Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson said several
times after Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears that wasn't about revenge. And
it really shouldn't have been.
The Bears selected Benson fourth overall in the 2005 draft and gave the Texas
product enough opportunities to be their back of the future. After his Chicago
career was delayed due to a contract dispute, Benson fought through injuries
and eventually showed enough promise that the Bears traded Thomas Jones and
make him their featured back.
Injuries and off-the-field alcohol-related issues eventually led to Chicago
waiving Benson on June 9 of last year. The Bears' loss has now been the
Bengals' gain.
Benson is finally living up to the billing of being a first-round draft
choice. After a solid campaign last year, when he joined the Bengals
midseason, Benson comes out of Week 7 as the NFL's leading rusher with 720
yards to go along with five touchdowns. He now appears on pace to shatter his
previous career high of 747 yards, posted in 12 games with Cincinnati last
year.
The 26-year-old was able to show his old employer what he can do, as Benson
ran for a career-high 189 yards and a score in Sunday's 45-10 blowout win over
Chicago.
"I tried to make it a point throughout the week to not get too emotional
coming into this game," Benson said. "I didn't want to seek revenge. Revenge
was not a goal of mine -- it's not how I wanted to play against them. I just
wanted to take advantage of my opportunities."
Benson doesn't appear to hold any bitter feelings towards the Bears,
considering how things ended. However, being the starter on a 5-2 first-place
team -- Cincinnati is tied with Pittsburgh for the top spot in the AFC North
-- probably helps with that.
Benson even said he wanted to find Chicago head coach Lovie Smith after the
game, though he was unable to track him down.
"Just for getting me here -- getting me picked No. 4 by the Bears," said
Benson when asked what he wanted to thank Smith for. "Not everything went the
way I wanted it to. But everything going the way they did brought me to where
I am today. I have no regrets. I am very thankful for my situation. Lovie did
a lot to help me get here."
"He ran hard, and we knew that coming in to today," Bears defensive back
Danieal Manning said after the game. "We knew he had a passion about this
game. We knew he wanted to get back [for being waived]. We expected nothing
less, and he stepped up today."
Though Benson might lose his current place among NFL rushers due to this
weekend's bye, he has a bigger goal in mind -- getting Cincinnati back to the
playoffs.
STEELERS: Following Pittsburgh's 27-17 victory over previously unbeaten
Minnesota on Sunday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked if he felt his
team was playing with a chip on its shoulder.
It seemed a curious question to ask a defending champion, but a 1-2 start
raised questions about a Super Bowl hangover in the Steel City. Thankfully for
Pittsburgh, four straight wins have helped to cool those talks.
"Whatever allows us to prepare with an edge," said Tomlin. "I'm not concerned
about [the team's] play, I know they're going to play with an edge, it's more
important that we prepare with an edge. I think we've been doing that, no
minor criticisms. If that motivates us, great."
While the Steelers offense, and more specifically quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger, have gotten off to fast starts, it was the reputable defense
that had been struggling. Pittsburgh had allowed at least 20 points in three
of their previous four games before taking on Minnesota, but limited Brett
Favre and the Vikings to just 17 points.
More importantly, the unit stood tall when Favre attempted to add yet another
come-from-behind victory to his resume', with Keyaron Fox retuning an
interception 82 yards for a score with just one minute left.
It was the Steelers' second defensive touchdown of the game, as LaMarr Woodley
had previously taken a fumble recovery 77 yards to the house with 6:23 to go
in the fourth quarter.
"You know what? On our defense we always try to go out there and not just get
turnovers, but try to put points on the board," Woodley said.
The victory allowed the 5-2 Steelers to keep pace with the Bengals for first
place in the division. Both clubs are on the bye this weekend and meet on
November 15 in Pittsburgh.
First, the Steelers might need to hand another club its first loss of 2009.
Pittsburgh visits 6-0 Denver next Monday night, before the Broncos play at
Baltimore this weekend.
"We're going to enjoy the bye, some much needed rest for us and then we're
going to prepare for Denver," said Tomlin. "We understand as much as we
continue to win, our position can't be any worse. I tend not to watch the
standings when we win, only when we lose."
BROWNS: A flu bug wrecked havoc on the Cleveland Browns' practice schedule
last week. After Sunday's 31-3 home loss to Green Bay, the team's fans were
probably feeling just as sick.
How else would you explain the near-empty stadium as Sunday's game wound down?
"It hurts," said Josh Cribbs of the fans leaving early.
Few, if any, could blame them. The 1-6 Browns were outgained 460-139 by the
Packers and were thoroughly outplayed. Cleveland is averaging just 10.3 points
per game (30th in the NFL) and 225.4 yards per game.
On the other side of things, Cleveland is giving up 25.6 points and 414.9
yards per game. No team in the NFL is allowing more yards than the Browns.
"We aren't good right now," said quarterback Derek Anderson. "That's it.
Period. Flat out. We haven't executed. We haven't done the right things to win
ball games."
Anderson completed 12-of-29 pass attempts for 99 yards versus the Packers. He
has thrown seven interceptions to just two touchdown passes and has a
quarterback rating of 40.6. However, head coach Eric Mangini will stick with
Anderson for this Sunday's game in Chicago.
"I think he gives us the best chance right now to move the ball," said
Mangini, who is going with Anderson over Brady Quinn and Brett Ratliff. "I
know his numbers have not been impressive, but I don't think he's been alone
in producing those numbers."
While Mangini attempts to deflect blame off of Anderson, one has to wonder how
long he plans on sticking with the ineffective quarterback. However, he may be
out of options. Quinn, the club's first-round pick in 2007, has apparently
fallen out of favor and is Ratliff, he who has never thrown an NFL pass, a
better option than Anderson?
A full week of practice might help the Browns for this weekend's game after as
many as 12 players were hit with illness last week.
Then again, maybe it isn't just the flu that is making the players ill.
RAVENS: At least the Baltimore Ravens got a week off in between their contests
against undefeated opponents.
The Ravens were unable to deal the Minnesota Vikings their first loss of the
season back on October 18 -- though the Steelers did knock off the Vikings
this past weekend -- and now host the 6-0 Denver Broncos this Sunday.
Baltimore lost three straight to take a 3-3 mark into the break and are two
games back of first-place Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the standings. The club
welcomed a Week 7 break last year after playing 18 straight games a season
ago.
The Ravens' Week 2 matchup with Houston last year was postponed due to
Hurricane Ike and rescheduled for Week 10, forcing the long string of
consecutive games that included the playoffs.
The rest paid off for quarterback Joe Flacco, who suffered an ankle injury
versus the Vikings. He is off to a good start in 2009, throwing for 1,674
yards with 11 touchdown pass to five interceptions.
"He looked good [on Monday]," said head coach John Harbaugh of Flacco. "He had
a nice hair cut. He looked fresh and he looked good. He looked sharp. He's
fine."
Offensive tackle Jared Gaither also benefited from the extra rest. He has
missed the last two games due to a neck injury, but could return this weekend.
That return could involve a shift to right tackle, given how well rookie
Michael Oher has played in his place. Oher was taken 23rd overall in the 2009
draft and played mostly left tackle at Mississippi.
"Well, I wouldn't tell [the media] if I thought that was possible, but all
things are possible," said Harbaugh of a possible move for Gaither. "We're
going to play our guys in the position that we think gives us the best
advantage against guys like [LB Elvis Dumervil] and the rest of the Broncos.
"It's a fast, aggressive defense, and they present a lot of challenges."
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