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Bengals better than Ravens?
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You would think working for NFL.com would require some level of intelligence with regard to the league and the sport of football, but Gil Brandt has proved that's not true.
Brandt said he thinks the Cincinnati Bungles (err, I mean Bengals) will finish ahead of the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. He also made it seem as though Pittsburgh winning the division again was a foregone conclusion.
I'm speechless. Even if the Ravens have a ton of injuries and/or fall off some after last year's surprising finish, I still can't see them finishing worse than the Bengals.
Yes, Carson Palmer should be better now that his elbow is healed and the defense has gotten better through the NFL Draft, but this is a team that still has a lot of problems.
Chad Ocho Cinco is still a major distraction and quietly seems to be on the downside of his career. It also won't help that he no longer has T.J. Houshmandzedah to open things up for him. Chris Henry could get suspended any day for doing whatever stupid idea popped into his head, and Andre Caldwell isn't bringing back memories of Chris Collinsworth.
Cedric Benson as the starting running back? The guy showed a spark late last season, but let's not start doing the Icky shuffle just yet. He has shown a propensity to get into trouble with the law and has failed to put together one full, solid season.
The offensive line is pretty bad and I don't see anything that would change that in 2009. As a whole, I think the offense could be almost as bad as last year, with Palmer's return being just enough to outweigh the loss of Housh.
The defense is arguably better if some of the team's higher picks in this year's draft pan out, but they still are just rookies and their impact will likely be quite limited. I just don't see them stopping anyone. I can't get that hapless effort their defense threw together at home against the Ravens out of my mind. Just pathetic.
Obviously injuries could change everything, but looking at the two teams before the start of the season, there is no way the Ravens finish worse than the Bengals if key players stay healthy.
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