Larry Brown Sports

Terrell Owens loves to point the finger. In fact, it may be his all-time favorite pastime. Whether it’s making fun of Donovan McNabb’s new contract or criticizing Jason Garrett’s coaching methods in Dallas, T.O. always has to let his opinion be heard on issues around the NFL.  And when his own team is the problem, Owens isn’t afraid to go there either.

As relayed by SB Nation, T.O. told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the Bengals are “terrible” after the team’s 49-31 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.  More specifically, he said, “Let me look you in the eyes and emphasize — we are terrible.”  The wide receiver may have sounded more professional if he threw a “right now” in there as in, “We are terrible right now.”  At least that would imply the Bengals haven’t completely cashed it in on 2010 and encourage fans to still show up to the games.

Nonetheless, Owens is right.  Cincinnati is now 2-8 after a massive collapse on Sunday against one of the NFL’s worst teams.  Aside from the Cowboys, I’d say the Bengals are the big surprise of 2010.  Their roster is filled with Pro Bowl caliber players, yet they look like the Bengals Corey Dillon grew tired of before he forced his way out of town.

We can expect to see some pretty big changes for the Bengals after this year.  Marvin Lewis could finally be gone and it might even be a good idea for them to part ways with Carson Palmer.  Like we said before, Palmer just isn’t what he used to be and whatever they have going on right now is clearly not getting the job done.  Something’s got to give.

The more Cincinnati Bengals games I watch, the more I realize Carson Palmer just isn’t what he used to be.  A former Pro Bowler and top-5 quarterback in the NFL, Palmer has had a lot of trouble protecting the football over the past few seasons.  More specifically, he has never appeared to be the same Carson since he tore his ACL during the playoffs back in 2006.

Palmer’s seventh interception of the 2010 season was a costly one.  The Bengals found themselves trailing the Dolphins 22-14 late in the game Sunday afternoon, but still had a chance to send the game to overtime.  They even got some help from Miami when a roughing the passer call put Cincinnati into Dolphins territory.  Just when it appeared the Bengals had a shot to drive the field and at least give themselves a chance to tie with a touchdown and a two-point conversion, Palmer threw the ball right into the hands of Miami defensive back Sean Smith.  It was the first pick of Smith’s career.

If you add in Terrell Owens’ lucky touchdown catch that should have been an interception, you get a tough day from the Bengals’ leader.  With Chad Ochocinco and T.O., Palmer has plenty of talent to throw to and just hasn’t been able to get it done.  The Bengals now find themselves in a hole with a 2-5 record, and for once we can say a lot of the blame rests on their quarterback’s shoulders.

Hmm.  A wide receiver that wants to join the Cincinnati Bengals even though the Bengals don’t seem to want him.  Doesn’t that sound like another story we heard this past off-season?  Oh, yeah.  It was that Terrell Owens guy, and Chad Ochoncinco eventually got what he wanted when the Bengals brought him on board.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who left the Bengals last off-season after playing G.M. and trying to call his own shots, seems to be interested in teaming up with Batman and Robin.  Would that make him Catwoman?  I can’t think of any other significant characters from the Batman series, so I guess that’s the role he’d be accepting.  In any event, it’s obvious Housh wants to go back to Cincinnati when the Seahawks inevitably trade or release the wide receiver.

I miss it,” Houshmandzadeh told Carlos “Big C” Holmes of the Dayton Daily News in December 2009.  “The grass ain’t always greener.  Let me tell you that.”

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Brace yourselves everyone. T.O. and Ochocinco are coming to a town near you. The 36-year-old Terrell Owens agreed to deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday. Win or lose, it should at least be as good HBO’s Hard Knocks.”

The question now is, of course, will this be a match made in heaven or hell? Well, that just depends on who you are and what week of the season it is. Right now it’s honeymoon time and Twitter accounts are aflutter with excitement over having the two reality stars on the same roster. By week eight, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cincinnati starts showing up on the midseason bust list and is more entertaining for self-destructive incidents than football.

At 36, T.O. is not half the player he once was, tallying the least productive season of his career since starting in the league with San Francisco. Optimists and Ohio sports fans looking to bounce back from LeBron can get excited for this, but with two personalities that big out on the flanks, the odds of this working are slim to none. Even if T.O. does not end up displaying the same character issues he offered in in Philadelphia and Dallas, career lows across the board are not going to make this a worthwhile signing for the Bengals.

