1 Cincinnati Bengals
WHAT'S NEW
> When agimpy Carson Palmer can throw for 4,035 yards, as he did last year, for a teamthat blew two games on special teams gaffes, it's easy to picture Cincinnatimaking its second playoff appearance in three years. In training camp thissummer Palmer looked picture-perfect and more mobile than last fall. Look forhim to be closer to the 68% passer he was in 2005 than the 62% he was lastyear. With Chris Henry suspended by the NFL for half the season after fourarrests in seven months, Palmer will turn to Chad Johnson even more on deepballs. The Bengals will need to score plenty because the defense, with theexception of rookie cornerback Leon Hall, isn't any better this year.
WHERE THEY'REHEADED
> Biggestquestion about the Bengals leaguewide: How can a team with this talent havegone 8-8 in three of the past four years? Answer: Maybe they're not as talentedas people think.
Or maybe, asPalmer believes, there are fixable flaws late in important games. Cincinnati,needing one win in the last two games to make the playoffs, lost in Denver on abotched extra-point snap and fell to Pittsburgh when kicker Shayne Grahamshanked a 39-yard field goal attempt. Boom--a 10-6 wild-card season becomes an8-8 lead balloon. "The good teams play great some weeks," Palmer says."The great teams play great every week. It makes me grind my teeth when Ithink about the breakdowns we've had."
To that end,Palmer walked into coach Marvin Lewis's office early in the off-season andhanded him a book by Capt. Michael Abrashoff. It's Your Ship: ManagementTechniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy describes how a lacklustervessel became a model for the fleet thanks to a captain who empowered his crewto want to be the best. "It's a significant book with a good story for afootball team," Lewis says. "[Abrashoff] took an underperforming group,had a vision and made it an exemplary ship."
Lewis hasstressed just such a teamcentric message to his players, emphasizing thatindividual success doesn't necessarily mean victory. "Last year, coming offa division championship, was a great lesson," Lewis says. "Dealing withsuccess, dealing with players wanting new contracts--I don't think we dealtwith that well at all. They need to understand that quality preparation duringthe week makes Sundays easier and gives us a better chance to win. The messagenow is, Just play your butt off and good things will happen, both for youpersonally and for the team."
No doubt goodthings will happen on offense, even after the speed threat out of thebackfield, rookie Kenny Irons, tore his left ACL in the first preseason gameand was lost for the year. Rudi Johnson still gives Cincinnati a reliableevery-down back. (He's averaged more than 1,400 yards over the last threeseasons.) A competent, pile-driving left guard, Stacy Andrews, should be O.K.as the departed Eric Steinbach's heir. When your biggest concern on offense isreplacing Henry as the third receiver (Tab Perry or college sprinter BennieBrazell will assume the role), it's a sign that your offense, eighth in scoringin '06, should be just as effective.
Part of thatassured feeling is Palmer's being more comfortable this year after gutting outa 2006 season that kicked off just 34 weeks after major knee reconstruction."Last year was frustrating," says Palmer. "I missed three passesagainst Atlanta [in a 29-27 loss] I should have completed in my sleep. Myrhythm just was a little off all year. Passes I might normally hit 10 out of10, I was hitting seven of 10 last year. I feel so much better this yearbecause I've been able to practice and throw like I normally do."
Curiously, otherthan drafting Hall, the Bengals did precious little to improve a 30th-rateddefense. The teams they'll have to beat for AFC supremacy--New England,Indianapolis and San Diego--strafed them for 38, 34 and 49 points,respectively, last year. That inaction could haunt them in December.
Defensive endJustin Smith is a nice fellow, a hard-tryer, a soft-spoken, cog-in-the-machinetype that every defense wishes it had. But he is not a franchise player, notwhen he has averaged seven sacks and 44 tackles a season in his six years. Heis, however, the closest thing the Bengals have to a great player on defense.(Who did you think we were going to anoint here? Domata Peko? Rashad Jeanty?)It's great to have a 4,000-yard quarterback, but if your defense issurrendering a league-worst 3,818 passing yards--as Cincinnati did--isn't thata wash? The Bengals needed to improve their front seven, but instead ofentering the Joey Porter sweepstakes they settled for a linebacking retread,Edgerton Hartwell, whose last two years were plagued by injury.
If young playerslike Hall and second-year middle linebacker Ahmad Brooks don't mature in ahurry on that defense, all the naval lessons in the world aren't going to makethis the best damn ship in the NFL.
