Monday Night Preview and Pick

Already a franchise in flux, the Atlanta Falcons must somehow look past the Mike Vick debacle and play a football game tonight against the winless Cincinnati Bengals.

Looking at these two teams, Atlanta would gladly trade spots with Cincinnati, despite the Bengals 0-2 preseason mark. After all, it’s not Carson Palmer that will find himself behind bars during the regular season. Although by this point, Palmer certainly knows what it’s like to have incarcerated teammates. For this real life reenactment of “The Longest Yard,” the Bengals are currently listed as three-point chalk. That number hasn’t really moved at all, but the total has moved up half a point to 38.5.

Coming off a disappointing 2006, Cincinnati has experienced a bit of a carryover through their first two exhibition contests. Their reserves blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead in the opener against Detroit, before bowing out to the Lions, 27-26. They had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but Shayne Graham’s 48-yard FG attempt went wide left. Last week, they played poorly in a 27-16 loss to the Saints. The first-team defense allowed New Orleans to score in each of their first three drives (two TD, 1 FG). Drew Brees went a perfect 6 for 6 against the secondary, which once again looks to be the team’s Achilles heel. On that same opening drive, the Bengals failed to even force the Saints into a single third-down situation. "Obviously, I'm not happy with how we performed, how we played tonight," glum coach Marvin Lewis said.

Carson Palmer went a modest 5 of 10 for 41 yards and fumbled once. He looked much better in the opener, when he went 7 of 10 for 93 yards. The Bengals’ starters will play into the second half against Atlanta. RB Kenny Irons has already been lost for the season (torn ACL).

Chad Johnson took it upon himself to send advanced copies of his new book, titled “I Can’t Be Stopped” to all members of the Atlanta secondary.

One quick coaching note to report here. Marvin Lewis said he would coach Monday's game from the press box. He underwent surgery on his left ankle this week to repair tendons he tore back in June.

Meanwhile, Falcons Coach Bobby Petrino would gladly trade his situation for torn tendons. After leaving a national title contender in Louisville in the college ranks, Petrino has walked into an absolute mess in Atlanta, all thanks to Vick. It certainly didn’t help his cause when the organization traded away Matt Schaub, Vick’s longtime backup. Another backup, DJ Shockley, has also been lost for the year (left knee injury). That leaves the fate of the team in the hands of Joey Harrington, who is 10 of 16 for 119 yards and one interception. Atlanta somehow managed to squeak by Buffalo last week, 13-10, after losing the opener to the Jets, 31-16.

Tonight is Petrino’s home debut. Like the Bengals, the Atlanta starters will play into the second half. RB Warrick Dunn will see his first action of the preseason after recovering from back surgery. These clubs have played quite frequently in past preseasons. The Falcons are a perfect 5-0 SU/ATS over the last five meetings. They are also a perfect 7-0 ATS in the preseason following a game where they had a turnover margin of -3 or worse. Cincinnati has gone Over the number in each of their two games thus far.

I will pay the Falcons+3 tonight. There is no need to take a favorite that has yet to play impressive in the preseason. The Bengals are not focused and the Falcons are focused on football instead of Mike Vick. They win in Petrinos home debut.