NFL football betting is all about finding an underrated team and leading them to victory on the money line. If you can find someone the experts don’t believe in and pick them to win, you have a good chance of winning some money. Don’t expect the Cincinnati Bengals to be that team in 2009. They’ll probably be more respectable this year than they were last year. But seriously… how could they be any worse? They were the worst offensive team in the league last year and can only get better from there.
The good news: The best the Bengals can hope for this season is the return of injured quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer was out for most of last year’s season with injury. His absence had a domino effect on the rest of the team. The two Pro Bowl-caliber wide receivers were mostly non-factors. Without a quarterback, receivers couldn’t receive the ball. This, in turn, allowed the teams to cheat and also stop the race. Without an offense that could drive down the field, the defense didn’t get much rest and was pretty bad in its own right. The Bengals added some good players in the off-season. They added a good receiver in Laveranues Coles from the Jets. They added a big-name safety in Roy Williams and a great defensive tackle in Tank Johnson. His first two draft picks brought some good talent in Andre Williams and Rey Maualuga. They hope Maualuga can bring some leadership to the defense early on.
The bad news: The Bengals lost their best receiver in TJ Houshmandzadeh to the Seahawks. They are now staying with Chad Ochocinco and Coles to handle reception duties. The loss of TJ will be felt on offense this year. The Bengals also have to worry about the usual legal problems for their players. Despite having the most players in legal trouble in recent years, they went ahead and bet on Tank Johnson and Andre Smith. This means that they just added two more questionable players to the lineup. For those of you who missed it, Tank got into gun trouble a few years ago and Smith went wild during this year’s NFL Combine. He came in out of shape for the biggest showcase of his life and then just decided to give up and go home. It looks like a time bomb waiting to go off.
Panorama: If you are looking for free NFL picks, I have a great one here for you. Don’t pick the Bengals to do anything this year. There really isn’t a game on the schedule that’s safe for them. Every week is going to be a challenge just to stay in the game. Look for them to maybe get one or two more wins than last year. Other than that, you can forget about the Cincinnati Bengals this year.
