Joe Reedy reports on the Bengals for the Cincinnati Enquirer as their lead beat-writer.

You can find his work at http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/, and http://twitter.com/joereedy.

This week the 3-1 Cincinnati Bengals come to Baltimore, in an AFC North clash. Baltimore Sports and Life thanks Mr. Reedy for providing his insight on the Bengals.

Baltimore Sports and Life: “A Carson Palmer led team has a chance to win nearly every-game he takes the field. That said his completion percentage of 57.7% is the lowest of his career. How close is he to returning to the form of his 2005-06, and 2006-07 seasons?”

Mr. Reedy: “He’s close, but the main thing to remember about Carson and the offense is that he’s dealing with largely a new cast of skill position players. He hardly worked with Cedric Benson last year, Andre Caldwell was injured for the first half of the year. Laveranues Coles signed as a Free Agent, and Chris Henry was on the NFL suspension for the first four games. Add to the mix three new starters on the offensive line and the face that he played in only four games last year, and missed most of the preseason this year, and it remains a work in progress. He continues to improve each week and the late drives have given him confidence but right now it is a matter of finding consistency.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “26 year-old RB Cedric Benson has found new-life in Cincinnati. He had a couple of big games to end last-year, but his 4.4 yards per carry has to be a bit of surprise. Benson established a career-high with 214 carries last-year, and already has 84 this year. Are the Bengals confident about his ability to continue to carry the rock at this current-pace? What can you tell us about the back-up RB Bernard Scott?”

Mr. Reedy: “The Bengals have a lot of confidence in Benson and he wants to be the lead back. One of the main concerns right now is the amount of carries because he is a very physical runner. He still should get 300-350 carries this year, but they are working Scott more into the offense. He is a good change of pace runner with a lot of quickness, especially to the outside.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Coles was signed as a FA this off-season after the departure of TJ Houshmandzadeh. Outside of his rookie-season, Coles has averaged at-least 52.8 yards per game in every season. This year, Coles is averaging 19.5 yards per game. What are the problems Coles is facing in integrating himself into the offense? Chris Henry came into this season with a lot of people believing this would be a break-out season. Starting with this weekend, do you expect the 6’4 target to become more involved?”

Mr. Reedy: “Coles is struggling like the rest of the offense in developing consistency. The one good thing that he has done, which is hardly recognized, is that he is good in blocking. He threw a key block on Benson’s touchdown run against Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Henry right now is the No. 4 receiver, and it becomes difficult in trying to get all four their amount of receptions. With Henry having a size advantage on the secondary, and the Ravens stout against the run, I expect Henry to get a little more involved this week.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Who is the leader of the offensive-line? What are the overall strengths and weaknesses of this group?”

Mr. Reedy: “LT Andrew Whitworth and RT Bobbie Williams while C Kyle Cook is also emerging. The strengths are that it is a physical group that rarely gets dominated. They are giving up a sack or two a game, but not nearly as bad as last year. Weaknesses – It’s still developing as a unit and right tackle, with Anthony Collins, remains a vulnerable area. When Andre Smith is healthy and ready to play, which will probably be after the bye week, remains a question mark.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “DE Antwan Odom already has 8 sacks for the year. Free Agent addition DT Tank Johnson has added some-bulk to the line. 2009 3rd Round pick Michael Johnson has been described as a physical-freak as an edge-rusher. How improved is the d-line overall?”

Mr. Reedy: “A big improvement. They also have the depth so that Odom, Tank, and Robert Geathers don’t have to play all three downs. Domata Peko also continues to show that he is a capable run stopper at DT.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “In the past-two years, Cincinnati has been able to add two-long term pieces at LB with Keith Rivers, and Rey Maualuga. Besides the talent-influx, has Marvin Lewis talked about how these additions have helped with the defensive scheme he wants to run?”

Mr. Reedy: “It has helped because both Lewis and Defensive Coordinator Marvin Lewis like to run a defense that is aggressive and likes to blitz. MLB Dhani Jones remains the leader of the line. “

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Nationally, the signing of Safety Roy Williams did not get a lot of publicity. It is a bit rhetorical, but I would imagine that as a 5x Pro Bowl player, Williams has made a significant improvement to the Secondary as a whole, correct? Cornerbacks Jonathan Jospeh, and Leon Hall are both recent 1st-round picks. Where does this duo rank among starting CB’s in the league?”

Mr. Reedy: “Williams and last year’s addition of Chris Crocker have given the unit a more agressive look. With the two safeties being among the most physical in the conference, Joseph and Hall continue to improve. They have shut-out Green Bay’s Greg Jennings and ex-Brown Braylon Edwards but have allowed two rookies to have 100-yard games. Joseph has come up with two big picks the last two games.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Cincinnati is a fluke-play away from a 4-0 start. Are the Bengals looking at this weekend as an opportunity to show the league they will be a factor all year?”

Mr. Reedy: “The Bengals also are three plays and 10 seconds from being 0-4. This is a big game for them because if they can go 3-0 in the division and have two road division wins. I said before the season that if they could be 3-2 after the first five games, they could be a factor this season. At worst, they leave this game at 3-2. I think this game would be a chance to show everyone that it is not the same old Bengals.”

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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