2007 Cincinnati Bengals Preview

2007 Cincinnati Bengals preview from MadduxSports.com. Use an experts NFL picks this season to turn your normal losing seasons into point spread success.

Insert “Criminal” Joke Here
By Adam Barone

The Bengals have been making a lot of the wrong kind of news for a while now, and it's tough to say if they'll have enough players not locked up to actually be able to field a team. WR Chris Henry will be suspended for 8 games to start the season, and the team claims they have a receiver by the name of “Tab Perry” to take his place. The likelihood that he's not even a real person is greater than that of him actually having a productive 8 games. Other than Henry, it seems like half the rest of the team is in some trouble with the law, though none of them did anything cool like dog fighting.

Aside from the distractions, the Bengals have some things to be proud of, as usual. Carson Palmer is still a bad ass. Chad Jackson still has gold teeth and guzzles Coke from McDonald's while remaining in amazing football shape. T.J. Houshmazilly/Housyermama still has a weird name, but will likely have another extremely productive season. The team, though equipped with a fully functional Chris Henry in 2006, ranked 6th in the NFL in pass yards. Carson Palmer, despite returning from a gruesome knee injury in the 2005 playoffs, was 5th in the league with 4035 yards through the air. Chad Johnson was the top aerial yard gainer with 1369 yards on 87 receptions, with his counterpart, Houshmanzadeh catching 90 balls and finishing 16th in the NFL with 1081 yards. With two 1000 yard horses in Palmer's stable, it probably doesn't matter if Tab Perry is real or not.

The running game needed a change of pace to go along with RB Rudy Johnson constantly trying to crush everyone's skull if they got in his way. Johnson did top 1300 yards in 2006, but carried a huge load with 341 carries. The Bungles drafted Kenny Irons in the second round to fill the need created by the rather useless Chris Perry. Irons, a former Auburn Tiger like Johnson, will bring quickness, speed and the ability to make defenders miss. He's the big play threat the offense was missing in '06.

The 2007 Cincinnati Bengals will look significantly different on defense than they did just a season before. They released defensive tackle Sam Adams in order to give some of their younger tackles a chance, and were forced to release linebacker A.J. Nicholson after he had domestic violence charges brought up against him. Star linebacker Odel Thurman was convicted of drunk driving, but will only be required to complete treatment and should not miss any time.

In order to shore up the second to last ranked NFL pass defense, the Bengals drafted likely the most complete cornerback in the draft, Michigan's Leon Hall. Hall is a great tackler and should help out against the run, where Cincinnati was very average. He should compete with Deltha O'Neal for a starting job relatively quickly.

2007 Cincinnati Bengals Predictions

2007's Bengals will have an extremely high-powered offense but struggle some on defense, as usual. Gambling on a team like Cincy may cause more stress than it's worth, simply because they'll be in high scoring shootouts all season, and without an ability to control an opponent's running game, they'll be inconsistent. The combination of Johnson and Irons keeping defenses on their toes in the running game will go a long way toward making them more consistent, but odds are it won't be enough.

If you enjoyed reading our Cincinnati Bengals preview read up on the rest of the AFC North opponents like the Ravens, Browns, and Steelers team breakdowns from Maddux Sports.

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