Well, so far the Bengals aren't doing as well as I had hoped.

Oh, they have a 3-1 record (2-0 in their division), so from that standpoint, I am very happy. But they haven't been playing as well as I hoped they would. They looked horrendous against New England (for their one loss), but they didn't look very sharp against Pittsburgh or Cleveland, either (despite getting wins in those two games).

Of course, injuries and suspensions have diminished their ranks. They have two key defensive linebackers out for the year (one with injury, the other by suspension), their center is out for several weeks due to injury, their #2 running back has yet to play this year due to injury, the same with their kick returner, and their #3 receiver is suspended and faces an extension on his suspension. None of those have really helped the Bengals play well.

On the field, QB Carson Palmer has been sacked 15 times so far in four games (he was only sacked 21 times all last year), receiver Chad Johnson has been pretty much a non-entity so far, and the defense can't stop the run and aren't doing that great against the pass. Maybe last week's bye will help the Bengals regroup.