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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > June > 25 > Entry
What a rush! Can Bengals’ ‘D’ stop 1,000-yard parade?
===LUDWIG AT LARGE has a question for loyal readers. Did the Cincinnati Bengals do enough on defense this offseason to get the run stopped in 2008?===
The Chickster just arrived home from church, where he said a silent prayer for the Bengals defense, which really, really needs it.
This fall, Cincy’s “D” faces 10 tailbacks who rushed for at least 1,000 yards in 2007. They’ll face three of those studs TWICE in the AFC North Division. That’s 13 games against monster backs.
Oh, yeah, and the news gets worse. The three teams the Bengals face that didn’t have a thousand-yard rusher — Kansas City, Houston and Dallas — all drafted talented tailbacks.
The Bengals’ 2007 defense ranked 27th overall, yielding 348.8 yards a game. It was 26th against the pass (230.4) and 21st against the run (118.3).
Bottom line: Cincy better get the run STOPPED or else it’s CURTAINS!
Here’s a breakdown of 1,000-yard opponents.
PITTSBURGH — Willie Parker (1,312). The Steelers drafted Rashard Mendenhall of Illinois in Round 1.
BALTIMORE — Willis McGahee (1,207). The Ravens drafted Ray Rice of Rutgers in Round 2.
CLEVELAND — Jamal Lewis (1,304). His season-long 66-yard TD came against the Bengals. Sweet Lew gets help from Jason Wright (277).
INDIANAPOLIS — Joseph Addai (1,072). His runningmate, Kenton Keith, added 533. The Colts drafted Mike Hart of Michigan in Round 6. Oh, yeah, and Dominic Rhodes is back!
JACKSONVILLE — Fred Taylor (1,202) plus runningmate Maurice Jones-Drew (768) spells doom for opponents.
TENNESSEE — LenDale White (1,110). The Titans drafted Chris Johnson of East Carolina in Round 1.
NEW YORK JETS — Thomas Jones (1,119). And don’t forget Leon Washington (353), who isn’t exactly chopped liver.
NEW YORK GIANTS — Brandon Jacobs (1,009) plus Ahmad Bradshaw — who rushed for more yards in the postseason (208) than the regular season (190) — equals excellence.
PHILADELPHIA — Brian Westbrook (1,333) and Correll Buckhalter (313) complement one another well.
WASHINGTON — Clinton Portis (1,262) is sleek and racy. Ladell Betts (335) is a bruiser.
BENGALS’ OTHER OPPONENTS:
HOUSTON — The Texans’ tailback by committee in ‘07 just became a lot more dangerous. There’s Ahman Green, ex-Titan Chris Brown and third-round pick Steve Slaton of West Virginia.
KANSAS CITY — Injury-plagued Larry Johnson (559) is a monster when healthy. To help him out, the Chiefs plucked Jamaal Charles of Texas in Round 3. Remember that other Texas tailback who played for the Chiefs named Priest Holmes? Yeah, he was pretty good.
DALLAS — The Cowboys are already blessed with Marion Barber (975). Now they have Felix Jones of Arkansas (Round 1) and Tashard Choice of Georgia Tech (Round 4).
Contact Chick Ludwig at cludwig@daytondailynews.com or 937-225-2253.
