What's wrong with the Cincinnati Bengals

Surely, every NFL team believes they can at least compete at the start of every season, but do they still think that by the middle of the season? In the case of the Bengals, it doesn't appear so. So where did it go wrong for a team that was at least supposed to have an explosive offense this year? Why can't Marvin Lewis get a good defense after coaching the Ravens Super Bowl D? It all goes back to their personnel moves of the last few years. Look, everyone that's even sort of followed this team knows what they've needed for the last few years: Offensive line depth, defensive line starters, linebackers, tight ends, safeties, running back depth. That's a lot of needs for a team. They've only sort of addressed linebackers out of that group. They made half-hearted attempts to address the safety position. Instead, they've inexplicably drafted wide receivers and cornerbacks. They cut Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson in the offseason without bringing in suitable replacements, thus killing their depth in two key areas.

They seriously thought that Chris Perry, who's never played a full season in the NFL, could carry the load this year, and he proved them wrong. At one point, they cut Kenny Watson, who was their best back last year, and is a servicable third down back and good receiver out of the backfield. Now they're relying on Chicago cast-off Cedric Benson. Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post says Benson doesn't hit the hole with any kind of power or burst. Lombardi's right. The evidence is in the game film. He's not a good back. Rudi, meanwhile, has looked decent at times for the Lions, who are the worst team in football.

But he could be servicable if the offensive line wasn't a mess. They cut Willie Anderson, who was a good right tackle for them for years. Not only that, he was a mentor to Levi Jones and the rest of the guys on the line. They let Eric Steinbach leave in free agency a couple years back. He's young and a pretty good guard. The offensive line is the most important part of a football team. I think even if they had kept the line that had led them to the playoffs, they should have been drafting at least one lineman a year to bolster their depth.

They haven't had a good defensive line in years. Again, how about drafting some pass rushers that don't get arrested. They need a big body in the middle of that defense to occupy blockers and stop the run. They need a strong safety that can play in the box and bring the hammer down. They've done nothing to address this.

At tight end, they've let great rookies pass them by. A good blocking tight end would help their line and a pass catcher would give the offense an added dimension. They could line up in with a singleback, 3 WR, 1 TE formation and do a lot of damage in both the passing and running game if they had the pieces.

It's going to take a good couple years of drafting and smart free agent signings for this team to be competitive again. They have a lot of holes on both sides of the ball. They need a GM to help with this and they need to devote more resources to scouting. Marvin Lewis also needs to go. The Bengals need a fresh start. Unfortunately, their ownership hasn't shown much inclination to devote the resources necessary to put a winning team together in many years. Aside from two mediocre years and one good one, this has been a terrible team for the better part of the decade. Like the Raiders and the Lions, the problems with the Bengals stem from the very top of the organization and until they change course, they'll continue to be bottom-feeders.