As we hit yet another big weekend of football (Texas at Texas Tech should be must viewing for any football fan Saturday night), what better time than now for some predictions for week #9 of the 2008 NFL season. From the kitchen of my palatial estate in suburban Cincinnati, I mull over three games, while dining on the "Breakfast of Champions".

Actually scientists in four out of five states agree, eating a chocolate cupcake for breakfast will improve your mental acumen and make you a more valuable employee. Well, OK, not really but feel free to use that on your friends.

We're off to the Kings at Turpin Ohio Division II playoff game for tonight's High School Tailgate Party finale. This should be a great game. Turpin has lost once this sesason, to Kings at Turpin about a month ago. Revenge is in the air.

Anyone going out trick or treating tonight dressed as Sarah Pallin? Only about a million, would be my guess.

More later...and look for the latest Bengals Report Podcast sometime Friday night on my web site: www.kenbroo.com

Up and posted for you downloading delight the latest Broo View Podcast. This episode features an indepth interview with Sports Illustrated's Don Banks. The hot top is Bengals football, which unfortunately, isn't so hot this season. You can find my latest Broo View Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. It's on the front page. Or, you can download it here.

Good Morning!

Some things I’ve been wondering about. Good things to discuss as we begin a new week here in the tri-state. You know, when you discuss things, often times they get better and you feel better. At least that what my wife tells me, every time I’m wrong.

How close are we to total apathy about our professional football team? I realize that’s a question we seem to ask every year along about this time. Butt really, have we ever been closer to apathy with your Cincinnati Bengals? The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s apathy. At 0-8, with Palmer probably cooked for this season, I’m smelling apathy a lot lately.

Here’s something else. It’s pretty clear one of two things are going to happen at the end of this season. Marvin Lewis is going to leave. Or Marvin Lewis is going to stay and have to make drastic changes to his offense. And remember, this offense didn’t get bad when Palmer got hurt. We had flashes of just how bad this offense was going to be in the summer. Remember the exhibition game against the Saints? Eleven possessions, ten punts. After eight years on the job, Bob Bratkowski’s job is on life support. So if he goes, how about this? Hire Brian Billick as offensive coordinator. OK, I know, around here he’s viewed by a lot of us as the anti-Christ. But remember, when he ran the offense in Minnesota, those Vikings teams were good. The only thing he couldn’t get in Baltimore was a quarterback. And how much of that was his fault? Or Ozzie Newsome’s fault? I don’t know how he left it with Marvin, when Lewis had to leave Baltimore. Remember, Lewis quit because he thought he had the gig in Tampa, then didn’t get it and Billick wouldn’t take him back. But still…if we’re looking for solutions in 2009, why not consider this one?

And I was thinking about this. If you’ve got Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson, do you really need TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson? He’ll probably catch three touchdown passes today, after I say this. But I gotta believe even Mike Brown will come to the realization that Chris “I can’t do anything but go long” Henry isn’t money well spent. So let ‘em all go…or keep one, probably TJ. Slap him with the franchise tag and go young at wide out. Trade Ocho Cinco. You’re not going to get a sucker like Dan Snyder to pony up two number one picks now. But if you get a couple of mid rounders for him, do it. Use it to rebuild your offensive and defensive lines.

And that’s another thing. There are only two kinds of playing the Bengals should pursue for the next two years: players who protect Palmer and players who attack the opposing quarterback. In other words, offensive and defensive linemen.

The Bengals have dropped some serious dinero on both lines. They signed Levi Jones long term, Bobbie Williams long term, Andre Whitworth long term. They tagged Stacy Andrew and they’re paying him $7.5 million this season. How’s that working out? Don’t tell me the only problem on that line is Eric Ghiacuc. He’s become the whipping boy for this under performing bunch.

And on the other side, here’s some money well spent: 34-million two years ago for Robert Geathers and 30-mil plus on Antwan Odom this past winter. What does that Bengals defense have through seven games? Right, five sacks total. You can always ask each of them to give some money back. But here’s a better thought. Hire some more scouts who can actually go out and watch other NFL teams on Sundays, scouts who actually know what they’re doing and what to look for. The Bengals don’t have enough scouts and they ones they have apparently aren’t very good. Remember, this is the bunch that gave you Kendrick Allen, Michael Myers and Ed Hartwell in 2007. They couldn’t find Adalius Thomas with a map and a compass.

