It took almost five weeks, but finally something other than awful news for the Cleveland Browns. Even though it won't show up in the standings, there's a good chance they tied the Bengals last Sunday. 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
As the Cincinnati Bengals begin to reconstruct their team after a disastrous season, it makes perfect sense that they would use the franchise player designation to keep a key player around. With wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and offensive lineman Stacy Andrews among the potential free agents, the Bengals certainly had options for their tag.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
You had to know that the Cincinnati Bengals would be involved in the NFL's first tie game in six years. It's been that kind of year for the boys in orange and black.
They say that a tie is like kissing your sister. I guess the Bengals and Eagles better pucker up: the two set football back years before settling for a 13-13 tie.
The odd thing is that this was a kind of winning feeling for both teams. For the Bengals, anything that doesn't show up in the loss column is a positive experience. The Eagles, who didn't know games could end in a tie, have to feel good about not coming up with a loss since they played like they should have been pounded.
Donovan McNabb went 28-for-58 for 339 yards (that will happen when you throw it a career-high 58 times), one touchdown and three interceptions. The Eagles as a whole coughed it up four times which turned into ten of Cincinnati's 13 points.
All that throwin' meant Brian Westbrook had just 14 carries for 60 yards and was basically a non-factor.
The Bengals, Lions, Texans and Rams are the NFL's winless teams. They are a combined 0-17 and all seem to be staring down another bad season. One team has already lost its GM while another has fired its coach.
But what if we brought the four teams together and picked off the best guys to form a new team? Maybe they could win a game or two this season. So here we go.
QB-Carson Palmer (Cin), Marc Bulger (StL).
RB-Steven Jackson (StL), Steve Slaton (Hou), Rudi Johnson (Det)
FB-Vonta Leach (Hou)
WR-Andre Johnson (Hou), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cin), Roy Williams (Det), Calvin Johnson (Det)
TE-Owen Daniels (Hou), Randy McMichael (StL)
OT-Orlando Pace (StL), Stacy Andrews (Cin), Alex Barron (StL), Eric Winston (Hou)
OG-Bobbie Williams (Cin), Jacob Bell (StL), Chester Pitts (Hou)
C-Dominic Raiola (Det), Chris Myers (Hou)
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
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