2007 SCHEDULE
(M) Monday (S)Saturday
SEPTEMBER
10 BALTIMORE(M)
16 atCleveland
23 at Seattle
OCTOBER
1 NEW ENGLAND(M)
7 Bye
14 at KansasCity
21 N.Y. JETS
28 PITTSBURGH
NOVEMBER
4 at Buffalo
11 atBaltimore
18 ARIZONA
25 TENNESSEE
DECEMBER
2 atPittsburgh
9 ST. LOUIS
15 at SanFrancisco (S)
23 CLEVELAND
30 at Miami
SCHEDULESTRENGTH
NFL rank... T8
Opponents' 2006winning percentage ... .512
Games againstplayoff teams ... 6
ENEMY LINES
AN OPPOSINGTEAM'S SCOUT SIZES UP THE BENGALS
> It reallyhurts that Kenny Irons is out for the year. The Bengals were smart to takeIrons to spell Rudi Johnson on third downs and give the offense some of thespeed it needs. Did anyone notice that Johnson's rushing average went downhalf-a-yard last year? He needs some quality relief. . . . No one gives WillieAnderson the credit he deserves for being a great right tackle in both the passand the run game. . . . I would love to see Marvin Lewis give Bennie Brazell 15snaps a game as the fourth wideout. He's got surprisingly good hands for atrack guy, and Carson Palmer is so accurate on deep throws. . . . There's noone on the defense who scares me--except maybe Ahmad Brooks, who looks like hemight develop into the kind of rangy middle linebacker Marvin has hadeverywhere he's coached.
THE KING 500
Leon Hall
>CORNERBACK
340
The first thingyou notice watching the first-round rookie from Michigan is how comfortable helooks. Smooth. In training camp the 5' 11", 199-pound Hall clung to ChadJohnson in coverage and didn't let the trash talk distract him. "Practicinghere is the best thing I could do to be ready to play in the league rightaway," Hall says. "When Carson throws it, if I'm not right there, it'llalways be complete."
my SI
SI.com/bengals
Instant access tothe latest and best Bengals stories, stats and blogs from across the Web,handpicked by SI's editors.
PROJECTEDSTARTING LINEUP
WITH 2006STATISTICS
COACH MARVINLEWIS (35-29 in NFL), fifth season with Bengals
OFFENSE
CHAD JOHNSON
POS WR
REC 87
YARDS 1,369
TD 7
RUDI JOHNSON
POS RB
ATT 341
YARDS 1,309
AVG 3.8
REC 23
YARDS 124
AVG 5.4
TD 12
CARSON PALMER
POS QB
ATT 520
COMP 324
PCT 62.3
YARDS TD INTRATING
4,035 28 1393.9
JEREMIJOHNSON
POS FB
ATT 15
YARDS 56
AVG 3.7
REC 6
YARDS 37
AVG 6.2
TD 1
T.J.HOUSHMANDZADEH
POS WR
REC 90
YARDS 1,081
TD 9
WILLIEANDERSON
POS RT
HT 6' 5"
WT 340
G 16
BOBBIEWILLIAMS
POS RG
HT 6' 4"
WT 345
G 13
ERIC GHIACIUC
POS C
HT 6' 4"
WT 300
G 15
STACY ANDREWS
POS LG
HT 6' 7"
WT 342
G 16
LEVI JONES
POS LT
HT 6' 5"
WT 307
G 6
REGGIE KELLY
POS TE
REC 21
YARDS 254
TD 1
SHAYNE GRAHAM
POS K
FG 25-30
POINTS 115
DEFENSE
LANDONJOHNSON
POS WLB
TACKLES 112
SACKS 1/2
INT 1
ROBERTGEATHERS
POS LE
TACKLES 42
SACKS 10 1/2
DOMATA PEKO
POS LT
TACKLES 43
SACKS 2 1/2
JOHN THORNTON
POS RT
TACKLES 42
SACKS 2
JUSTIN SMITH
POS RE
TACKLES 81
SACKS 7 1/2
RASHAD JEANTY
POS SLB
TACKLES 59
SACKS 0
INT 0
JOHNATHANJOSEPH
POS CB
TACKLES 57
INT 0
MADIEUWILLIAMS
POS FS
TACKLES 88
SACKS 0
INT 3
AHMAD BROOKS
POS MLB
TACKLES 31
SACKS 1
INT 0
DEXTERJACKSON
POS SS
TACKLES 55
SACKS 0
INT 1
DELTHA O'NEAL
POS CB
TACKLES 37
INT 1
KYLE LARSON
POS P
PUNTS 77
AVG 44.5
> 2006 RECORD8-8 NFL RANK (Rush/Pass/Total): OFFENSE 26/6/8 DEFENSE 15/T-31/30
PHOTO
DAN BEINEKE/WIREIMAGE.COM
 GOINGDEEP With his QB fully healthy, Chad will be hanging with the All-Prosagain.
PHOTO
AL BEHRMAN/AP
ILLUSTRATION