This came to me Thursday night after a bad piece of fish I had for dinner. Go find a guy who can score unconventional touchdowns. That’s the buzz phrase in pro football these days ‘unconventional touchdowns’. It means any touchdowns not scored by the offense. We don’t seem to have a lot of conventional touchdowns around here any more. So go get a guy the other team has to actually game plan for. An example: go get somebody like Devin Hester. OK, maybe he’s a once in a generation kind of guy. But Josh Cribbs isn’t. Antwan Randel-El wasn’t. Ed Reed isn’t. When was the last time you remember the Bengals actually drafting or trading or signing a player who can score an unconventional touchdown. Radical thinking, for the group at Paul Brown Stadium, I know. But maybe someone down there can eat the same bad fish I had Thursday and wake up with a revelation.

I watched Hines Ward deliver that hit to Keith Rivers last week. And incidentally, it was a good clean hard football hit. Plain, simple, end of story. Sorry that it ended Rivers season. He’s got a long career ahead of him. But my immediate thought after watching that transpire: when was the last time you remember a Bengals player delivering a hit like Rivers took. When was the last time you saw a Bengal hit an opposing player that had the entire league buzzing? Hello, never? Maybe once in the late 80’s?

If you believe the national commentators, the experts, some of whom live here in Cincinnati, the Bengals have the reputation of being a soft team. Worst thing you can call a defense is a ‘finesse defense’. It’s a code phrase for soft. I heard that description of the Bengals defense a couple of weeks ago on a national radio show. And I laughed this week when I heard Marvin chastise a reporter for asking if the Bengals should have retaliated for the hit on Rivers. The word retaliate was the wrong word to use. But the spirit of the question was dead on. Lewis chose to pounce on the word ‘retaliate’ but never addressed the real question. When you get hit in the mouth, figuratively…or in the case of professional football literally, you hit back, just as hard, just as clean, just as legal. If you don’t, the hits will just keep on coming. After Ward laid out the prized rookie last Sunday, Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe, said rather disingenuously that the Bengals would get Ward next time. Right. People who talk about next time soon discover ‘next time’ rarely comes. The time to lay a direct hit on Ward was the next play. The Bengals had a chance to do it. And the pulled up on an incomplete pass to Ward. The ‘finesse’ label stuck a little bit better to the Bengals after that.

Another huge weekend of football is upon us. Big regular season finales in high school football in the greater Cincinnati area, including Ryle at Boone County where tonight, we make our latest stop with the now, seemingly mythical High School Playbook Tailgate Party.

Saturday, I think UC wins on the road at Connecticut and Ohio State beats Penn State in Columbus. And Sunday? Well check out my latest Broo View Video Podcast below!

To borrow from Rod Serling, I have a couple of things 'submitted for your approval'. First the latest Broo View Podcast is posted. I have an interview with NBC Sports and si.com's Peter King. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com.

When you get to my web site, check out the 'Podcasts & More' section for the archived Broo View Podcasts.

Also, the latest Bengals Report Podcast is on my front page. Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I review the Bengals latest loss (sigh), this time to the Steelers. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis, TJ Houshmandzadeh and others.

Chad Ocho Cinco said tonight on channel 5 he believes the Bengals are only one win away from an 8-8 season. Get that first win, Chad figures, and there's no reason why the Bengals can't go 7-1 in their final eight game. Of course, that first win would have to come this weekend, when the Bengals jet to Houston to play the Texans. Remember, the Texans are 2-4 and should really be 3-3 They've got one of the best defensive ends in the game (Mario Williams) a terrific wide receiver (Andre Johnson) and the top tight end in the AFC (Owen Daniels). What if they lose this weekend and finish 8-0? I guess that math works for old Ocho.

I was working in the Tampa-St. Petersburg television market in the 80's when they had competing baseball groups, one trying to bring a franchise to Tamps, the other to St. Petersburg.
The Tampa group bought 40 percent of the Twins, hoping to lure that franchise to Tampa. It never happened and the group eventually sold its share. The St. Petersburg group took a different track. Throwing caution (and conventional wisdom) to the wind, the St. Pete group built a stadium without the guarantee of a franchise. After making a play for the White Sox (who used St. Pete to get a new stadium in Chicago), major league baseball finally gave an expansion team to Florida's "Bay Area". Until this season, it was baseball's Siberia. The original owner was clueless. The attendance at games was sparse.

