Cincinnati Bengals Hoping For Better Finish in 2010

NFL News - February 20th, 2010 - Written by John

The Cincinnati Bengals swept one of the best divisions in football in 2009, and shut the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the playoffs for only the second time since 2003. But the team looked to be just a shell of itself at the end of the year by losing to the 8-8 New York Jets in back-to-back weeks to end their season. The team that seemed to win every close game couldn't even hang around in their first-round playoff game despite a huge day by Cedric Benson. Thus, online sportsbooks don't appear to be to concerned with Cincinnati making any real noise in 2010, listing it with 28/1 NFL odds to win next season's Super Bowl.

Highlighting Cincinnati's schizophrenic personality was the fact that despite earning the AFC's third seed, it didn't have a single player named to the Pro Bowl. Well, at least not until Ochocinco was added as a replacement a week after the rosters were announced. Some claimed Cedric Benson should have received premium consideration after a 1,251-yard season. But with unanimous All-Pro Chris Johnson gaining over 2,000 yards, and Maurice Jones-Drew a fan favorite, the Bengals' impressive season was ignored.

And why not? After starting 7-2, they only won one of their final four games.

When you sweep both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in a single season, you're going to raise some eyebrows. And the Bengals appeared to be on to something with the resurrection of Benson and the re-emergence of Chad Ochocinco. But when Benson went down with a foot injury midway through the year, and Cincinnati brought in Larry Johnson, things started to shift in a big way. Johnson was fine as a replacement, but the Bengals floundered late in the year. And a lack of support for Ochocinco from other receivers made it hard to get open. That was highlighted when Darrelle Revis kept Carson Palmer under 150 yards in both meetings.

Ocho has been lobbying for Cincinnati to aim for free agent Terrell Owens, which would certainly take some of the pressure off. He is even offering to take a paycut. For now, the team has signed beleaguered receiver Matt Jones at a bargain price. If he can even get close to his first-round potential, it could be a good alternative.