Who said the signing of Larry Johnson was a bad idea? Not me! Oh no! (Do you hear the whirling sound of backpedaling? No, neither do I. (okay, I might’ve said a few bad words against the signing of Johnson)). Johnson just ran 22 times for 107 yards. That’s 4.9 yards a carry, and his longest run was 13 yards. And how about rookie Bernard Scott rushing for 87 yards? Scott has more moves than all the dancers on that one dancing show (Starring with Dancers? Another Attempt at a Show with Very Little Production Costs? I don’t even know what the hell it’s called. Nor do I want to).

What’s going to happen when Cedric Benson comes back from his injury? This will be an interesting question. I mean, I can envision having a two or three-headed running attack. A three-headed rushing attack, however, might be a little bit much. But then who do we have as our number two running back? Scott has been the system longer than Johnson, and his play has definitely merited significant playing time… But it’s Larry “Freakin” Johnson. I know, I know, I called him washed up, but any running back would look washed up behind a bad offensive line. A couple of years ago I would’ve sold my mother to have him on my fantasy football team.

I don’t know how to solve this problem, but it’s one of those problems that a team likes to have. As the games get colder, we’re going to rely less on the passing game and more on the running game, so having three good running backs (AND Brian Leonard is not bad too, even though he’s a white guy) can only be a positive. What will probably happen is Benson will get the majority of the carries, and then Scott and Johnson will switch on and off, with Scott doing kickoff returns.

Here are some other notes from the game:

- Passing game concern: Palmer threw for 110 yards. Part of that was by design. They wanted to keep pounding it via the running game, which is fine with this type of game. I mean, our defense was definitely enough to contain the Browns. Still, I miss Palmer airing the ball out every once in a while. We’ll need to be able to throw the ball a lot more against teams like the Vikings who have a very stout defensive line.

- Coles Kinda Sucks: Palmer and Laveranues Coles just don’t seem to be on the right page together. If Coles is open, Palmer has a poor throw. If Palmer has a good throw, Coles runs the wrong route. This guy is not making me glad that we didn’t resign T.J. This is the 12th game of the year and Coles needs to get his act together fast. Okay, he had two catches and did some nice running on the second catch, but he could’ve done better.

- Penalties: I swear to God, if I see someone commit another holding penalty, I’m going to rip through the screen and show them what real “holding” feels like. Part of the reason why we lost three games is because of all the stupid penalties.  False starts on 4th and 1!   C’mon, man! Be a pro!

- Brady Quinn’s catch and run: How about the Browns and trickeration? The direct snap to Josh Cribbs and then the toss to Quinn? Not bad. And then the empty backfield and then Quinn keeping it and running for a TD? I was impressed. I’ll clap for that. At 1-9, you gotta do something.

- Shaun Rogers = moron: “Thanks” but no thanks for the free field goal at the end of the first half by making a horse-collar tackle on Palmer. Thank God Palmer’s okay. If Palmer gets hurt, we’re in major trouble for the rest of the year.

- Eric Man-whiner: Dude, you need to keep your mouth shut at whatever you were whining about at the end of the first half. He was jawing about something to the officials, and if it was about Rogers’ horse-collar, you’re just a moron.

-  Tubs of Fun Sighting:  Finally!  Andre Smith plays…  I have no idea what he did, but he played!  Good for him!  I think they give him a twinkie after the game, kind of like a gerbil.

Overall, the Bengals are going to need to be able to get their offense back on track – especially the passing game – if they hope to beat teams like the Vikings and the Chargers – and even the Lions.