I can only wish my most sincere good luck to QB Carson Palmer. The passing game was so poor for the Bengals that the guy actually campaigned for T.O. to sign with Cincinnati.

Marvin Lewis is aware of the reputation his team has built when it comes to legal trouble. As the Bengals’ head coach, it’s in his best interest to try to clear the air on some of the issues surrounding his players when he has an opportunity. According to ProFootballTalk, Lewis told the Cincinnati Enquirer that his running back, Cedric Benson, was not responsible for the bar fight that lead to his arrest back in May. Here are Lewis’ comments about the incident, via ProFootballTalk:

The truth about Cedric is that he got sucker-punched in a bar,” said Lewis, who’s overwhelmingly confident that he’s accurately received all the facts from Benson’s late-May assault charge. “Cedric got attacked in a bar. Only because it was Cedric Benson does it become news. I think that’s something you have to understand.”

“I don’t know why we’re even talking about Cedric being suspended a game,” Lewis added. “I don’t even know why we’re bringing it up. To me it’s unbelievable. It wouldn’t be brought up in 31 other cities in the country I think.”

Maybe Benson really wasn’t at fault, but let’s not play dumb here. Saying it wouldn’t be brought up in 31 other cities is an exaggeration since the media feasts upon these types of stories. We’re talking about him being suspended because the bar fight arrest marked the fifth time he’s been booked in his life. Forgive everyone for assuming he’s guilty until proven innocent. I like Marvin Lewis and I have no problem with a coach going to bat for his players, but don’t act like the media is blowing things out of proportion when one of those players averages about an arrest per year.

Sources:
Marvin Lewis goes to bat for Benson [ProFootballTalk]

Three years ago I mocked the Bengals because their players couldn’t stay out of trouble by ranking their players’ arrests based on the crime. After bad boys Chris Henry and Odell Thurman were heavily suspended by the NFL, I figured the Bengals would learn not to harbor poor character guys for fear they wouldn’t be able to make it onto the field. Clearly that was nothing more than a hope, because the Bengals proceeded to take players with major character issues in each of the past three drafts. 2008 pick Jason Shirley was kicked off his college team and arrested for DUI, 2009 pick Bernard Scott had been arrested five times, and 2010 second-round pick Carlos Dunlap got popped for DUI the week of the SEC Championship game. As if that wasn’t enough, the Bengals brought on Cowboys castoff and firearms dealer Tank Johnson who’s managed to stay out of trouble, Larry Johnson who had several assault arrests in Kansas City, and Cedric Benson who worked out nicely for the club.

Cincinnati must have been convinced that they were doing the Lord’s work, because the recent success of the team got to their head and they decided to do the stupidest thing I could imagine this off-season. The Bengals brought in cocaine user and all-around idiot Matt Jones and strip club addict and trouble magnet Pacman Jones for workouts. They signed Jones but were initially unimpressed with Pacman. A few months later, they agreed on a two-year deal with Pacman Jones who’s set to sign this week.

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As we approach week 2 of the preseason, three first-round picks remain unsigned: Michael Crabtree for the 49ers, Aaron Maybin of the Bills, and none other than Andre Smith of the Bengals. Even though Smith had said he wanted to get into camp early so he could begin learning immediately, the Bengals don’t seem to be helping matters. In fact, they anticipated a holdout all along, probably because they know they low-ball their draft picks. Check out the latest, disturbing information:

According to those familiar with the negotiations, the Bengals last offer to Smith was five years at the base at $28 million and a maximum of $33 million. That’s lower than what the Jets’ Vernon Gholston received last year as the sixth pick (base of $32.5 million) and way lower than what Oakland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey received as this year’s seventh pick (base of $38.25 million).

Now I won’t fault the Bengals for Oakland’s incompetence, but given their history, I have no reason to doubt those figures. Honestly, who offers almost five million less than what the guy got the previous year? Between this and having a barebones scouting department, it’s painfully obvious that Cincinnati’s chief concern is being frugal, not winning. I’m truly surprised they found the money in their budget to sign Laveranues Coles in the offseason.