Some coaches here have changed positions but mostly it’s the same group. Still, just like with the players, November and December tend to bring out the best and worst of coaches as well. Here is the updated Coach of the Year power rankings….

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Everyone kept saying the Colts hadn’t played a quality opponent yet. Well, they beat the Patriots in a thriller last Sunday night, and Caldwell’s team mirrored his calm sideline demeanor in working their way back from 17 points down late in the game to stay undefeated.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Each game is getting to be an adventure, and after almost blowing it against the lowly Rams, coach Payton’s stock has to have dropped just a tad. Still, his Saints are 9-0, and at the end of the day, all nine of those wins count.

3. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are for real. And Marvin Lewis, the defensive minded coach who has never had a defense to speak of in Cincinnati, finally has one. Boy, does he have one. But more than that, his Cardiac Cats are playing so inspired that they are now 7-2, leading the tough AFC North, and they are a combined 4-0 against the Steelers and Ravens. Wow.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Not much changes for Childress after disposing of the Lions last Sunday. It’s just that what Lewis has done is a bit more impressive.

5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—He’s now lost three straight, but I guess if you look at this and think that McDaniels’ Broncos are 6-3 when everyone may have expected them to be 3-6 at this point, he deserves to stay here….for now.

Honorable mention: Mike Tomlin, Steelers; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars

We’re getting deeper into November now, and as we do the playoff races in the NFL are getting tighter. That means certain players are beginning to step up an show their mettle at crunch time, while others are quietly fading off the map a bit. Here is our updated power rankings for NFL MVP….

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Thanks to Bill Belichick giving him a short field to work with last Sunday night, Manning once again led his team to victory to reach 9-0. But let’s not forget the Colts were trailing by 17 early in the fourth quarter before Manning led his team’s comeback.

2. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—It’s safe to say that nobody expected Brett Favre to have the highest QB rating in the NFL at this point (107.5). But there it is, with 17 touchdown passes and just 3 interceptions, and he’s led the Vikings to an 8-1 record with visions of the promised land becoming clearer.

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—He’s slipped just a little in our rankings despite his team being 9-0. It seems like each week it’s becoming more and more of a struggle for Brees and his Saints’ teammates, but until someone beats them, there’s no real reason to discount the QB’s season.

4. Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals—Unfortunately, Benson left last Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh with an injury, but there is no denying his value to this upstart Bengals’ squad so far.

5. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans—Sure, his team began the season with six straight losses. But suddenly, we have to give CJ props, because his team has now won three in a row, and he leads the league in rushing (1091 yards, 121 yards per game). He also has 30 catches for 262 yards and 9 total touchdowns. He’s a threat to score from any part of the field, any time.

Honorable Mention–Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars, Reggie Wayne, Colts; Jared Allen, Vikings

According to ESPN.com, Larry Johnson is close to signing a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. If the team does sign the troubled free agent, it is expected to be for the prorated league minimum.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said on Monday that if Johnson were signed that he would be inactive on game days. Cedric Benson (who suffered a hip injury yesterday in a win over the Steelers) would remain the starter and Bernard Scott would keep his No. 2 role. LJ would essentially be added as an insurance policy and would be the fourth tailback on Cincinnati’s depth chart.

This might not be a bad move for the Bengals just in case Benson’s hip injury is worse than originally thought. If Benson is healthy, then Johnson can rot on the sidelines for the rest of the year. If he isn’t, then Johnson can rot on the sidelines for the rest of the year unless Scott showed that he couldn’t handle the full-time rushing duties.

My question is whether or not LJ would ruin the Bengals’ chemistry. That might sound like a ludicrous statement given how dysfunctional Cincinnati has been over the years, but this appears to be a different Bengals team – one that plays together and could be affected by the addition of a cancer like Johnson.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/16/report-larry-johnson-to-sign-with-bengals/feed/ 1 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/15/the-bengals-have-finally-found-the-right-blueprint/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/15/the-bengals-have-finally-found-the-right-blueprint/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:53:44 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=29076

Last year, it was easy to view the Cincinnati Bengals as a joke. They were a mess on the field and an embarrassment off it. Their star player couldn’t stay healthy, their running back was a castoff from Chicago, one of their star receivers couldn’t match his off-field antics with quality on-field production and their head coach had no idea how to hold everything together.

But it’s amazing how one offseason can change everything. Carson Palmer is healthy again and playing extremely well, Cedric Benson has revived his career, Chad Ochocinco is still a circus act (but a productive circus act), and Marvin Lewis’ name keeps coming up as a coach of the year candidate.

The Bengals beat the Steelers 18-12 on Sunday and they didn’t use smoke and mirrors to do it. They held Rashard Mendenhall to 36 yards on 13 carries by dominating the line of scrimmage and forcing Ben Roethlisberger to beat them through the air. But Big Ben couldn’t and Cincinnati put the clamps on Pittsburgh’s offense inside the red zone and made the Steelers settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.