Permalink | Comments (28) | Post your comment | Categories: Bengals
Comments
By season tix holder
June 25, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this
as long as the “O” is putting up the points, those backs are irrelavant!!!By dave
June 25, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this
With the all the shuffling the Bengals had to do last year you would have thought Icky was back in town. It’s going to be interesting how many sleeper bets that will pay off this fall. Especially early in the season, take the Bengals and the points. Bets will come easy this year and it’s going to pay off. Bengals D will be ranked in the top 10 against the run, forcing teams to throw down feild. It’s going to be embarrasing for a few playoff teams of last year. Complete new defense of a year ago.By KDawg
June 25, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this
top 10 defense in bungal land wake up your dreamingBy ChicagoRed
June 25, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this
Perhaps this year will be the ultimate proof of whether its the players’ fault or the system. Zimmer comes here proud of his work in Dallas, where no big names made up a very good D. So if he can’t get it done….that will be 2 coordinators, 2 styles for the same basic core of players, more or less…. should make it clear that’s it’s all about the personnel. Hopefully, he will do here what he did in Dallas.By KDawg
June 25, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this
top 10 defense in bungal land wake up your dreamingBy KDawg
June 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
yes he did well in the big D as a cordinator if Im not mistaken they had a few pro bowlers there didnt they???? 5 to be exact!!!By Kdawg
June 25, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this
Hey season tix how in the H@ll is the O going to score when the D is on the field for the majority of the game while teams are eating up the clock and running the ball down your throats?By William
June 25, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
I have seen positive developments in the Bengals D this year that may give us a fighting chance.By Bryan
June 25, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this
Kdawg- you should do some research before you post. In 2001 there was only one defensive Pro Bowler (Dexter Coakley) on Zimmer’s D in Dallas and it was 4th overall in total yards per game, 3rd in passing yards per game, and 7th in rushing yards per attempt. The prior year Dexter Coakley was on the roster, but there were no defensive Pro Bowlers from Dallas and the defense was 19th overall in yards per game. So I’d say you were mistaken.By Lil' Walter
June 25, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this
That’s damn scary! Maurice Jones-Drew is extremely dangerous in the return game!By mongo
June 25, 2008 6:48 PM | Link to this
We had a relatively healthy defense for the first game of the 2007 season, and for the last eight games. In those games, we stopped every runner but Frank Gore, and gave up average yards per game to be the 6th ranked rushing defense. I’m not saying we’ll finish 6th, but I think the rushing defense was better last year than the 21st ranking suggests. I think we’ll be fine this year.By psychostats
June 25, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this
Praying for the Bengals defense, Chickster? I surly hope you went through St. Jude, “the patron saint of the impossible”. Hey, maybe we should all start a really long group novena today that lasts until the start of the season. With fasting and faithful prayer, perhaps we might see the run defense finish in the Top 30.By UD?=WhoD?
June 25, 2008 9:13 PM | Link to this
Yeah thats right, because the Bengals O can outscore anyone, now thats a bunch of bs.By BengalMatt
June 25, 2008 10:02 PM | Link to this
Hope the rookie tackle can help. I don’t get the logic that the lack of tackle plays is not the main reason for not stopping the run.By RavensRockNorth
June 26, 2008 6:13 AM | Link to this
The fan that said, “as long as the “O” is putting up the points, those backs are irrelavant!!!” is a complete moron. Remember your 7-9 season last year? LOL! Those “irrelavant” backs are going to help put the benGALS at 6-10 this year. Enjoy the cellar again.By tom
June 26, 2008 7:23 AM | Link to this
this Bengals team will go 6-10 this season.By Brian
June 26, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
For the comments about the O putting up points. If you are going to go down for a shootout then your D has to step up big at one point and the Bengals defense probably won’t. This is troublesome from the start. Missing playoffs again coming right up.By JT
June 26, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
Well, bless their hearts. The teenage trolls have found Ludwig’s articles and blogs. We see RavenRockNorth follows Bengals fans around all day, everyday. He has no job and is a moron. I just dont think he understands that we own the Ravens. OWN THEM!By JWIL
June 26, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!! Ravensrockdummie here talking that 6-10 garbage???…and kdwag???? 1 10-6 season NO PLAYOFFS and you talkin like you are John Madden and got it all figured out…This is hilarious all these fake NFL Analyst that dont research the teams or changes enough to effectively speak about the Bengals….LOL A new DC, THE BEST LB COACH IN THE GAME! Thx Ravens! A new LB, 2 new starting safeties, 2 experienced 1st rd corners, a new DT a new DE to those that dont know THIS AINT THE SAME DEFENSE! And when we whoop up on the Steelers, Browns and Ravens we will see what you all say then!By Josh
June 26, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
Hey Ravensrocknorth: Enjoy the cellar again? Excuse me but werent you finish at the bottom and as lousy as our season was didn’t we sweep you? Yeah good luck getting out of the cellar this year to with your ancient defense and Joe Flacco?By NCSDawg
June 27, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this
The AFC North is a smashmouth division, always led by the Steelers and the Ravens. Both teams have some question marks on the line going into next year. Even so, both teams should feature the equivalence of a 1000 yd back (rookies steal carries), and the Browns should have a strong running game again. But having a strong run defense in the AFC North will no longer be good enough. Each team features either a Pro Bowl QB or high potential rookie, so offenses in this division will be very balanced over the next few seasons.By pricesstatewaterheaterSl
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