I never doubted a major league baseball franchise would work in that area. I knew Florida was a hot bed for baseball fans and tourists who travel by the millions to that state every year. But did I see this year coming for the Rays? No way. And neither did anyone else. If they tell you otherwise, they're lying. But what a terrific story, for a great, great place. Sorry Phils, go Rays.

I've looked at the video at least a half dozen times. No, repeat no, it was not a 'dirty hit' that the Steelers Hines Ward laid on Bengals rookie linebacker, Keith Rivers. You can make a case for whether or not Ward's block on Rivers was necessary. But it was well within the parameters of a good football hit.

Let me ask you this: with as much 'beat' as the officiating crew (led my Mr. Buff, game referee Ed Hoculi) has been under in the last month, don't you think it would have erred on the side of caution and someone on that crew would've thrown a flag, if for no other reason than to keep the wrath of the NFL office off its back. There was NO flag thrown. And while the crew may have debated later about not tossing a penalty flag, the bottom line is NONE was thrown. Again, I've just looked at the video for a seventh time: Ward hits Rivers with his shouldar and seems to throw a forearm into Rivers' helmet. There is no 'crown of the helmet' lead on the part of Ward.

Now, was it a necessary hit? Absolutely not. But even some Bengals players were admitting in the locker room at the game, they'd have done the same thing, if they were Hines Ward.

And by the way, where exactly was the Bengals retaliation for the hit on Rivers. There was ample opportunity to deck Ward as the game progressed. But like they did in January, 2006, when the Steelers knocked Carson Palmer out of that playoff game, and the quarterback suffered a knee blow out, the Bengals proceeded to play with only a wimper.

You know what that is? A complete lack of team leadership. I'm not talking about Mike Brown or Marvin Lewis. I'm speaking of a zero amount of leadership from the Bengals PLAYERS. Maybe it's because Brown has weeded out all of the potential leaders on this team. But could you imagine the Baltimore Ravens suffering something like what happened to Rivers? With Ray Lewis on the field? Somebody's head would roll. SHAME on this soul-less Bengals team.

We saw some more disturbing trends on Sunday.

The Bengals defense, better this year than last, hasn’t been able to generate enough heat to keep a closet warm this season: seven games, five sacks. But it doesn't change the fact that football talk in Cincinnati can't progess past "our team stinks" and "Mike Brown needs to hire a GM".

In other towns, except in St. Louis and Detroit, you turn on a radio station like ‘The Big One’ and ‘Homer’ and what you’ll hear all week, but particularly on game day, is how does the home team match up with the opponent. Fans race to web sites like espn.com, or si.com and look at what the experts predict what’ll happen. We don’t need to do that in Cincinnati. We’re still wondering when this team will win a game.

It’s a bummer, isn’t it? I mean, don’t you ever wonder how it is for fans in Nashville, Philly, even Pittsburgh, don’t you ever wonder what it’s like to really get into the nuts and bolts of your team? Here, losing has blocked any discussion. I know the Steelers are mentioned in the same breath as the Soviet Union is around here. But admit it, just once, you want your Cincinnati Bengals to be just like them. The 5 Super Bowl rings are one thing. The attitude and swagger, and the winning, are another.

When was the last time you remember the Steelers allowing their quarterback to get so hard his nose broke and then did nothing about it?

It’s be nice to sit here today and talk about how the Bengals, with the fourth ranked defense against the pass, should've beeen able to deal well with the Steelers, who have a pass offense ranked just 23rd in the entire league.

But then you remember, your team is 0-6 and the back up quarterback has been the team’s leading rusher in the two previous games he’s started.

Welcome to Cincinnati, the NFL's version of Siberia.

The latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast is posted. Mark Hardin and I preview the Bengals vs Steelers game this Sunday in Cincinnati. You can find the podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. If you're in a hurry, it's here.

