FUCK THE BENGALS

Going through some league business:

-As I said a couple weeks ago, Peyton Hillis: best trade of the season. Yahoo! has a featured article on it, and tomorrow they'll have video to boot. Don't be fooled, you heard it here first.

-3rd round pick for player-to-be-cut-later: worst trade of the season. Brad Childress is an asshat, or as my MOB friend says "he's that guy at temple that my dad avoids at all costs."

-My job is finally over so I can now follow notrugbyball. Huzzah!

As for Monday Night Football:

Second only to perennially over-hyped Dallas, the Bengals have been the biggest flop of 2010. Meanwhile, the steadily built Stillers have caught the non-believing world by surprise. Both of these things mean little, so far as Monday night is concerned.

The Bengals still have two explosive receiving weapons, and two fantastic corners. They also possess a rock solid QB and excellent front seven. If I told you they had a good O-line, wouldn't that be enough for you to excuse that I said nothing of their safeties or running backs? Truth is, they're solid in every unit.

The Steelers are solid, even above solid in every unit. We have the least question marks of any team out there. The only thing that concerns the black and gold is DE play. Aaron Smith won't be back, but his elite protege, Ziggy Hood will have a chance for a coming out party on national TV. Will Brett Keisel be ready? That's doubtful, and it's even more doubtful that Nick Eason has anything more to prove in front of the network viewers.

Mike Wallace looks like the standout sophomore of the AFC North. Mark Sanchez and Matt Stafford are both challenging him across the NFL in general, but the 3rd round pick out of Ole Miss could have what it takes to join the ranks of Swann, Stallworth and Ward, and that's all that matters to us. While Santonio used to get beat up by Bengal LBs, expect Wallace to not only outrun their secondary, but come back for a few licks of his own. His play was significantly escalated by the physicality of the New Orleans game, and I expect him to take his cues from #86 to make these striped wieners pay.

Daniel Sepulveda put up extraordinary numbers in preseason, and extraordinary numbers before the bye. He was in the 48-50 yard range, per punt. Then he had a few games that brought him back down. Without doing any math, or reasoning that maybe the last several games all required him to shorten up so that he could pin our opponents within the 10 yard line every time, I'm just going to assume his leg is losing something. This wouldn't be unnatural: kicking a football half the distance of the field four to seven times a day is really fucking unnatural; losing that ability incrementally over the course of half a year is natural. In any case, let's look at hang time, distance, placement, and then his general form. I have a feeling it's half numbers and half physiology, and the game will tell.

I'm happy to say Lawrence Timmons is officially the backer we all said he was going to be. He's an absolute menace up the middle, can spell James Farrior, and can rush the passer with the best of them. If our makeshift D-line can hold its own, I expect him to be an X-factor to beat the Bengals.

How is it that our corners can play such great games after playing such weak ones? Ike and McFadden looked All-World in New Orleans; remember watching them in Atlanta or Tennessee?

I will be surprised if both James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley are starting by the end of 2012.

Loved the dual back formations against the Saints. Honestly, didn't think it hurt at all. Would like to see that as the base, with singleback mixed in on second and third downs, every two to three series; sort of like we did in the 2005 playoffs... but whatever. Long live Dan Kreider.