THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Nothing wrong with Bengals quarterback, Carson Palmer. That's the diagnosis from head coach Marvin Lewis on the day after Palmer struggled again. Lewis got testy in his weekly news conference when the questions about his quarterback and his struggling offense continued. Lewis as much as said if the line of questioning continued, he would say little more this season and would instruct his player to say less.

If you watched any of the three games so far this season, you could make a strong case for this being wrong: Palmer's protection from his offensive line isn't so hot. It's no secret, this is a line that run blocks a lot better than it pass protects. Maybe it's given Palmer reason to have 'happy feet'. Maybe it's just a case of the Bengals passing attack, so dependant on timing routes, not having having enough time to allow pass routes to develop. But there is something wrong with the way it's going about it's air attack. That Carolina defense isn't bad. But it's hardly one of the elite 'D's' in the NFL.

Like a lot of us in the Tri-State, we're tracking the Cardinals against the Pirates tonight in St. Louis. Part of me wants this thing to be over with, sooner the better. But on the other hand, better the Reds simply win Tuesday at GABP and let their fans share in the celebration. The last thing anyone wants is for the race to drag on deep into the week. Clinching sooner, rather than later, will allow Dusty Baker to set his playoff pitching rotation and let some of the ailing starters heal. Brandon Phillips, Orlando Cabrera, Jay Bruce and Scott Rolen all have nagging ailments that could use a day or two of rest. It can't be much more than that. The Reds need to keep winning and secure that second seed, guaranteeing them home field advantage in round one.

I never believe in "moral victories". You either win or you lose and deal with the aftermath. But UC playing Oklahoma close at Paul Brown Stadium Saturday night should set the Bearcats up for a decent run in the Big East conference. UC should handle Miami easily, when the MAC school comes to Nippert Stadium two Saturdays from now. The Big East looks like it's down this year. West Virginia appears to be the only team in that conference playing well. This certaily won't the kind of season that UC football has given us the past two years. There probably won't be a BCS bowl bid. But a strong run through the conference will set things up nicely for Butch Jones next season. Make no mistake about it, Jones didn't inherit a championship team. Mark Dantonio did the heavy lifting for the last two seasons, under Brian Kelly's leadership. But the recruiting for this current year of 2010 left a lot to be desired and a lot of holes on the UC offense. Jones is a good coach, if not the pied piper that his predecessor was.

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