Random thoughts as we head into what looks to be a beautiful fall weekend in southwestern Ohio....I'm sick of campaign ads. You can't escape them, even when watching college and pro football. Here's an idea: ban all of them and make the candidates actually campaign. Have a minimum of ten debates. It worked for Lincoln and Douglas. Actually, it worked for Lincoln a lot better than Douglas.....I've got this hunch that Michigan State beats Ohio State Saturday. It wouldn't be an upset. The game is in East Lansing, both teams are 6-1, 3-0 in the Big 10....I wouldn't want to be Kansas Saturday. I've got another feeling that says Oklahoma will take out its wrath, from losing to Texas last weekend.....That 'ooops' you heard Thursday was from BYU....I think the Big East will be the best conference in college basketball this season. UC will do well to crack the top eight. If Xavier gets Jordan Crawford eligible, I don't see a team in the Atlantic 10 that beats them....If I'm Mike Brown, I'm shutting Carson Palmer down for the balance of this season. At 0-6, the Bengals are just playing out the string. Palmer is under contract for the next six seasons, through 2014. If he needs surgery, and it appears that has at least been discussed, why not have it now and be ready for a fresh start in '09? By the way, I'm holding to my contention that the Bengals will NOT go 0-16. Remember, the Chiefs are coming to town in December....So let me get this straight, you think enough of Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell to draft them in the second and third rounds respectively and you don't even DRESS them for games? Really? When you KNEW you needed help along your offensive line and defensive line? I don't want to hear about all of Chad Ocho Cinco's off season trade demands and TJ Houshmandzadeh's contract being up after this season. You have Chad under contract through 2010 (and he wasn't going to sit out) and you can always slap the franchise tag on Houshmandzadeh. This is another classic example of a team with no plan. It simply caroms from one crisis to another.

Who was happier on Thursday: the Red Sox for extending the ALCS for one more game, or Fox Sports, for extending the possibility of a Boston vs Philadelphia World Series? Tampa Bay vs Boston in the World Series might be a ratings disaster for Rupert's Network.

I'm talking sports Sunday on 700 WLW. Among my guest on Sunday Morning Sports Talk is NBC-Sports Illustrated's Peter King. I'm on from 9am-11:30am. You can catch me 'over the air', on line or on XM Channel 173.

Have a great weekend!

Just posted the latest Bengals Report Podcast! Mark Hardin and I review the Bengals loss last Sunday to the Jets. And you'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer, Dhani Jones and Chinedum Ndukwe, who had that sweet fumble recovery for a touchdown. You can find the Bengals Report Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. If you're in a hurry, you can download it here.

Just posted, the latest Broo View Podcast. I've got an indepth interview with the national football writer from USA Today, Larry Weisman. We talk about the myriad of problems the Bengals have. And we also discuss some other hot topics in the NFL. You can find the latest Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're in a hurry, you can also download it here. But take a minute to check out my web site. There are archived Broo View Podcasts, as well as Bengals Report Podcast. I'll have a new one of those posted sometime overnight, Tuesday.

Your Cincinnati Bengals are NOT going to go 0-16. It’s harder to go 0-16 in the NFL than it is to go 16-0. Even in the deep, dark bad old days (and I know anyone under 20 can believe there were bad old days worse than these new days), even back in the David Klingler, Artie Smith, Rod Jones-The First, Jeff Query bad old days, the Bengals never managed to go 0-16. Always, late in those lost seasons of the 90’s, there was a team or two that’d swagger into Riverfront Stadium all full of itself and expecting a win just for showing up. Invariably, the Bengals would get a win. Doug Pelfrey would kick a last second field goal, Harold Green would watch a couple of defenders slip and run for a score. Presto, 3-13 season. Believe in those miracles. They could happen this year too.

What we’re witnessing this season should come as no surprise to anyone. It’s the mythical tri-fecta of bad football: poor drafting, bottom feeding in free agency, injuries. That not opinion. It’s fact.

Look at the Bengals drafts since 2003, the year Marvin Lewis arrived. They had the number one overall pick that season. Hard to miss on Carson Palmer. Who were you going to take besides him? Byron Leftwich? Terrence Newman? How about Charles Rogers. That would’ve been a stellar selection. Fact: any of the other 31-teams would’ve taken Palmer with that first overall. Everyone of the first 10 teams selecting needed a quarterback that season. But look what happened after that.

Eric Steinbach in round two, good selection. Bad business decision to let him walk after the 2006 season. They passed on Antwan Peek from right here at UC and Lance Briggs. Rounds four through six, busts. Only tackle Scott Koostra remains. They took him in round seven.

2004, trade down with Denver. But, there’s Steven Jackson sitting there. Oh, wait a minute, here comes Chris Perry. Up until this season, a litany of injuries.

