Pittsburgh may have won the Super Bowl in 2005, but the Bengals finished ahead of them while winning the AFC North Division title. However, as much as we love the job that Coach Marvin Lewis has done in revitalizing a dead franchise, we see Cincinnati falling back this season with questions on both sides of the ball.

The biggest concern offensively is obviously the health of quarterback Carson Palmer, who suffered both a torn ACL and torn MCL in the playoff loss to the Steelers. That game took place in January, and injuries of that magnitude generally take about a year to heal. Yes Palmer appears to be miraculously ahead of schedule, but we simply do not see him being physically ready until mid-season at the earliest. The rest of the quarterbacks currently on the roster (Anthony Wright, Doug Johnson and rookie Erik Meyer) do not warrant the same respect as the departed back-up Jon Kitna, so defenses can concentrate on stuffing the run with Palmer out. Now the Johnson Boys (running back Rudi, wide receiver Chad) were the most potent RB/WR duo of any team in football last year, but both players should see their numbers reduced without a competent quarterback for much of the year.

There are also many concerns on defense. This team got away with having the 28 th best defense in the NFL last season and making the playoffs in spite of it, but we do not see a repeat of that without the offense having the same firepower to bail the defense out. The team did add huge defensive tackle Sam Adams, and the first round draft selection of safety Jonathan Joseph will pay dividends in future seasons, but we do not see enough help for this year. Not only do we see this team failing to repeat as division champs, but we also see Cincinnati falling to third in the division behind an improved Baltimore team and failing to make the playoffs. Furthermore, the longer that Palmer is not physically fit, the worse year the Bengals will have.

2006 Prediction: 3 rd Place AFC North