Palmer Wants Out of Cincinnati; Will They Let Him Go?

Well, I was holding out small hopes that this whole “Carson wants to be traded” thing was either overblown or an out-and-out fabrication.  No dice. Unfortunately, both Mike Brown and Palmer’s agent David Dunn have seperately confirmed it. Brown stated that he and Palmer had met last week and that number 9 had requested a trade, but Brown turned him down flat.

Brown:

“He’s key to our plans. He’s central to us. He was told that. We count on him going forward. He was told we were in no position to trade him. It would not be something we would consider doing … we are not looking for offers.”

Once that news broke, Dunn was quick to issue a polite but unambiguous statement on behalf of his client.

Dunn:

“Carson met with Bengals owner Mike Brown recently. They both expressed profound disappointment in how the team fared last season, and in how it has generally performed during Carson’s tenure with the team. Because of the lack of success that Carson and the Bengals have experienced together, Carson strongly feels that a separation between him and the Bengals would be in the best interest of both parties. Carson could not respect the Brown family any more than he does or be more appreciative of what the Browns have done for him and his wife Shaelyn and his family.”

The Bengals need Palmer to come back, and appear willing to discuss concessions that might make staying a viable option for the former Heisman Trophy winner.  ”We’ll reach out to him, try to understand what’s in his craw,” Brown said. “Maybe there are things that we can do that will appeal to him. We’ll certainly try to do that. We’ll see whether we can get it fit back together again in the future.”

Judging by Dunn’s statement, it looks like Carson has no desire to do so.  There’s plenty of time between now and when anything is final, and the uncertainty of the CBA only complicates matters for both sides to make a seperation happen.  Nonetheless, this looks like its getting ugly fast.

Cam Newton anyone?

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Gridiron Gab Week Fifteen Preview – Cleveland at Cincinnati

Cleveland Browns Vs Cincinnati Bengals

When: Sunday,December 19th

Where: Paul Brown Stadium

Time: 1:00 p.m

Weather: Cloudy,High of 29

Players to Watch:

Bengals Offense

This is a very talented group that hasn’t been able to click all season young. With T.O. and Ochocinco they are a very dangerous match-up for the Browns and shouldn’t be taken lightly, despite there record. The Browns secondary has been playing better lately, but this should be a tough test for the young defensive backs on the team.

Peyton Hillis

I am interested in seeing how Hillis responds to last week’s game against the Bills. Hillis put the ball on the  field to many times for this team to be successful. We need Hillis to hold onto the football and can’t afford him putting the ball on the ground for the rest of the season.

Colt McCoy

It’s McCoy’s team for the rest of the year and hopefully his career. Colt played pretty good when he was the starter before his injury and hopefully can pick up where he left off. The team needs better Quarterback play then what they have had with Delhomme in there, and I look for McCoy to pick up where he left off  the last three weeks of the season.

Keys to the Game:

NO TURNOVERS

No stupid penalties.

Establish Running game

Contain Bengals Offense

Prediction

Cleveland Browns 21 Cincinnati Bengals 17

I look for Colt to play a good game and the offense to get back on track with him under center. I also think Hillis will make up for his bad game last week against the Bills. The Browns can’t let the Bengals to get going because if they do it could be a long Sunday for the team. Joe Haden and T.J. Ward will be tested this weekend, at Paul Browns Stadium. This is a big game for Coach Mangini and he can’t afford to lose this one if he wants to keep his job.

?

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Gridiron Gab Week Fourteen Preview – Cincinnati at Pittsburgh

The Steelers won their biggest game of the season last Sunday night with a 13-10 win in Baltimore over the Ravens. Now they come home for three in a row, starting with the all but dead Cincy Bungles, who have lost 9 in a row after starting the year 2-1. The Bengals can’t be overlooked though, as they played the Saints tough a week ago, falling in the final minute after a dumb 4th down penalty. With that, here are this weeks keys and predictions for the Sunday battle with the Bengals.

1. Make the Bengals One-Dimensional - Cedric Benson in both games last season had a high per carry average, but the Steelers did a good job in the first game, holding him to 54 yards on 18 carries, 3 yards per carry. His longest carry was 8 yards. If the Steelers can do that again, it gives them more of a shot to get to Carson Palmer and hopefully will force some mistakes and easy turnovers.

2. Stay Grounded – There’s no doubt this could be a game that could be overlooked with the Jets coming in next week and the Bengals 2-10, but make no mistake about it, the Bengals cannot be disregarded. They played the Saints to a four-point loss and six-point losses each to the Colts, Steelers and 7-points to Atlanta. Last time they played the Steelers dominated the first three quarters, only to have to hold on in the end. Let’s hope they play it like the Raiders game, putting it away by the third quarter.

3. Help Out Ben – It may seem harmless and funny, but the Steelers starting QB has a broken nose, and the run game needs to give him a lift to not put the entire offense on his shoulders for this one. Roethlisberger is 9-4 as a starter against the Bengals, throwing for 163 yards and one touchdown in the MNF victory November 8th. He is just 3-3 at home against Cincinnati, including last season’s 18-12 loss. Let’s see Rashard Mendenhall have a big day, giving Ben a chance to not have to risk further injury with both his foot and face.

Prediction – Just like in the first game, the Steelers have to impose their will on the Bengals, not giving them thoughts of coming to Heinz and scoring the upset. They need to run the ball, pressure Palmer, and protect the ball in what could be some bad weather. There’s no doubt that if the Bengals are in the game late, it will be considered a letdown. I can’t see Mike Tomlin allowing this team to rest after last weeks huge win. Pittsburgh 31 Cincinnati 14

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Pitt, Cincinnati battling the elements

Here's the problem with playing regular-season games in December: snow.

It's snowing hard in Cincinnati, and most fans have apparently elected to stay inside somewhere far away. Can't blame them too much, since the Bearcats are 4-7. But Cincinnati and Pitt still have to deal with the white stuff, which is covering up the yard markers and making things on offense tricky. Isaiah Pead has already lost a fumble, though with the Bearcats' turnover problems it's hard to say whether that was weather-related.

The conditions could keep this game pretty low-scoring. At least it looks great in high-def.

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