All in all, it was a complete effort by the best team in the AFC North. The Steelers and Ravens have often been highly regarded as the most physical teams in the division and the Bengals outplayed both of them not once, but twice this year. As long as Palmer and Benson (he left today’s game in the third quarter due to a hip injury) can stay healthy and the defense continues to play well, there’s no reason to think that the Bengals can’t make a deep run in the postseason.

The Bengals have finally figured out that chemistry can play a huge role in helping a team win. Gone are the days where the inmates run the asylum in Cincinnati; winning has a way of forcing players to shut up and fall in line.

Not much has changed in the Coach of the Year power rankings, because most of the coaches here won last weekend. Josh McDaniels is the only one who did not, and he’s in danger of falling into honorable mention.

1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Eight and Zero. 303 points for, 174 against. That’s an average score of 38-21. The 2007 Patriots’ had an average score of 37-17, and this team is reminding folks of that one.

2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Halfway through his rookie season as head coach, and Jim Caldwell hasn’t lost a game yet. Why isn’t anyone talking about this? Okay, so he inherited a pretty good team with an elite QB, but the Colts have had their share of injuries as well, and a coaching change.

3. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—We’re holding his place for the bye week, and he’s got the Lions this Sunday. Safe to say Mr. Childress’ seat here will stay warm.

4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Two wins against the Ravens, and Marvin’s boys are a stunning 4-0 in divisional play, including two wins against the Ravens. This weekend’s rematch with the Steelers will tell us a lot, but win or lose that one, Marvin has earned a place here.

5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Despite two straight losses to Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Broncos are still 6-2 when many thought they’d be 2-6 at this point.

Honorable mention: Bill Belichick, Patriots; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Mike Tomlin, Steelers; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals

With Drew Brees and Peyton Manning leading their teams to victory again, barely, there is no good reason to drop them in the rankings here. Meanwhile, Brett Favre and Jared Allen did not play, so we held spots for them, but moved Cedric Benson up based on a second 100-yard rushing performance against the Ravens.

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—Halfway through the season, Brees and his Saints are 8-0 and have a three game lead in their division. Suffice to say, this team appears to be headed toward a first round bye, and their QB is one of the biggest reasons.

2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—After a subpar start to 2008 after knee surgery, Manning wanted to get off to a fast start this season, and he has done just that. But what might be more impressive is that after Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, he’s throwing to guys named Garcon and Collie.

3. Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals—He rushed for 120 yards against the Ravens in Week 5, and 117 yards against them in Week 9. Read that back. That’s two 100 yard games against the Baltimore Ravens, and that’s just sick.

4. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—The old man still has it, much to the dismay of everyone in Northern Wisconsin. You think Ted Thompson is sleeping well lately?

5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—He’s had two weeks to rest those wheels that never seem to stop moving. Next on Allen’s hit list is that poor Stafford kid in Detroit.

Honorable Mention–Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Tom Brady, Patriots; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars, Chris Johnson, Titans; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Michael Turner, Falcons; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Steve Smith, Giants

Bengals’ receiver Chad Ochocinco has been fined $20,000 by the NFL for flashing a dollar bill at an official during a replay challenge in Cincinnati’s 17-7 win over the Ravens last Sunday.

Per ESPN.com:

In the third quarter of the Bengals’ eventual victory, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer completed a 15-yard pass to Ochocinco. Baltimore challenged the call, contending that he was out of bounds, and the Ravens won the challenge.

While the play was under review, Ochocinco held a $1 bill at his side. The official appeared aware of his antic and waved him off.
“I was just being me,” Ochocinco told the NFL Network after the game. “I wasn’t going to do it for real.”

According to a league spokesman, Ray Anderson, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, fined Ochocinco for violating a rule that “prohibits use of abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures toward game officials. He was also in violation of Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 (f) of the Playing Rules which prohibits possession or use of extraneous objects that are not part of the uniform during the game on the field or sideline.”

The NFL also cited Ochocinco using the word “bribe” in his postgame comments to reporters.

“You don’t mess around with the integrity of the game,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Friday. “It’s not a matter for jokes. Chad crossed a line there, and I told him he has to understand that. I think he does now.”

I don’t know; I’m not surprised that the NFL fined him because they don’t want him or anyone else to make a habit of pulling pranks while on the field, but to say that Chad crossed the line is a bit much. He was just trying to have some fun and never means any harm by his pranks.

Again though, the NFL had to fine him or else players would be trying to outdo each other (or themselves in the case of Ochocinco) every week and while I don’t mind the occasional stunt, I wouldn’t want pranks to take away from the actual game itself.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
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