 The Cincinnati Bengals suffered a ludicrous loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1, but have reeled off victories in every week since. The Bengals 4-1 and thanks to last weeks win over the Baltimore Ravens the team is in first place in the AFC North. No win has come easy, even the win over the lowly Cleveland Browns took an overtime to pull the victory. Still, this team has defying all expectations and proven themselves to be one of the best football teams in the NFL so far this 2009 season. The Bengals offense is not a high scoring machine. They average 20.2 points a game, but that seems to be enough for this football team to win consistently. The Cincinnati defense has been stellar, holding opposing teams to 18 points a game. The Bengals secondary gives up a few too many yards, but the front seven are able to stop the run often enough to drives from ending up in the end zone. The hope was that Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco would tear other teams' secondary apart. Instead Palmer has yet to find a rhythm. He is only completing 57.7 percent of his passes and is averaging a pretty low 6.64 yards a pass. He has seven touchdown passes in five games and has thrown six picks as well. Overall he has a 76.9 quarterback rating. Receiver Ochocinco has done his best with the throws he has seen. He has 24 receptions for 352 yards and three touchdowns. The huge surprise for everyone outside of Cincinnati is how effective Cedric Benson has been in the backfield. The Bengals running back who was acquired late last season is leading the league in rushing with 487 yards. He is picking up 4.4 yards a carry and has three touchdowns. The player that deserves the most credit is defensive end Antwan Odom. Odom is tied for the league lead with eight sacks, with five of those coming in a single game. Corner back Johnathan Joseph has been a football hawk, picking the ball off three times so far this season. Really one of the oddest phenomena is that the Bengals defense has been unable to help Cincinnati win the turnover battle. The offense has turned the ball over eight times and the defense has taken the ball away six yet this team still has one of the best records in the league. The Cincinnati Bengals schedule has a challenging game in Week 6 with the Houston Texans coming to Paul Bryant Stadium. The Texans explosive passing offense will test just how bad the secondary is. The Chicago Bears are a similar team that has been able to win close games. They are next in Week 7. The bye week gives the Bengals a chance to prepare for a big football game in Week 9 against the Baltimore Ravens.
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