2005 draft. We know that sad story. David Pollack round one, Odell Thurman round two, Chris Henry round three.

At a time when high draft picks should be playing in their prime in Cincinnati, they’re either out of the game, or someplace else.

And what about the free agent market? Best free agent on the block in 2007 was Adalius Thomas. He was done in Baltimore. But what a ride he had there. The Ravens played him at linebacker, down lineman, even safety. He was a playmaker, difference maker. Would he have made a difference here? Are you kiddin’ me? Did the Bengals make a run at Thomas? Are you kiddin’ me? No, they dropped a chunk of bonus money on Justin Smith two weeks before free agency began that winter. They couldn’t, or wouldn’t do a long term deal with Smith before the 2006 season. That money they used to tie up Smith with a franchise player tag would’ve been a nice part of a deal that might’ve attracted Thomas here. Instead we got this bucket of bolts in free agency that winter: defensive linemen Kendrick Allen and Michael Myers and linebacker Ed Hartwell. Allen and Hartwell were gone by the final cut of the 2007 training camp. Myers turned out to be, just a guy.,

Thomas, meanwhile, helped the Patriots to a 16-0 regular season.

And injuries: Pollack broke his neck, done with the game. Perry hasn’t been healthy, really, until this season. 2007 second round pick, running back Kenny Irons blew out his knee in an exhibition game last summer. He’s never recovered and has been released.

So where the Bengals are today should be anything but a surprise. They have a good quarterback, two, maybe three good wide receivers. If this was arena league football, they’d be all set. On defense, it’s better this season, but where are the playmakers? Why do they constantly lose the time of possession,? Allow, consistently 200 yard rushing days by their opponents? Where is the defensive lineman who can rush and sack the quarterback?
Opening remarks pp.3

The Bengals want to do it there way. They don’t want to hire a general manager, they have a small scouting staff, they don’t manipulate the salary cap like the Patriots, Cowboys and Redskins.

Can they win doing it their way? Yep. Why not? But their wiggle room, their margin for error, is a lot tighter than it is for most of the other teams in the NFL. It’s a lot of pressure to get it right.

Doing it their way, the Bengals have to “hit it out of the park” with every draft pick and with every free agent they sign. They haven’t, they’ve had too many whiffs.

No secret, no mystery why they are now 0-6

As always, I'm talking sports this Sunday on the 50,000 watt flame thrower, 700 WLW, this Sunday morning. Belterra Casino Sunday Morning Sports Talk airs from 9am-11:30am EDT. Among my guests: Bill Koch, the UC Bearcats 'beat' writer from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Mark Curnutte, the Bengals 'beat' writer and Larry Weisman, the national football writer from USA Today. If you have XM Radio, it's on channel 173.

No Carson Palmer against the Jets this Sunday? Yikes!

Bummer, because according to my hometown paper, the Newark Star Ledger, you can beat the Jets with passing.

Picking up on my 'take' on the New England at San Diego game this Sunday, here's a more indepth look at what I think is a 'must' win for the Chargers from profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio.

Just posted, the latest Bengals Report Podcast. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com as well as here. Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I preview this Sunday's Bengals vs Jets game. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis and Carson Palmer...

Good Morning! Here you go, a couple of NFL Week #6 predictions for you, as I relax in the backyard of the palatial (but ever decreasing in value thanks to the economy) estate in suburban Cincinnati.


Also, you can now download the latest Bengals Report Podcast from the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. Mark Hardin and I are previewing the Bengals vs Jets game this Sunday in the Meadowlands. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis and Carson Palmer. But, if you're in a hurry, you can also download it here. And you can subscribe to all of my podcasts through Itunes.

More to come on this Friday...

Ramblings on a Thursday night, getting ready for the 11p sports....If the Bengals are going to win their first game of the season Sunday in New Jersey, they'll have to be able to run on a very good Jets front seven. If the Bengals can't do that, they'll be less than successful throwing against a weak Jets secondary....Brett Favre throws 3 touchdown passes Sunday vs Bengals....I keep hearing that Carson Palmer's inflamed elbow is 'getting better'. But he continues to get limited practice time....The fine UC Bearcats 'beat' writer from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Bill Koch, raises an interesting question this week: what if Brian Kelly coached the Bengals. Koch's angle is the way Kelly merrily approaches his job compared with the almost always dour Marvin Lewis. Nice thought, good column, it'd never translate. Coaches who come from the college ranks into the NFL fail miserably. Why? Because they don't have the same kind of control in the NFL they have in the collegiate ranks. Want a list? Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, even Lou Holtz.....

