The Bengals.com roundtable is splintered again for Opening Day 2010.
Our scouts have returned intact from 2009 but not their opinions. In another split decision, they give Sunday’s 1 p.m. opener (Cincinnati’s Channel 12) to the emerging Bengals over the transitioning Patriots in a matchup of defending division champs eyeball to eyeball on the Foxborough village green that starts the NFL's 16-game march.
“The Patriots are still well-coached and Tom Brady is as good as it gets,” says The Eye, an NFL scout familiar with the AFC North. “And they have good players. But they’re not as good as the guys they’ve lost on defense. They’ve replaced the great player like Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison with good players and young players.”
The Sage, an ex-NFL player that played for a decade, can only conclude that for the first time in since whenever the Bengals match up better than the Pats.
“All across the field,” The Sage says. “The Bengals receivers should beat the Patriots secondary. The Bengals secondary should be able to cover their receivers. Their defensive line should be able to handle their offensive line. And I don’t even think you can say they’ve got the better coach at this point. Bill Belichick is still a Hall of Fame coach, but he’s lost a lot of his players and you have to give Marvin (Lewis) his props. He got this team through last year and won the division and now they’re better.
“If you look at how Marvin wants to play it, that’s exactly you beat the Patriots,” The Sage says. "He wants to pound it with the run, play defense, and that’s how Baltimore went on the road and beat them last year in the playoffs.”
The dissenting opinion belongs to another double digit NFL vet. Big Bird is as sweeping as The Sage.
“T.O. and Chad aren’t the best receivers on the field,” Bird says. “The Patriots have the better coach, the better quarterback, the better tight ends. I’m just not ready to believe yet in the Bengals. They have to prove it to me first.”
The Eye and The Sage are convinced. The Eye calls it, 24-20, Bengals. The Sage says the Bengals will win by two scores, something like 27-17. Big Bird sees a high-scoring deal, more like 27-23, Pats, with Brady all knowing.
