THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

I Want To Believe The Bengals Will Beat The Browns Sunday....

And I think they've got a legitimate shot to pull it off. But a lot of things have to go right for the Bengals. It starts by getting off the field on third down, defensively. The Bengals had trouble doing that last season. But in this year's pre-season games, the Bengals did a better job at third down defense. Cleveland will almost certainly try to pound Peyton Hillis. That's their game, or at least it was under Eric Mangini. New head coach, Pat Shurmer may have other ideas. But Hillis has been their horse. Last year, in the game played at Cleveland, Hillis ran for 102 yards on the Bengals defense. Just as important, he helped the Browns control the game clock. When the two teams played again in Cincinnati later in the year, Hillis wasn't so successful.

The Bengals will have to counter with Cedric Benson, for the same reasons as the Browns will try to run. Benson is the security blanket for rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton and new offensive coordinator, Jay Gruden. Benson can help manage the game for both. And, the Bengals offensive line is more adroit at run blocking than pass protection. So a lot of what will go down Sunday in Cleveland will come down to which team has the better defense against the run. That's where I think the Bengals have the edge. They demonstrated in this year's pre-season games they've tightened things up defending the run. If that was any indication of what the regular season may hold, advantage Bengals Sunday, and a real chance at winning their opener.

Here's another reason why the Bengals may have an edge: the Browns are 1-11 in season opening games, since returning to the NFL in 1999.

Other random thoughts on this random night.....

Great, and I mean great opening game for the 2011 NFL season. 76 points total and a game that went right down to the last play. And what a debut for former University of Kentucky star, Randall Cobb. The Packers' second round pick in this past April's draft caught a touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. And then, Cobb returned a kickoff for a touchdown....108 yards! Kickoff returns may not hold the drama they have in seasons past, due to the new rule placing the ball on the 35 yard line for kicks. But Cobb's return may be an indication that every once in awhile, you get that kind of magic.....

I like the Steelers, Falcons, Bucs and Chiefs Sunday, for what that's worth....

Can UC pull of an upset at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville Saturday afternoon. UC senior running back Isaiah Pead said this week "we're going to shock the world". Tennessee isn't a top tier team in the SEC this season. But road teams not named Boise State traditionally have trouble in SEC stadia, any of them. Like to think it will happen. Tough to think it will....

I don't know about you, but I've had enough of Ramon Hernandez and Edgar Renteria this season. If I'm Dusty Baker, I was through playing each a long time ago. Nothing against either, particularly Hernandez who could, in a certain set of circumstances wind up back here next season. But there is no excuse for not playing the future now. That would be catcher Devin Meseraco, third baseman Juan Francisco, outfielder Yonder Alonso and short stop Chris Valaika. Honestly, no one other than the players involved cares about individual 'goals' like winning a league earned run average or scoring a set number of runs. To give the team it's best shot of contending again in 2012, we need to get beyond those kinds of things.

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