Bengals Banter

The holidays certainly are a busy time, and as such I'm unsure as to whether or not I want to talk about the Bengals beating Pittsburgh, Chad Johnson's comments in the news, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl or the Reds trading Sean Casey...guess I'll start with 'dem Bengals.

Ok so the Bengals. Actually Steelers - Fuck Hines Ward. I've always loved him as a player and admired his enthusiasm, then he mocks Chad Johnson's Riverdance & follows up with the Icky Shuffle. Now, I could do the Riverdance - it is pretty stupid. Funny, but stupid. But when you bust out the Icky Shuffle you've went too fuckin' far. I'm really yet to see the first end zone celebration be derogitory towards another team, but then again we've never been the first place team able to back up our shit talk. It was ok when you were the top dawg, people could celebrate and get excited, but they'd always end up losing in the end - well, now Hines can lick his own asshole.

What a vindicating win. And I really don't like hating on the Steelers, I like to build up my hatred Brian Billick and unleash that during Ravens' games.

And forgive me for jumping the gun a bit, but I'm ready to talk Pro Bowl. In 1989 we sent 6 players and haven't touched that number since, but we may approach it again as coaches & players vote on December 19th & 20th and the fan ballots stop.

Definite: QB Carson Palmer, WR Chad Johnson, RT Willie Anderson, CB Deltha O'Neal
Maybe: RB Rudi Johnson, MLB Odell Thurman, LT Levi Jones, K Shayne Graham

In Palmer you have either the #1 or #2 rated passer in the NFL all season, Johnson is the perennial AFC receiving leader, Anderson is still the best RT in the NFL and O'Neal is your interception leader.

Rudi has some tough company at the spot in having to outshine Edgerrin James and LaDainian Tomlinson, but he appears to be battling with the Chiefs' Larry Johnson for the 3rd and final spot. My notion tells me Johnson will win as he has more yards, TD's and a higher YPC, but usually one of the top 3 bow out anyway and Rudi may go back to the Pro Bowl again by that nature.

Odell Thurman should be everybody's Defensive Rookie of the Year in the AFC. I mean, I thought FS Madieu Williams would garner votes last season but was destroyed by a much higher profile MLB Jonathan Vilma, but this year I think it's a no-brainer. As far as the Pro Bowl goes however, Vilma's going to get votes in front of him as well as guys like Gary Brackett & Zach Thomas. He has a good chance as going as an alternate, but I don't think Thurman goes this year otherwise. Wait for the near future, he'll be there plenty.

Any time a QB leads the league in passing, you can usually pencil in his blindside T to be mentioned for the Pro Bowl. Now in Cincinnati we've known our Tackles have been good the last few years, but after the Indianapolis game I think most people know how good Jones is with the job he did against Dwight Freeney. Jones essentially made Johnathan Ogden look old, and he's really done nothing he hasn't done for the last 2 seasons.

Who else did I mention...Shayne Graham. His kickoffs are god-awful, but anytime you rank 2nd in points and drill some 82% of your attempted kicks for a winning team, you're going to get plenty of mention. Graham's ass is slightly saved on the kickoffs by a great coverage unit and that may totally alleviate the knock on him, and as of right now I believe he's leading the fan balloting anyway. Since he looks like he may be there anyway, I guess I should've probably listed him first before Rudi so this pick doesn't look like so much of a stretch.

Bottom Line: I'm thinking 5 Bengals in the 2006 Pro Bowl.