Try NFL Sport Channel Seach:
Selected searches:
NFL Football Players Draft Injuries Rookies Season Superbowl
Items by
Bengals Poised To Return to ’05 Form
Published: June 29, 2009
No Comments
Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen swiped Carson Palmer’s legs in the 2005 AFC Wildcard game, and drastically changed the direction of the Cincinnati Bengals’ franchise.
The hit, which brought significant damage to Palmer’s ACL, PCL, and MCL, sealed a 31-17 victory for the Steelers, and also forced Palmer to put his rising team and career on hold.
Von Oelhoffen later apologized publicly.
I guess that makes up for the three years of turmoil that has ensued Bengals’ football. Despite not playing in the playoffs since that 2005 game, the Bengals are set to make a run at the postseason even while playing in the tough AFC North.
Carson Palmer expects to be at 100 percent after recovering from Tommy John surgery, and, while he will be without wide receiver TJ Houshmanzadeh, he will have a newly focused Chad Ochocinco.
Ochocinco has been emphatic about working hard and returning to Pro Bowl form, even wanting to stay with the Palmer family to work on chemistry.
Wide receivers Laveraneus Coles and Chris Henry will look to compliment Ochocinco and re-energize the potentially dominating offense.
After signing with the Bengals midway through last season, running back Cedric Benson quietly ran for 747 yards in 12 games. At age 26, Benson is still suitable in tailback years, and he can hold down the running game fort while Palmer and Co. do their thing.
With University of Alabama tackle Andre Smith falling to the Bengals at pick No. 6 in the draft, the offensive line will look to protect Palmer from further injury and clear holes for Benson.
Everyone can expect consistency from the offense, but the defense remains a huge question mark.
Second year defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer reached back to his Dallas roots and brought Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams to Cincinnati. Zimmer made Williams into a star safety, and it’s no coincidence that Williams’ Dallas decline was simultaneous with Zimmer’s departure.
The Bengals also brought defensive tackle Tank Johnson from Dallas, and, while he isn’t the force he was in his Chicago days, Johnson can make high impact plays at the line of scrimmage.
Most importantly, the Bengals will get 2008 first round draft pick linebacker Keith Rivers back this year. Rivers missed the final nine games of the season after breaking his jaw from a Hines Ward hit.
Before getting injured, it was clear that Rivers was becoming a force, and, despite missing more than half of the season, he finished second in balloting for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Rivers will now come back and join a possibly formidable linebacking corp with last year’s leading tackler Dhani Jones and former Southern California teammate Rey Maualuga.
Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph will look to improve their coverage in the 4-3 scheme, and they might have to if Roy Williams is asked to cover like he did in Dallas.
The Bengals won’t win in a division stacked with the likes of the Steelers and Ravens, but they could be the surprise AFC team next year and sneak into a Wildcard spot.
Head Coach Marvin Lewis remains on the hot seat, but upper management should keep faith in Lewis if the team flashes its potential during the upcoming season.
If the Bengals don’t reach the playoffs this year, they still have enough youth to become the perennial playoff threat that they were destined to become before Kimo von Oelhoffen put the Bengals’ future on hold.
