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Like the Rest of Us, T.J. Houshmazilly Is Not Impressed With the Bengals' Offense


T.J. Houshmandzadeh (he's the smart Bengals wide receiver) gets points for frankness, although, unfortunately, that doesn't do much to change the sorry state of Cincinnati's offense. It's all very confusing, really, since this group has been routinely been one of the most explosive unit's in the league in three of the last four seasons.

Following yesterday's totally uninspiring effort against the Ravens, Houshmazilly lost it:
"We just suck on offense right now. That's terrible. We can't move the ball. We can't get a first down. We can't run. We can't throw. The defense played great, and we just didn't play good on offense, bottom line."
A quick look at the numbers confirms that the Bengals offense was indeed sucky. Carson Palmer finished 10 of 25 for 99 yards and a pick, and Chris Perry, allegedly the key to this offense, managed just 37 yards on 18 carries.

As for Houshmandzadeh's contention that "the defense played great," I can only assume he was being a smart-ass since that outfit allowed the Ravens to rush for 229 yards, including a 38-yard Joe Flacco touchdown scamper. And that's rookie Joe Flacco, who was making his first NFL start and runs like he's wearing cement moon boots.

I understand why Cincy's front office cut ties with Rudi Johnson and Willie Anderson (to save a few buck) but they could've used both of them yesterday. Luckily, Chris Henry made an immediate impact: he didn't register a catch despite being on the game-day roster, which is what happens when you're serving a league-mandated suspension.

Open Letter to Marvin Lewis: Cut the Crap! Your Team Sucks! Admit It!

Dear Marvin Lewis,

Your bull is getting old. I know you think the people here in Cincinnati are still buying what you are selling (they've been doing it for a while) but it isn't working anymore. You have officially brought the franchise back to their 1990s selves.

During a post game interview, you said that the team did a good job against the run ... aside of the two big runs that went for TDs. That's like saying "aside from not being funny, Larry the Cable Guy is a good comedian".

Baltimore ran the ball for 229 yards. Yeah, aside from the 42 and 38 yard runs ... you only gave up 149 yards rushing.

Baltimore got the ball with the lead and 7:15 left in the game. The Ravens ran out the clock (10 of the 11 plays were runs). Unbelievable.

Baltimore had the ball for 36:15 to Cincy's 23:45. You don't hold onto the ball like that if you can move the chains on the ground.

Baltimore converted on 9-of-17 third downs.

Baltimore's offensive line has been patched together. One of their linemen was cut by you last week.

Cowboys Begin Super Bowl Run With Impressive Win Over Cleveland

When the best that people can throw at you is "you haven't shown you can win in the playoffs" ... that usually means you are pretty good.

Pretty good during the season, that is.

Still, when the regular season is just beginning ... that's not a bad thing to be called. You can't worry about shaking that "playoff choker" tag unless you can get back there.

The Dallas Cowboys looked like a team that could steamroll there with their 28-10 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Pretty much everything you expected from the Cowboys happened yesterday. Tony Romo was brilliant: completing 24-of-32 passes for 320 yards and a TD. Terrell Owens caught that touchdown pass to go with his 87 yards. Marion Barber scored two TDs to go with his 80 yards rushing. And rookie Felix Jones scored a TD on his first professional carry.

Dallas: 487 yards of offense. The defense wasn't too bad, either.

Ravens Sneak By Very 2007-Looking Bengals

In a battle of which team had the most preseason babel, the Baltimore Ravens bested the Cincinnati Bengals using that same old defense we've all grown to love.

Carson Palmer and the Bengals always bi-polar offense scored just diez points and were outplayed by a rookie quarterback from the University of Delaware who apparently isn't rattled by the National Football League.

Joe Flacco went 15-29 for 129 yards and a touchdown, adding a 38-yard jog for a touchdown that put the Ravens up 17-3 at the end of the third quarter.
"It's just football. It's a lot of fun, though, just like it's always been," said Flacco, the 18th overall pick in the NFL draft. "I think our offense was in control all day. And obviously we had a lot of help from our defense."
The defense they are talking about held that Bengals offense to just seven first downs, 154 total net yards and Palmer to just 99 complete yards passing. It isn't totally clear if the Ravens defense is that good or the Bengals offense is that bad. The one thing that is certain is the Chad Ocho Cinco era is off to smoking start.

Steelers 38, Texans 17: Welcome to the NFL, Duane Brown

If the Texans are going to make the leap to the playoffs this year, the playoff drive will have to start in Week Two, and if the Steelers could play like this every week (they can't) they'd easily win the AFC North. Here's the stars and goats as I see it from the Steelers' 38-17 win.

Stars Of The Game:

1. Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley.

