Alright Bengals fans, here are my three Bengals related thoughts following week one, first and foremost; if I continue to be a Bengals fan, I’m going to be impotent, bald and homeless by week five. Secondly, my friend Mel came up to me Sunday morning before the game and said “John, stop worrying, there is no way the Bengals can lose, ESPN says that no team has ever won their opening game with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback starting at the same time, so Baltimore can’t win.” On a side note, Mel’s goal in life is to tell me a statistic that I’ve never heard before, even if it’s as stupid as the one above. Anyway, I called my bookie 30 seconds later, because if I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that if ESPN, Vegas and Mel all think the Bengals are going to win, not only are they not going to win, but they’re going to lose so embarrassingly bad that I’ll have to take some sort of Advil, valium, heroin combination after the game.
Apparently last week’s power rankings were so accurate that only two teams fell out this week. Does this make me a genius, probably, but I’ll gloat later. Once again these rankings are simple, they are done as if I am a one man NCAA selection committee who had to pick the NFL playoff teams after week 8…and no, I won’t screw the Bearcats, I promise.
NFC
1.Chicago Bears-The Bears were beating the 49ers 41-0 at halftime, if only the Bengals could have done that in Miami in 1989. Speaking of Miami, that is who the Bears play this week. Seriously; Arizona, San Francisco and Miami in consecutive weeks, a well coached team of seven-year-olds could be undefeated with the Bears schedule.
2.N.Y. Giants-They stole the two seed from the free falling Seahawks, and they get a bye week to prepare for the Bears (well actually they play the Texans, but lets not kid ourselves, it’s the same thing).
{mosimage}Bengals fans went all out for the Atlanta Falcons game. We have some great photos. Check them out in our free Bengals fan gallery. We have added new photos from the Falcons game to our gallery. We will be adding new photos each day for the next week. If we took your photo at the game, keep checking back. You will be on the site in our gallery.
1.Quick, name the Raider’s starting quarterback…Exactly, there is only one universal rule in the NFL and it’s this; if you get beat by a guy named Andrew Walter, your pathetic. People, the Steelers are officially pathetic.
2.How bad is the AFC east (and when I say the AFC east, I mean everyone except New England)? The Jets lost to the Browns, I think the Arizona Cardinals could finish second in that division.
3.For the last two weeks, Michael Vick has looked like a Peyton Manning-Randall Cunningham cross breeding experiment gone horribly right.
A day after losing for the third time in four games and a couple of players questioning the team’s strategy, coach Marvin Lewis tried to put a smiley face on the Good Ship Bengals:
The Bengals aren’t the Titanic. They’re the S.S. Minnow, soon to be fine after a three-hour detour.
Lewis spoke about the good things the Bengals did in their 29-27 loss to Atlanta. He dismissed the criticisms made by running back Rudi Johnson and offensive tackle Willie Anderson as mere frustration that comes after a loss.
"We won the first three and I was just the same," Lewis said of his upbeat demeanor. "We’re not going to change. Unfortunately, there is only one team that has gone undefeated in the NFL. You are going to come up short once in a while.
"But if we keep doing things the right way, we are going to be right where we want to be at the end of the year. We’ve got to keep doing things right, do it better, more efficiently and more often."
Johnson complained that the Bengals stopped trying to run the ball against Atlanta’s smallish defense.
Ravens game Sunday key if Cincinnati has aspirations of returning to NFL playoffs.
Eight weeks deep into the NFL season, it's time to start thinking — and talking — playoffs.
This much is clear: If the Bengals don't shift into a higher gear, they'll be on the outside looking in come Jan. 1.
Sunday's game at Baltimore is pivotal because so much is riding on the outcome.
What's at stake: A victory ties the Bengals with the Ravens atop the AFC North Division, giving Cincinnati a 3-0 division record and the upper hand in a tiebreaker situation with Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
A door closes, but a window opens for the Bengals.
As disappointed as the Cincinnati players were following their 29-27 loss to Atlanta, they know salvation awaits at Baltimore.
A victory sends Cincinnati into a first-place tie with the Ravens in the AFC North Division and gives the Bengals advantage in a tiebreaker situation.
"There's always a bright side to something," Bengals linebacker Landon Johnson said. "This week, we have an opportunity to play a division game. If we win, we'll be in first place. That is huge."
The Team 
