Published: August 04, 2008 10:08 am            

Restore the roar ...

The Way It Is

Do you hear that?

That’s the grumbling of many Cincinnati Bengals fans, who are upset that many pre-season magazines are picking Marvin Lewis’ squad to finish at least in third place in the AFC North Division.

Heck, some are even picking Cincinnati to finish dead-least behind lowly Baltimore.

I’m a die-hard Bengals fan, but I’m not surprised about the lack of respect Cincinnati is getting.

Honestly, the Bengals deserve it.

Lewis’ squad has underachieved for the past two seasons since going 11-5, while winning the North Division in 2005.

Matter of fact, for those that don’t know, it seems as if Lewis is on the hot seat this season.

If Cincinnati doesn’t reach the playoffs this season, there is speculation that Lewis will be canned.

Does he deserve that?

I’m not sure, considering the guy has had only one losing season (7-9) during his five years as coach.

He is only one of three Bengals coaches that has a winning record (42-38) and trust me, those days of David Shula and Dick LeBeau coaching the black and orange still linger in my mind and I really don’t want to go back to the days of winning only two or three games and then seeing your No. 1 draft picks (David Klingler, Akili Smih, Dan Wilkinson and Ki-Jana Carter) turn into No.1 draft duds.

So, should Lewis be fired, if Cincinnati endures another mediocre season?

If you would have asked me that last season when Cincinnati was standing at 5-9 on the season and I would say the guy needed to go.

But he made sure his team didn’t quit and helped guide Cincinnati to wins over Cleveland and Miami to finish the season.

I believe those two games were very important to the teams success heading into this season.

Just for confidence purposes.

So, what do the Bengals need to do to compete for a divisional title this season?

Well, if I really knew the answers I would probably be working in the front office for Bengal president Mike Brown, but what the heck, I’ll try to put an end to their losing.

Why not?

First off, tail back Chris Perry needs to be healthy and play 16 games this season.

If Perry is healthy then he gives Cincinnati another solid threat in the backfield for quarterback Carson Palmer. He would also take some pressure off tail back Rudi Johnson, who needs to have a solid season if Cincinnati wants to make a playoff push.

In my opinion, the key is Perry. If he can return to his 2005 form, Cincinnati could be a dangerous team.

Of course, Palmer will need help from players such as Chad Johnson and T.J. Hushmanzadeh. If Cincinnati can stray away from a slow start, then I’m not concerned about Johnson being a problem, but if the Benglas start the season with three straight losses — let the “Ocho Cinco” sideshow begin.

On the positive side of things though, Johnson and Hushmanzadeh both have the ability to dominate any opponent and with the arm of Palmer, I don’t see Cincinnati getting off to a slow start.

Add the league’s best offensive line — yes, I said the league’s best — and the Bengals will be hard to stop on offense.

I know, I know, the big question is just how good the defense will be.

If new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer continues to work wonders like he has so far during summer camp then the Bengals will be just fine.

So with that said, I really believe Cincinnati will be better than what many people think.

Can the Bengals win 10 games? I’m not sure about that, considering they play one of the hardest schedules in the NFL.

But I don’t believe nine games is out of the question, but then again, this is Cincinnati we’re talking about.

        

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