Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are on the verge of becoming one of the bigger disappointments of this NFL decade. Five years ago, in their first season under new head coach Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati went 8-8 – their best record in seven previous years. The Bengals followed that up with another 8-8 season, then won 11 games and the North division crown.

With a nice young team and a hot coach, Cincy appeared headed for multiple seasons of success. But since then the Bengals have gone 8-8 and, last year, 7-9, and have not progressed. Injuries played a big part in this team's fortunes last year, but don't they for every team? Cincinnati gave up 51 points to Cleveland in Week 2, lost four of its first five games and six of its first eight, and dropped decisions to the likes of Kansas City and San Francisco.

As has come to be the norm, the Bengals moved the ball mainly through the air last year, and gave up big yards every which way. Cincy ranked 10^th in total offense at 348 YPG, but with RB Rudi Johnson battling injury, just 24^th in rushing at 97 YPG. And the Bengal defense ranked 27^th overall at 349 YPG, 21^st vs. the run at 118 YPG, and dead last with just 22 sacks. Add it up, and Cincinnati ranked 17^th in the league last season in total yardage at -1 YPG.

The Bengals also went 7-9 against the spread, and just 3-6 ATS when favored on the NFL betting lines. And while Cincy games averaged 48 total points last year, the O/Us only went 7-9. Offensively, Cincinnati remains sound. QB Carson Palmer set several team passing records last year, but had to throw the ball 575 times, third-most in the league, and got 20 of them picked off. And the dangerous WR duo of T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson combined for 205 catches for 2,500 yards and 20 TDs.

A healthy Johnson this year would go a long way toward bringing some balance to the Bengal attack. The fortunes of this team, though, lie mainly with the defense, one of the youngest units in the league. Cincy grabbed LB Keith Rivers out of USC with the No. 9 pick in the draft, and he'll step right in and start. But Rivers won't be able to turn this squad around on his own, and the current football odds reflect that.

At the moment, this team is hard to figure. With improvement in the running game and on D, the Bengals could make a run at the playoffs. Then again, if they can't stop anybody, Cincinnati will be in for a tough season.