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2007 NFL Preview: Cincinnati Bengals

By Dave Golokhov

Looking At 2006 In the Rear View Mirror

After winning the AFC North in 2005, the Cincinnati Bengals were on track to become a Super Bowl contender in 2006. But in the offseason, the Bengals had more arrests than a full season of "The Wire" and stepped backward instead of forwards. After winning 11 games in '05, they topped out at eight last year.

Entailing the league's fourth-best scoring offense, the Bengals' main focus in the offseason was supposed to be the defense.

Management did address a few issues — signing veteran tackle Sam Adams, safety Dexter Jackson, and drafting cornerback Johnathan Joseph — but improvements were scant.

In '05, the defense allowed 338.7 yards-per-game and that average jumped to 355.1 in '06.

Part of the problem was right in the heart of the defense, where the Bengals were counting on the growth of two young linebackers: David Pollack and Odell Thurman.

Thurman was suspended for the year after a drunken driving charged was tacked onto a long laundry list, while Pollack was also gone for the season with a neck injury (suffered in Week 1).

The Bengals were seemingly left thin but versatile backup Landon Johnson, along with former CFL player Rashad Jeanty and supplemental draft pick Ahmad Brooks; they had solid seasons at linebacker.

The back end of the defense turned from strength to weakness in 2006, mostly because of substandard seasons from cornerbacks Deltha O'Neal and Tory James.

O'Neal, who went to the Pro Bowl in 2005, lost his confidence.

The result was that the Bengals' defense, which used a league-leading 44 takeaways and 31 interceptions in 2005 to mask deficiencies, didn't manufacture nearly as many drive-stopping plays in 2006. In both of the last two seasons, the Bengals have given up a ton of yardage, but takeaways ended drives in 2005; those stops turned into points in 2006.

On offense, Palmer was not rusty at all and wasn't hampered mentally by his major knee injury. The Bengals came flying out of the gate with three wins, but quickly lost the wind in their sails when they followed that up with a 1-5 stretch.

Reflecting back on their schedule, the Bengals were a very similar outfit to the 2005 unit. For the most part, they beat the teams they should have, such as Cleveland, Oakland, and Carolina, and lost to more formidable opponents, such as New England, Indianapolis, San Diego, and Denver.

Cincy's offense was clearly limited by a couple of key injuries. On the offensive line, the Bengals had no rhythm as Richie Braham and Willie Anderson struggled to stay healthy. Another key loss was in the backfield, where the Bengals were without third-down back Chris Perry. He is an underrated weapon, but has only played in 22 games in three seasons.

Heading forward, the Bengals offense is Super Bowl-ready. Now it's just a matter of whether defensive guru Marvin Lewis can get the defense to a similar level.

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