The Reds front office says it's not going to pursue free agents Paul Bako and Corey Patterson. Hallelujah!....If Walt Jocketty wanted to blow up the entire roster, save for Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Aaron Harang, Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, fine by me.....Dodgers win the NLCS, Red Sox win the ALCS. Great story lines: Manny back to Boston, Joe Torre managing against the Sox again...Wondering tonight if this miserable economy we're mired in will affect the amount of money teams will toss at free agents this off season. Tough time to be Adam Dunn....I heard it's so bad around the greater Cincinnati area, car buyers (car buyers, not home purchasers) can't get financing. They want to buy, dealers want to sell, banks can deliver the note...

By the way, I'm over all of this political advertising. I know it's keeping a lot of television stations floating. But honestly, have you heard anything from the two principals running for US President that gives you any hope they actuall now how to fix our economy? Me neither....

You've got one player to build your NFL franchise around, only one. Who would it be? Might be a topic for me this Sunday morning, at 9am EDT on 700 WLW....

Tomorrow morning, when you check back here, I'll have a couple of nuggets for you. I'll have the latest Bengals Report Podcast posted. Marc Hardin and I preview the Bengals vs Jets game this Sunday. And, I'll also have my latest video podcast posted, as I pick my two 'locks' for this week in the NFL.

I really, really want to get into the NBA this season. But that has to be the second toughest sport to follow if you don't live in an NBA franchise city. The toughest is hockey. But I'm an NHL freak. I've got the best one-two goaltending in my fantasy league (yes I play fantasy hockey, 14th consecutive year for that) Martin Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury.....Detroit wins the West again this year. I'm not quite there yet on the East....I kinda like the Devils.....Tough admission for a life long and former season ticket holding Rangers fan...

I can't believe college basketball begins this weekend. Midnight Madness will be held at a number of schools around the USA. I have a sneaking suspicion Xavier, here in Cincinnati will be very good again.....I think Mick Cronin will have UC in the upper tier of the Big East and will qualify his 'Cats for the NCAA Tournament....I really believe Indiana will be good. I know all about the sanctions and defections....I think Tom Crean knows what he's doing....He'll be the best basketball coach at IU since Bob Knight's prime (which was a long time ago).

Is there anything better than high school football at this time of the year, particularly here in the greater Cincinnati area. Shameless plug for the best high school sports web site on the planet: www.highschoolplaybook.com.

I'll see you tonight at 11p on News 5 and tomorrow night 'live' from the Hamilton at Oak Hills game. It's the latest stop on the now, seemingly mythical High School Tailgate Party....I made that 'seemingly mythical' stuff up....It's only mildly mythical...

Coaches on the hot seat? Two are already gone. So is the GM in Detroit (that'd be the General Manager of the Lions, not GM the car manufacturer). Who's next? Here's our buddy Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com.

When we first heard the rumor (and it turns out, that's all it was) that the Bengals were shopping TJ Houshmandzadeh, it seemed strange. But with the way the Bengals conduct their business, not totally out of the range of possibility. Here's the history.

Tuesday, on its web site, the Dayton Daily News reported that the Bengals and the 49ers were in discussions about a deal that would send TJ out west. The trading deadline in the NFL is next Tuesday. So the timing made some sense. Here's what didn't: Houshmandzadeh is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Why would a team, particularly the 49ers who are a long shot to make the playoffs, deal for a player that has a good chance of leaving in free agency next winter? Turns out, several sources and web sites were shooting down the alleged interest on the part of the 49ers by the middle of last evening. Today, at his regularly scheduled news conference, Marvin Lewis torpedoed the story as well.

The Bengals spent two high draft picks on wide receivers last spring. Neither Jerome Simpson nor Andre Caldwell have played much at all this season. They might soon, with this season spiraling out of control. But until and if they show they can play at this level, any thoughts of trading or letting Houshmandzadeh go are simply nuts.

It's posted! The latest Bengals Report Podcast. Marc Hardin and I review the Bengals vs. Cowboys game. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis and TJ Houshmandzadeh. You can find the Bengals Report Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com OR you can download it here!

