Lewis, Bengal Nation Unconcerned About Suspension

Marvin Lewis and every other Bengals fan couldn’t care less about Chris Henry’s suspension. Why? Because unless the guilty party’s first name includes Carson, Rudi, Chad, or T.J., no one is going to be missing any sleep at night. Sure hearing the media coverage of so many Bengals in trouble with the law makes any fan cringe. However, when the football is kicked off on Sunday, all is forgiven. As far as I’m concerned, I’d have Al Capone and Tony Soprano as my two wideouts if they could run a 4.4 and catch a ball over the middle.

The arrests and subsequent suspensions have distracted the media from the real Bengal concerns: coaching and personnel. The highly acclaimed ESPN Page 2 writer Bill Simmons wrote on December 21, 2006 before the Bengals played the Broncos “Someone In The Know once told me, ‘Bet against Chuck Bresnahan (Cincy’s defensive coordinator) against any good coach. He stinks. Smart coaches and smart QBs always have a field day against him.'” The statistics agree with Mr. Simmons. In the past two years, the defense under Chucky “Child’s Play” Bresnahan’s tutelage has finished 28th and 30th in the NFL in total defense. Anyone who watched the Bengals games would be biting their nails every time the opposition had the ball. All one needs to do is look at the 42 second-half points the Chargers scored in Week 10. How the fuck is this guy not fired?!?

The Bengals optimist will point out that most of the current stars of today’s team were actually drafted by the Bengals (Carson, Rudi, Chad, TJ, etc) However, difference between an 8-8 team and an 11-5 team is a few savvy personnel moves. Let’s take two for instance: Chris Perry and Sam Adams.

The season previous to Chris Perry’s first round draft status (2003) resulted in an 8-8 record. While the offense led the Bengals to a 5-3 record in the 2nd half of the season, the defense finished 28th in the NFL in points allowed. Who do we spend a first round pick on, despite the presence of Rudi Johnson? Chris Perry. The oft-injured running back has proven to be a gigantic disappointment, and certainly hasn’t done anything to help our ailing defense. Two players subsequently drafted within 20 draft picks of Perry would be shut-down corner Chris Gamble and lights-out safety Bob Sanders. How much would the Bengals have to pay for these two in free agency now?

Speaking of free agency, there is the case of Sam Adams. Given the fact that no one can predict injuries, perhaps we’ll give the Bengals a pass on Chris Perry. However, the Sam Adams signing is EXACTLY the stupid contracts that keep the Bengals bogged down at 8-8. In 2006, the Bengals signed the then 32-year old Adams to a 3-year contract. I’m not an NFL personnel director, but when one looks up the headlines involving Sam Adams in his last year at Buffalo they include “Adams Benched vs. Pats” and “Adams to be Released by Bills” followed by a report from Bengals training camp “Adams to Attempt to Lower Weight to 320.” The results? 2 sacks and 10 total tackles. 10 FUCKING TOTAL TACKLES! Of course it would be much more insulting to the fans if we knew how much this fool was making, but the Bengals’ press release indicated “an undisclosed amount” in the contract.

Meanwhile, the much-maligned Patriots who let go the heroes of yesteryear instead of paying them higher contracts made huge splashes in free agency this offseason, including a PERFECT fit for the Bengals, the devastating and versatile LB Adalius Thomas. This is the same Patriots team that was one drive away from the SuperBowl last year, and the same team that slaughtered the Bengals. THEY added via free agency, meanwhile WE did not. How do you think next years meeting with New England will pan out?

Bottom line: Very few Bengals fans care about the 3rd string linebacker getting arrested or our 3rd WR getting suspended. Most fans can’t relate to multi-millionaire professional athletes anyway, therefore they don’t take it personally that these criminals play for their team. Bengals fans just want to win. The Bengals will only win once we establish a defense via coaching and personnel. So forget about Chris Henry, and fire Chucky “Child’s Play” Bresnahan.