Bengals / Patriots Preview

I gotta admit, I'm a little scared about this game.

Not just because this Patriots team has won three Super Bowls.

Not just because Corey Dillon still has a bone to pick with the city of Cincinnati.

And not just because this week has been a love fest between these two teams in the media.

I'm really scared because I think the Patriots offense, more than any other we've faced, is designed to exploit the weaknesses of our defense.

As we all know, the Bengals are short a few linebackers this week. While we have a good secondary to defend the wideouts, I'm scared that our depleted LB corps won't be able to cover the Patriots' two very good tight ends, Daniel Graham and Ben Watson. Brady is preternaturally good and making solid short passes to these two, and I can only hope that Simmons, Miller, and Kaesviharn can cover these two enough to force some 3rd and outs.

Other Things of Note

• Even espn.com is calling out Tory James now: "Brady would be wise to target CB Tory James, who allows too many big plays. " I re-watched last Sunday's game against the Steelers last night, and Tory definitely lived up to this description. I'm really pleased with the development of Jonathan Joseph, because I don't think Tory has a lot left in the tank.


• Our O line has to protect Carson better than they did last week. For some reason, the 3-4 always gives us headaches, and Belichick is bringing a good one to Paul Brown Stadium. Levi Jones hasn't shown great mobility, and Willie Anderson blew a couple assignments last week. We really need a great game out of our supposedly top-notch offensive line.


• If we can get Rudi going early, Carson should embarrass the Patriots' secondary. I expect Mr. Palmer to throw in the neighborhood of 325 yards on Sunday.


• My mom's going to be at the game on Sunday, so if you see a pretty white lady at Paul Brown, tell her I said hi.


• This should be a fun, high scoring game. Here's to hoping that Brady flips out again like he did last week. Did anyone see that game against Denver? Funny stuff. After a controversial call, they showed Brady on the sidelines, just fuming. So he starts jawing at the ref, and just as the words "What the F-" are coming out his mouth, NBC does a star wipe and they cut away to a replay. See, NBA? You can anticipate obviously-mouthed bad words and cut away. Not only does it keep your sponsors happy, it's also fun to the play the "which expletive comes next" game with your friends.


• I cannot stress how awesome it will be to go into our bye week undefeated. But it ain't gonna be easy. We knew at the beginning of the season how tough our schedule was going to be this year, but we've risen to the occasion every Sunday thus far. Let's put another W on the board and focus on embarrassing the Bucs in week six.

WHO DEY?