So here we are about a day away from the 2013 Kickoff of NFL football. I think I speak for most, when I say THANK YOU GOD!!!! Sunday tailgating, frying of the wings and grubbing on the pizza. Cold beers cracking and popping, cheering and jumping slapping hands til the mirrors fall off the wall. Sitting in the stadium with a portion of your fan nation, or as the fan to the opposing team, picking on and smack talking to any fan near with different colors on then you, yeah I will take a handful of months of that!
So how about them Bengals!?!?!?!?!?!? Well it should be another good one for us, only problem is when you have consecutive years of success, each year expectations become higher and higher and for the Bengals I feel the expectations are higher than they ever been. Problem with having really high expectation, you almost set yourself up for disappointment, the higher the expectation the higher the chance for disappointment. What is realistic expectation for this football team? It's hard, we all know the ultimate goal, but for those of us that can be realistic, we also know that this football team is not the best in the NFL or the AFC for that matter, yes they can play, and compete with every team but can they win? Many writers and experts have the Bengals representing the AFC in the big dance some even have them winning it all, and that's a tall leap for a team who has made back to back playoff appearances, but has failed to win in either appearance.
2013 bring upon a new year, a team that don't look much different from the last two years, but they are older, more experienced and know how to win. Not to mention the additions that will have an impact on the week to week performance. 10-6 with one the hardest schedules last year, was very impressive and unexpected by most. With a weaken division which is the north, and a slightly easier but still hard schedule, Expectations sit a lot higher for this team. So let me break this football team down as I see it;
OFFENSE
Weakness: *Just as Green is the heart of this offense, Andy Dalton is the brain, and if that brain don't tell the heart to beat you die, and so will this offense. I only have strengths and weaknesses, i'm not hear to call Andy a weakness, but he has to be better than what he has been in order for this football team to reach it's full potential, I have faith and I believe he will, but we'll just have to see, I really hope he has improved his deep ball accuracy.
*#2 receiver spot, who will play across from Green and how effective will that person be? No one has taken that spot as the #2 guys, there is a couple guys, in Sanu and Jones, that you can put there. What Gruden and Lewis wanted was for some one to take the spot, and I don't think that happen this preseason. The spot will have to be given to a guy, Sanu is charted as the #2 right now.How effective can he be? Nobody knows, we have saw a lot of good in the little bit he gave early last year, before he went out for the year, can he stay health? When teams are not afraid of your #2 guy, it takes away from your #1.
*Jermaine Gresham, this is what I believe is his last chance to be the 1st round pick he was drafted to be. With the addition of Tyler Eifert, another 1st round pick, Gresham have to be the guy to command the middle of the field and demand respect from defenses.
*Last but not least is the offensive of line. Outside of big Whit, everybody else on this line is a question mark, It will be interesting to see if we can get some consistent adequate play out of Boling, and Cook. Andre Smith is probably the biggest question mark on this unit, with his new deal will he play the way he played last year, which was a contract year? Will he even stay healthy enough to play the whole or majority of the season?
Defense
*This Linebacker core went from a weakness last year to a strength with the addition of James Harrison. He will have a much different role from what he had in Shitsburgh, but I don't see any reason he won't adjust well. Who can forget about Vontaze Burfict, lead this team in tackles as a rookie and is the leader of this defense in just his second year.
Weakness: *Rey Mauluga is a question mark for the Defense. You just don't know what your going to get from Rey, will we see the Rey we saw in the first couple years that was hungry, all over the field and looking like a household name? That's what the coaching staff is hoping for since they moved him back to that spot he shined in. Going by what he has done lately, whiffing on tackles, blowing assignments, and shying away from contact, will only find him a seat on the bench as the depth is quickly catching up to him. With all the talent in front and on the side of Rey I think he has no choice but be successful, what scares me more then his failure, is what's behind Rey and the rest the D.......
*The weakest part of the Defense has to be the secondary. Reggie Nelson has been a consistent success, and I guess you can say Leon Hall as well, even though I don't think he's the guy who will shut down opponents #1, but outside them two everybody else gives me concern. Adam Jones is at a point in his career where he can't play every day, which is why he's charted as the #3/nickle corner, Dre Kirkpatrick hasn't been the guy we expect since being took in the 1st round, he still struggling to get Zimms D in his head, so he won't see much field, Newman has a lot of miles on his body, no longer an every down guy and Ghee is strictly on this team in my opinion for special teams. Another guy that I don't really understand why he still here, is Taylor Mays. I guess Coach Lewis love this guy so much he can't cut him loose, or maybe it his locker room presences??? I don't know, what I do know is he'll be strictly a special teams guy, even though he's on the Depth Chart in front of Rookie Shawn Williams. Williams had a disappointing summer, I expected more out of him, and he was just non existent the last four week, I think he'll develop as the season goes on, not enough to take the starting spot of George Iloka. I really love this Iloka guy, he's the guy to watch in the secondary, first time starter, he's mighty aggressive and have no problem sticking his nose in the mix in the run game, but he's weak in coverage, definitely the best guy out of the 3 and deserve the starting job.
So there it is, this is the 2013 Cincinnati Bengals. Offensively, as you can see there are a lot more weaknesses then strengths, for the sake of this offense these guys are young, and they have a lot of room for improvement and the last 2 years they have found a way to put together back to back playoff appearances, but in 2013 appearance won't be enough! The team will only go as far as the defense decide it will go. Yes the best player on the team is on the offensive side of the ball, but this unit is the Cincinnati Bengals, and if this team is going to make a push in the AFC and in the playoffs it's going to be the D that's going to be the driven force! I have this team finishing 12-4, a top seed and yes winning they first playoff game, but falling one came short of the Super Bowl, which is a successful season for the Bengals........ WHO DEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See you at PBS
John G. Dunn
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