Heeeee's Baaaaaaack

With just two days until the sold-out home opener against the Browns, the Bengals are hitting the gridiron hard to prepare for another AFC North showdown. Coming off of an ugly loss against Baltimore last Monday night, the team knows this week they need to show up and get a win in front of their home crowd before people start counting them out as the Bengals of old. I, myself, am excited for this game to see what they can do. I am keeping my fingers crossed, like the rest of Who Dey Nation, that the Defense's performance was a fluke last week and they were just having first game jitters. I am also hopeful that the offense, though not as ugly as the defense, can step it up in crucial moments and make those catches.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis stands to have another great game against the Cleveland Browns this week, maybe even breaking into triple digit yards in rushing. Which is something, I know, in New England wasn't possible with their passing attack. I have been praising him all offseason since he was picked up and then last week, as he was the one guy who really came to play in Baltimore. Today, will be no different. I will admit, I was slightly nervous about him, even though I knew we was a good back. Not because of performance, but because of endurance. Let's face it, the Pats don't use the run often. Who needs it with future Hall of Famer Brady under center and 800 Tight Ends? So, with the Law Firm coming to Cincinnati and his number of touches becoming significantly more, I was concerned with the stamina issue. He is not used to all that action. It was even more nerve racking with Scott out and the non-existent running game in the preseason led by Leonard. As we all saw though, he was a work horse last week and I think this week will be no different. Expect him to be a huge threat this week to the Cleveland Defense. 

There is another running back on all of our minds too this week. His name is Trent Richardson and though he was plagued with injuries during the offseason and he is just a rookie, with the way our D is playing, he has the ability to ravage us. He wants to do just that this week too. Richardson is coming in with a chip on his shoulder because of some words exchanged between him and Bengals MLB Maualuga. Maualuga said that Richardson didn't do anything "spectacular" in his NFL opener last week against the Eagles. Whether or not Maualuga meant it like that, which some are saying he meant it as he will probably do better this week, the Browns RB is mad and wants a piece of Rey and the Bengals Defense. "When somebody wants to talk mess, I mean, hey, that's them. I let my game speak for itself, so if they want to see how mad I am, or how upset they got me about the comment, you'll see Sunday," Richardson told The Cleveland Plain-Dealer. He went on to say, "He's right, I haven't done anything yet. Hopefully this weekend I can give him a little flavor of what I'm supposed to come into the NFL with, so I think stuff like that is funny. It's very encouraging." To Mr. Maualuga and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals Defense, I would like to encourage you to keep your mouths shut until you play a good game. Hopefully, these words will amp us up and we will defend the Rey Maualuga comment. My fear is it will just amp up the wrong side. 

Taylor Mays' punishment finally came down today from the NFL for his helmet to helmet hit in Baltimore. He has been ordered to pay a fine of $21,000.00 for his indiscretion. That is a lot of coin, at least to me and you, for a bad tackle. So hopefully he learns his lesson and can bridle his intense playing and hard hits. I like that he is so enthusiastic and makes these guys pay for the yards they make, but he has to keep his head up. This is why he injured two of our guys in the preseason. Another player occurrence to note this week, is LB Thomas Howard. He tore his ACL in practice on Thursday and is now declared out of the season. The team has moved him to the Injured Reserve list. This is a big hit on the D-Line. With this season ending injury, the Bengals have went back and re-signed LB Roddrick Muckelroy, who was with the team during the preseason. He had a good camp and did well in the preseason games. People thought that he would make the 53 man roster, but the team went on the side of youth with Burfict instead, leaving Muckelroy for the waiver wire. He was not eligible for the practice squad. Hopefully, he can help in filling our gaps. Lewis, however, has not named a starter at the position. So we will see, where he is used, if at all.

My prediction for this week's game is: 

Cincinnati 17
Cleveland 10

What do you think of that prediction? Too high, too low? Reversed? I had originally thought we would blow them out, but while writing this, I started making myself nervous. So I will go with a sensible score and just hope that we are on the side of winning. After watching and listening to this past week's post game press conferences and locker room interviews, though. I wasn't that impressed. Besides for a few guys, it seemed like a lot of blame placed on bad officiating. There were even defensive guys that said they did what they were supposed to, they just came up short. Some of these guys seemed extremely off the mark all night. I want more seriousness, anger, or something. Sure they took blame to an extent, but aside from 3 guys, they didn't even seem that mad. I want them to be fired up and take full responsibility. Dalton did more than most, but he still thought officiating took away their momentum. I don't know what I wanted to see, but what that wasn't it. The two guys that really just said it came down to bad playing were Whitworth and Green-Ellis. Whitworth knew the line did their job but the offense just missed on key plays, to which I agree. Green-Ellis looked down right angry in his interview. Which makes me really happy because he knows what it is like to be a champion so maybe he can get these other guys in the right mind set to rip the Brownies come Sunday. 

In other stadium news, the Bengals sent out a fan code of conduct today. Obviously, there are those fans that drink and get wild and there are naturally those that don't. When they get unruly, I get the jerk line. I have been on both sides there. Several times, I am sure my friends and I should have been called on, and when I was sober, I was completely annoyed at the idiots around me. So, this I understand. They are saying now, that they are also going to fight against excessive standing. Aside from preseason, I have not gone to a game where people did not stand the whole time. It is just what you do. They said some fans can't stand the whole time. That I get, but you have to know when you buy a live a game ticket that it is going to happen. I just don't know how or why they are going to police this. Is standing really hurting people that much. 

Enjoy Sunday's game whether you are watching it at home or the rocking Jungle! Let's get the W! Who Dey!