26-year old Cedrick Benson is really rewarding the Bengals for their faith in him this season.  He has played in 12 games for the Bengals this season and he has carried the ball 272 times for 1,118 yards (4.1 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He has also caught 15 passes for 104 yards (6.9 avg) this year.  Benson is proving to be the workhorse type of running back the Bengals have needed for quite some time.

The Bengals should be able to get back on track this Sunday against the pitiful Chiefs.  Cedric Benson should really take advantage of the very soft run defense of the Chiefs which is allowing 162.6 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry.  When Benson needs a rest or the Bengals are winning by a comfortable margin look for Larry Johnson to thrash his old team.  The Chiefs only have 19 sacks this season so Carson Palmer should have enough time to slice up the secondary like a surgeon.  Look for Chad Ocho Cinco to be dancing in the end zone a couple of time this weekend.

The Chiefs have been running the ball well lately with Jamaal Charles so the defense will likely focus on stopping him.  They should be able to handle Charles as they are only allowing 85.2 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry.  The Bengals are not a team that blitzes too much but they might change that for this game as Chiefs’ QBs have been sacked 44 times this season.  Matt Cassel has proven this year that he will throw into coverage when he has a pass rush in his face so look for Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph to make some big plays on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 27, CHIEFS 13

The Cincinnati Bengals (9-5) played inspired football against the San Diego Chargers (11-3), which was fueled by the tragic death of their teammate Chris Henry.  Unfortunately, the Bengals fell just short of beating the hottest team in the NFL, as Chargers’ kicker Nate Kaeding hit a 52-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to beat the Bengals.  Down by 11 going into the 4th quarter, the Bengals played their hearts out and outscored the Bengals 11-3.  Carson Palmer played well for the Bengals, passing for 314 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 27/40 passes.  One of Palmers’ touchdown passes was a 49-yard pass to Chad Ochocinco in the 2nd quarter.  Ochocinco, who was in tears before kickoff, had a rare quiet touchdown celebration, getting down on his knees and looking up towards the sky in honor of his former teammate and friend Chris Henry.

Although the Bengals picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers twice, he still found a lot of success against the Bengals’ secondary.  Rivers threw for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24/38 passes.  They had a hard time covering Vincent Jackson, who caught 5 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The defense did do a good job stopping the run, holding them to 70 rushing yards as a team.  This was a tough and emotional loss for the Bengals, and they still need one more win to clinch the AFC North.

The Cincinnati Bengals will be playing with very heavy hearts Sunday against the San Diego Chargers after the tragic death of their 26-year-old wide-receiver Chris Henry.  Unfortunately the Bengals can’t skip this one and they are going up against a very tough opponent.  Philip Rivers has already passed for over 3,500 yards this season and has 21 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.  The Chargers have a very potent passing game that the Bengals defense needs to try and contain.  They also have LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles to worry about running the ball.  This will be a tough matchup for the Bengals defense.

The offense is going to need a big day to keep up with the Chargers scoring.  If Cedric Benson can run the ball like he has all year, it will give the Bengals a great shot.  He needs Carson Palmer to play much better than he did last week, as the quarterback failed to throw for 100 yards.  Hopefully he and Chad Ochocinco can hook up for a few big plays.  They will need some if they are going to take down the Chargers who have won eight in a row.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  San Diego Chargers 31, Cincinnati Bengals 21

Some very sad news came out today that the Cincinnati Bengals’ wide-receiver Chris Henry has died one day after falling out of the back of a pick-up truck his fiancée was driving.  Apparently Henry and his fiancée were having some sort of domestic dispute when she took off in the truck and Henry jumped in the bed of the truck.  The situation is still under investigation by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and the cause of death has not been announced.  No charges have been made yet.  This was an extremely sad outcome for such a young and talented man.  He was often portrayed by the media as having some character issues, as he made some poor decisions while in college and early in his NFL career.  However, those close to him described him as a quiet, hardworking, and pleasant guy who was a loving father of three young children.  Like most, the Bengals’ players, coaches, and staff were all shocked and extremely saddened by this pre-mature death.