Through Air or Sea or..........FIRE. (Cue The Guitar Power Solo)

The Bengals scorched earth campaign against the Bears seems like years ago coming off a bye week. Does Bratkowski continue to have his Frank the Tank "That's how you debate!" moment? Is Brian Leonard going to do everyone a favor and vivisect Ray Lewis in the tunnel before the game? Will Ed Reed miss the game due to overwhelming fatigue stemming from being a badass 24 hours a day? We will find out in a few short hours.

Comments

[Sue]

I am as nervous as a ...

This game is HUGE!!!!!

We KNOW the Ratbirds have the mo going. I am praying the Bengals haven't rested too much on the glory of the Bears' win...

[Scott Ricketts]

I am cautiously optimistic with this first half performance. However, these are the Bengals.

[votasi]

win or lose, i hope some of you yeast infections are pleased now that marvin doesn't have to deal with the malcontent and undermining chris henry. he may only have had only a couple receptions a game but i think he was talented and we'll have to come up with ways to threaten deep and long over the middle without him. in the same vein, i'd like to give the bengals props so far this season for dealing with injury much better than in the past - odom (regardless of whether a lot of his sacks were 'cheap' like several commentators on this site have argued, his pressure is still missed, though the defense is overcoming), roy (a bit of a pussy in my opinion, but strong against run, yet we are overcoming), the tight ends have been a problem without utecht and reggie, though we are overcoming. now mathias is out and the original starer, livings, is back in. so far so good, and a bright spot from an area they have been historically horrendous in. who-the-f@ck-dey.

[IHateMikeBrown]

It was an impressive win from playing ball control and good defense.

It's a shame losing Chris Henry; but Jerome Simpson is probably going to get a chance to play in the NFL. They have to see is he Mr Bust Man for sure, or not.

[Michael]

The only negative thing I saw was with Chad Johnson holding onto the ball. He made great catches and was giving 100%. The question comes to mind was Chad trying to look good or was he trying to get the extra yards? Is it going to become a trend with him losing the ball.
Overall it is a great day for our Bengals....who dey!!!!

[Mockenrue]

Votasi, who here was actually still ripping on Chris Henry in any kind of serious manner? I'm pretty sure the only things I've seen on this site about him are things like "Why can't we get Chris Henry the ball more? Dude is talented." Please don't invent reasons to insult the WDR community.

[votasi]

typical propaganda, mockenrue. this site, and most of it's writers have gotten their tiny little jimmy's off for the last two seasons every chance they get to mention how devastating it was to team unity and marvin's credibility because chris henry had been chosen for redemption by mike brown. after his suspension last year (for an incident that was quickly dismissed due to false testimony by the star eye witness) it was, 'guy brings nothing to the table...can't catch td's to save his felonious ass'. he's been an easy fall-back whenever there's been a need for a cheap swing at how the bengals are inept in their management and ability. those with any football sense have been asking why we don't craft more plays for him to get open, and we also know that while he's an incredible talent, he is still maturing in all facets of being a receiver - crisp routes, losing alligator arms, blocking, ball protection, all-around hustle.

for as long as i have been commenting on this site, i've said this, and i'll say it again: get off commenting on players and week-to-week games. as you so frequently point out, there are other blogs for that. the reason we are all here is to force a change in the bengals management structure for the better in the order of your well-crafted manifesto. this is your challenge: in a great bengals year (unsustainable in your mind) you need to be a leader and come up with ways to still get the message out and generate an effective response against mike brown's status quo. and by whatever made-up f@ck you all believe in, you better not be at any bengals home playoff game if there is one. (only sleepy-pops has taken that pledge that i've seen so far)

[Sleeping With Bieniemy]

Always a pleasure votasi. I've taken my Monistat and the itching/pain has all cleared up. Thanks.

WDR's stance on Henry has always been:

1. Bringing him back against Marvin's wishes was a debacle and the major confirming evidence that Mike still had final control over personnel instead of Marvin (read the press conference/articles when Marvin was hired, it was said that Marv would have essentially equal say).
2. We have gotten lucky that Henry worked out. Having a coach get publicly embarrassed and neutered by the owner consistently will come back to haunt the Bengals. So far it has not been a problem for Marvin.
3. Now that we've endured all this shit for taking Henry back, might as well use him if we can
4. I am nervous we lost him because he creates problems even when he is not targeted by Palmer with a throw

As for Marvin, WDR's stance has always been:

1. He is the best coach ever under Mike Brown
2. He has some flaws in things like clock management and maybe with some other basic strategy but is otherwise a solid leader that players like to play for
3. We would hate to see him leave for fear of what might replace him

In fact, after watching Hard Knocks, it sure seems like we have great position coaches at all spots (save offensive coordinator).

I will not be at any Bengals home games until the Revolution ends.

The Bengals have handled injury well. But as Showtime pointed out, losing Odom was never as bad as people unfamiliar with the Bengals thought it would be. We're deep at receiver so I hope the loss of Henry can be offset but our lack of catching threat of tight end makes me think the passing game will suffer in the long term. Assuming Rivers isn't out long, there really aren't any other critical injuries. I don't know how crucial or severe the Mathis thing is, but that may pose a problem too.