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      The Bengals have finally found the right blueprint for success

      November 15, 2009 /

      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.

      NFL

      Real Salt Lake beats Chicago Fire in shootouts

      November 15, 2009 /

      Real Salt Lake

      The MLS Cup Playoffs provided another nail-biter on Saturday as Real Salt Lake defeated the Chicago Fire 5-4 in shootouts to win the Eastern Conference Championship.

      This time, Ned Grabavoy – a Chicago-area native and substitute in the final minute of overtime – scored the winning penalty kick in the seventh round as his shot went off the fingertips of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.

      Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made three saves in the shootout – all to his left – after stopping six shots through overtime.

      The Fire have lost three consecutive conference finals, and fell for the second time on penalties this season. They lost the SuperLiga final 2-1 via the tiebreaker to Tigres of Mexico on June 27.

      “It’s an empty feeling in your stomach right now,” Chicago coach Denis Hamlett said. “I think all season we worked hard and stuck together to get to this point and to lose the way we lost tonight; sometimes soccer is a cruel sport.”

      On November 22, Real Salt Lake will make their first appearance in the MLS Cup finals when they meet the Los Angeles Galaxy at Qwest Field in Seattle. The game will be shown on ESPN2 at 8:30 PM ET.

      Soccer

      Pacquiao brutalizes Cotto in final round, wins 7th straight title

      November 15, 2009 /

      Manny Cotto

      Many pundits thought Miguel Cotto would be the one to upset Manny Pacquiao in a title match, but they were wrong. Cotto gave it five strong rounds before struggling. Cotto, overcome by Pacquiao’s speed, could not escape the onslaught of punches coming his way. In the 12th and final round, Manny went rabid on his opponent, prompting the referee to stop the match.

      “They should have stopped it three rounds earlier, when Cotto started to run,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, who, once again, called the shot on how this one would go.

      And now Cotto, one of the toughest, most feared welterweights of the era, was reduced to dancing and ducking backward, apparently praying for a miracle. Afterward, Cotto said what has become obvious to all now.

      “I have fought all the greatest welterweights,” he said, “and Manny is the best.”

      Pacquiao’s move up through the ranks, from a 106-pounder 14 years ago to a 145-pound welterweight champion (they fought the 147-pound division at a catch weight of 145) has been like a military march.

      Manny has now won a record seven straight titles in seven divisions, gaining 40 pounds throughout the process. But that’s not the most amazing part…

      After 12 rounds of boxing, Manny met up with his band at Mandalay Bay to play a late-night gig.

      Cotto checked himself into the hospital.

      Boxing

      Q&A Question of the Week: Week 10

      November 15, 2009 /

      Every week, I pick one question from our Fantasy Football Q&A and post it on Sunday morning. This week’s question comes from Raj, who is wondering if he should trade Brett Favre away for Brandon Marshall.

      “I have been offered a trade for Brett Favre. He is giving me Brandon Marshall for Brett Favre. I already own Tom Brady. If I take this trade, then I will have no back-up QB. Favre is on-fire this year….not sure what to do. It could hurt me in the finals to, especially If I end up playing him.”

      My response: Raj — My first instinct is to say hell yes. Brady should be fine for the remainder of the year. Who’s available on the waiver wire at QB? I’m sure we can find someone that has a decent schedule during the fantasy playoffs.

      After the bye weeks have passed, it’s usually wise to start looking to unload your depth at one position to shore up another. Raj didn’t break down his roster in his question, but from a value standpoint a Favre-for-Marshall deal favors the owner getting Marshall. This is due to the relative depth at QB compared to the WR position. Since Raj already has Brady, he is set at QB, so he might as well add a playmaker at WR. There are probably a few QBs on his waiver wire that could act as serviceable backups to Brady if he were to go down before the fantasy playoffs.

      Besides, this 40-year-old version of Favre is an injury risk. It’s not like he’s guaranteed to be playing at a high level late in the season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      NFL Week 9 ROY Power Rankings

      November 15, 2009 /

      The first three players on this list were on bye last week, so we have to hold their places. Other than that, there have been quite a few impressive rookie performances this year so far…

      1. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—Seven picks leads all rookies and earned Byrd NFL defensive rookie of the month for October. What does he do for an encore? Vince Young might find out this Sunday in Nashville.

      2. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—He may have learned that the NFC West is not the Big Ten, but that hasn’t stopped Laurinaitis from making a lot of tackles. His 46 solo tackles leads all NFL rookies.

      3. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—One of the reasons Brad Childress is in line for coach of the year is that he foresaw Brett Favre and Percy Harvin making beautiful music together on the field, despite what all the critics were saying.

      4. LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles—His 115 all-purpose yards against Dallas was, dare we say it? Westbrook-esque.

      5. Jeremy Maclin, Philadelphia Eagles—As if opposing defensive coordinators were having trouble sleeping while scheming for DeSean Jackson, now they have this kid to worry about too.

      Honorable mention: Hakeem Nicks, Giants; Knowshon Moreno, Broncos; Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Michael Oher, Ravens; Mike Wallace, Steelers

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

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