If there's any reason the Steelers will be significantly better this year, it's because Woodley is a better pass rusher and athlete than Clark Haggans, the veteran he replaces in the starting lineup. The opener gave a pretty good sign of what he can do. Woodley had a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery and two quarterback hurries to go with three tackles. Harrison gave rookie left tackle Duane Brown a rude introduction with three sacks, a forced fumble and eight tackles. The Steelers won't get four sacks from their outside linebackers every week, but Sunday was a good sign that they will get plenty of pressure, even when they rush only four.

Dominating Win a Good Omen for Steelers

The Steelers got off to a great start with a 38-17 win over the Texans, in a game where the final score is almost a little misleading--the Steelers led 35-3 in the third quarter before bringing in the backups.

But what does a dominating debut mean for the rest of the season? Actually it's a very good sign apparently. I picked out the five best season-opening wins since Chuck Noll took over the team. Of those five wins, four of them came from playoff teams, including two Super Bowl champs and another team that made the AFC Championship.

Here's the five most dominating opening game performances for the Steelers before today.

Steelers Cruising at Halftime

Not a bad first half for the Steelers as they jumped out to a 21-3 lead on the Texans. Here's what jumped out to me:

Hines Ward had no catch longer than 25 yards last year as he turned completely into a possesion receiver (only seven of his 71 catches were for more than 20 yards), but the Steelers seemed to realize that to get him open short, he has to occasionally go deep, so backs won't just sell out to stop the short stuff. Even though it was called back because of offensive pass interference (on what looked like a questionable call), the Steelers willingness to throw deep to Ward (for a 75-yard pass) in the first quarter showed the Steelers will do a better job this year of not looking just to Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington for the deep ball. And the fact that the Texans tried to cover Ward with a linebacker on the play showed an example of why the Steelers should send Ward deep more often. Going deep did help open things up short, as Ward later had a catch-and-run for 29 yards--longer than any catch he had last year.

• Jeff Reed has some first-game adrenaline, as his first kickoff went seven yards deep. Now he just needs to show this year that his leg doesn't wear out as the season goes along.

Willie Parker's Back As a Fantasy Factor

Three years ago, Willie Parker helped numerous fantasy football players win their leagues as he went from late-round find to 1,200-yard back. He was an even better steal in 2006. Many fantasy football players worried about whether he was big enough to be a goal line back, so he dropped in the drafts again. Those questions were answered as he set a Steelers record with 16 touchdowns including 13 rushing TDs.

And then last year, he fell apart. It wasn't that Parker didn't still get plenty of yardage--1,494 yards isn't shabby--but he scored only two touchdowns. Combine that with the Steelers decision to draft Rashard Mendehall in the first round and once again this year there were plenty of worries about whether Mendenhall would steal carries and touchdowns.

In the first half against the Texans, Parker is erasing those concerns. He has two first-half rushing touchdowns, as many as he had last year. Mendenhall didn't come into the game until the middle of the second quarter, after Parker already had nine carries. Mendenhall will take some carries from Parker this year, but because of his fumble problems and his tendency to run high and chop his feet, he doesn't look ready to take over the goal line duties.

For the Bengals Offense, Perry Is the Key


The Bengals made a commitment to clean up the organization after a string of embarrassing off-field incidents (my personal favorite: Chris Henry getting arrested for brandishing a firearm in public ... while wearing a Chris Henry jersey). That lasted about six months.

The team decided to re-sign Henry this summer despite all his baggage (that's figurative baggage, Tatum Bell), and in recent weeks, veteran leaders Rudi Johnson and Willie Anderson have been released. Interesting personnel philosophy.

Truthfully, Cincinnati parted ways with Johnson because of money and health issues, but his replacement, Chris Perry, has a long history of injuries. The former 2004 first-round pick has played in just 22 games in three seasons, and started just three. But if Perry can stay on the field, he offers more versatility than Johnson, who was more of a straight-ahead runner.

And while any discussion about the Bengals usually begins and ends with Carson Palmer and Chad Javon Ochocinco, Perry could be the biggest factor in determining if this offense rebounds from a lackluster 2007 effort.

Shaun Alexander Contemplates Name Change, NFL Future

Back in June, when the news was still relatively fresh, CBSSports.com's Clark Judge spoke to various personnel types to help explain why Shaun Alexander's NFL career was probably over. Short story: "soft runner" label + Curse of 370 = forced retirement.

And two and a half months later, Alexander's still looking for work, although the Associated Press reports that the 2005 NFL MVP has no plans on getting on with life after football, and he expects to be signed any day now.
...[T]he 31-year-old Alexander believes his signing is imminent with one of a handful of teams that have provided "a constant flow of calls," including his hometown Cincinnati Bengals. So imminent, his extended family members in Northern Kentucky are suggesting a new name.

In Seattle, Alexander wore No. 37. ... "They want me to be Tres Siete," Alexander said Friday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, laughing at the twist on the Bengals star receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson now being officially recognized as Chad Ocho Cinco, to match his uniform number 85 in Cincinnati.
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