Just posted, the latest Broo View Podcast. It features an interview I did this past weekend on my radio show Sunday Morning Sports Talks, on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. My guest in this latest podcast is Jarrett Bell, the national football writer for USA Today. You can find the latest Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But if you're in a hurry, you can also download it here.

I caught this piece of video on youtube. Can you imagine Mike Brown reacting to a win (of course, the Bengals would have to win first) the way Redskins' owner, Dan Snyder, is reacting here? Me neither.

The reaction is coming in fast and furious from the Bengals latest loss, this time in Dallas. From the Dallas Morning News, this on how the Bengals played it.

Clark Judge of cbssports.com is here, and check out number 14 on his list of judgements this week.

And of course, what would a Monday be without the highly reccomended Monday Morning Quarterback column by si.com's Peter King? Have to dig deep to see his thoughts on Marvin Lewis and the Bengals.

0-5 and with a road game in New Jersey up next against the Jets, then home against the Steelers and back on the road to play at Houston. It could be an 0-8 start for the Bengals.

The Bengals are 0-5. No NFL team has started a season 0-5 and made the playoffs. So we can officially end that charade right now. Five games into this season, the Bengals are four games off the AFC North lead, in a one playoff team division at best. If you were one of those fans who watched the Bengals lose in overtime to the Giants and believed they were real close and showed a lot of improvement, welcome back to us who live in the real world.

This game with Dallas went about the way I thought it would. I predicted, on Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Cincinnati's 700 WLW that the game would be well within the 17 point spread. My theory, factually supported, is that and big underdog team that plays on the road in an opposite conference venue more often than not plays within the spread. The Bengals actually should have won the game.

And it wasn't as though the Cowboys aren't immune to losing back to back home games. It's happened several times in this decade. But it didn't happen Sunday.

NFL.com, incidentally, is reporting that Marvin Lewis has been told by Bengals owner, Mike Brown, that Lewis can remain with the Bengals as long as he wants. That should end speculation that Lewis is about to be fired. Of course, he could always quit. But don't count on that.

I watched, maybe like you did, the UC-Marshall game Friday night. It got me thinking about last season, and how the Bearcats were unbeaten, ranked in the top 25 and students were camping out over night to buy tickets. We called it Kelly-ville on channel 5. The head coach even delivered pizzas to the students waiting over night. I was thinking about this because there are still tickets available, not great seats but still tickets to most of the remaining home games at Nippert.

I think if you’re a UC fan, it’s time to step it up. I’ve conversed with a lot of you this week, by phone, email and in a chat room. I know you’re passionate about your football team. Light a fire under a friend, a neighbor, your brother in law. As good as that team was last season, Brian Kelly is doing, in my opinion, a better job this year than last. What is he down to on the depth chart, a fourth string quarterback. By the end of that game Friday night, Chazz Anderson looked like he got it. Anderson was more poised as the game wore on. He throws a nice ball.

But think of the work the coaching staff had to put in to get Anderson, a red shirt freshman, ready. Was the playbook pared down from the one Dustin Grutza or Tony Pike was using? Kelly says no. I believe him. Which means Anderson, who had a limited amount of practice time, if any, with the first team before the Akron game, made up a lot of ground inside of a short week. That’s coaching.

I admit, I’m ‘in the tank’ for Kelly. In over 30 years of covering sports, I’ve never seen a head coach work as hard on and off the field, as this guy does. He’s a born salesman. I wanted to throw a shoe trough the television set Friday night. The announcers who were doing the game wouldn’t shut up about how it’s only a matter of time before Kelly moves on to some big time program.

No. UC is a big time football program. But you have to behave that way too. Buy tickets. Don’t let an ESPN camera ever see an empty seat. Take Uncle Harry to the game this Saturday when they play Rutgers.

Trying to jump start things....been very, very busy this week. But a couple of things worth mentioning. I've got the latest Bengals Report Podcast posted on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. It part of a conversation I had this week with former NFL safety, Matt Bowen, who now writes for http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/. Very interesting comments about the Cincinnati Bengals. You can find it on the front page of my web site, and the you can check out past episodes of The Broo View in the "Podcasts & More" section.

Also, the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast is posted on my front page.
Finally, some thoughts on two upcoming games this week, on my video podcast.