The Cincinnati Bengals have four young offensive studs that make me happy to be using, and three of them have the same last name! QB Carson Palmer is a great Quarterback to use in the franchise mode as he is more mobile than Kitna with more room to improve, but Kitna's awareness is better enough that he is the way to go online. The three Johnsons are all great options to go to on offense. HB Rudi Johnson is a solid, young halfback with great run power. Expect a lot of great blocking coming from FB Jeremi Johnson, who is a good blocker with decent speed so he won't hold back Rudi too long. WR Chad Johnson is a permeir Wide Receiver in every aspect of football. Chad has great speed, awesome hands and can leap over a bus. His awareness also helps for the fact that he will run solid routes. When running to the left, run between LT Levi Jones and LG Eric Steinbach, both solid blockers. When running to the right, make sure you go outside of RT Willie Anderson, one of the best at his position, who doesn't get much help from RG Bobbie Williams. The Bengals defense isn't glaring with speed, so make sure you play conservatively. The linebacker core is average speed at best, and the defensive backs are definately below average in speed. Look for LE Justin Smith to put the pressure on opposing QBs.
Beating the Cincinnati Bengals is tough, due to their offensive firepower, but very possible. Remember that Chad Johnson is the only amazing threat on offense, and make sure you have help on him at all times possible. Pressure QB Carson Palmer and force him to make bad decisions, as his small QB cone allows little room for error. The Bengals have virtually no TE, so don't harp too much on having safties covering them, linebackers should do fine. Make sure you know that Rudi Johnson is a power back and will not do much damage to the ouside, makeT sure you clog the middle and don't let him push you around. As far as offense goes against the Bengals, exploit their key injury of SS Kim Herring, where the slow, un-experienced Kevin Kaesviharn is taking his place. Also, look to beat the Bengals' top CB Tory James deep as he isn't the quickest corner in the business.
Strengths: -Two options at Quarterback, both solid. -Good 1-2 punch at Wide Receiver. -Solid Halfback, Fullback combination. -Good kicker and punter. -Above average offensive line.
Weaknesses: -Lack of depth at halfback and wide receiver. -Terrible backup offensive line. -Not much speed at cornerback/saftey positions. -Virtually nothing to throw to at Tight End.
WR Chad Johnson: Chad is the total package. He can catch, he most certainly can run, and yes, the guy has some solid celebrations to go with his big mouth. Chad is one of the rare players who are both a deep threat and a short yardage wideout.
HB Rudi Johnson: Rudi has great run-power, which is what this offense needs, making him a perfect fit. Send him behind Jermi Johnson in 2 RB sets and plunge the ball.
LT Levi Jones: Levi Jones is suprisingly quick for an offensive lineman, so look to do some moves with him such as pulling him to the right. He's also very strong and a great pass blocker.
RT Willie Anderson: Willie is a premeir tackle, and does what he is supposed to do... block for the running back. Willie is actually the second best tackle in Madden at runblocking, only behind Jonathon Ogden.
LB Brian Simmons: Brian is what you look for in an outside linebacker. Brian has decent speed and is pretty quick. His awareness and ability to catch the ball make him great in coverage, and the guy can straight tackle.
The Bengals playbook is pretty pass-heavy, maybe even a little too pass-heavy. You don't find alot of plays to run the ball up the middle with Rudi Johnson and don't expect to give Jeremi Johnson too many looks. If you are looking for trick plays, look in the I-formation normal for some trick plays such as the flea flicker, WR Reverse, HB Misderection, HB Pass and FB fake HB toss. If you really want to get tricky, go to the Singeback formation and pick the WR Reverse Pass and have Houchmandez let the ball go!
