hurt his elbow, although the Bengals were 0-4 in the four games in which he played. They finished 4-11-1.
Maybe it was a good thing Palmer wasn’t in there much, as the offensive line allowed 51 sacks last year – so perhaps it’s not such a bad thing that starting tackles Levi Jones and Stacy Andrews are gone. Also having departed is receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had at least 90 catches in each of the past three seasons and was the consistent opposite of inconsistent but loud Chad Ochocino, who remains a Bengal. In signing Laveranues Coles, however, the Bengals seem to have a pretty solid replacement for Houshmandzadeh.
If there was a positive last year, it was that the team found running back Cedric Benson off the scrap heap. Believe it or not, the Bengals were unbeaten last year when Benson had at least 20 carries (4-0-1). He is the featured back this year but still has no 1,000-yard seasons in his career, so that might be asking a lot.
That beleaguered Cincinnati defense actually wasn’t too bad last year, ranking 12th overall. But the pass rush wasn’t very good with just 17 sacks, and that problem wasn’t really addressed.
You will get to see more of this team on TV than ever before – assuming you get HBO. The Bengals are on that network’s “Hard Knocks” series this summer. Otherwise, there are no prime-time games scheduled.
Here is the Bengals’ 2009 schedule, and we’ll break it down after:
Sept. 13 vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m.
Sept. 20 at Green Bay Packers, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.
Oct. 4 at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.
Oct. 11 at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.
Oct. 18 vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m.
Oct. 25 vs. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.
Week 8: Bye
Nov. 8 vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 22 at Oakland Raiders, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 29 vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.
Dec. 6 vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m.
Dec. 13 at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m.
Dec. 20 at San Diego Chargers, 4:05 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m.
Jan. 3 at New York Jets, 1 p.m.
Strength of schedule: 22nd (opponents combined to go 119-137, .465, in 2008)
Projected record: 5-11
Bodog over/under total: 6 1/2
Bodog odds to win Super Bowl XLIV: 65/1
Palmer, who is totally healthy, says the Bengals will be a different club than last year’s team.
"We won four games last year. We'll definitely win a lot more than that this year. Teams look at us and say, 'We got the Bengals on the schedule.' We're a whole different team this upcoming year than we were last year,” he said.
Cincinnati opens at home for just the second time in six years, and with Denver in the midst of an overhaul post-Jay Cutler, the Bengals could very well win that first game and might even be favored to do so. However, Cincy will drop the final two games in September, a month in which it is 1-6 in the past two years. The Bengals are 0-7 at Paul Brown Stadium against the Steelers if you were possibly thinking upset.
October looks like a 1-for-4 for the Bengals. They are 8-16 in that month under Marvin Lewis, which is their worst record in a month under Lewis. But they are 4-2 under Lewis at Cleveland after winning there last year. Hard to see Cincy beating likely playoff teams Baltimore, Houston and Chicago.
November looks like another 1-3 month. Forget about beating either Baltimore or Pittsburgh. But a sweep of the Browns is very possible. And while Oakland seems about at the Bengals’ level, Cincy is 0-9 all-time in Oakland.
Cincinnati should actually be favored in both home games in December. That Detroit game seems like a lock, especially considering Cincy is 10-2-1 in its past 13 home games against NFC opponents. The Bengals will then drop road games at Super Bowl contenders San Diego and Minnesota before handling the Chiefs back home.
That season finale against the Jets is the final regular-season game ever at Giants Stadium. I might have picked a Cincinnati upset if that wasn’t the case, but look for the Jets to be plenty pumped up. Thus the Bengals finish 5-11, which probably means Lewis finally loses his job.
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