First, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome last night, 24-19. I watched most of that game and the Bengals look to be for real indeed.

As the starters battled in the first half, it became more and more apparent that the Bengals are picking up where they left off last season. While both teams were tackling extremely well for the early preseason, that’s to be expected of a veteran defense like the Falcons. The fact that the Bengals looked every bit as good should be encouraging for fans starved of a winner up until last year. Oh sure, they’d have a season here, a season there that they would do okay, but they appear to finally be putting some good pieces on the table.

Aug 16, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (18) scores a touchdown while being dragged to the ground by Atlanta Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel (22) during the second quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Josh D. Weiss-US PRESSWIRE

Second-year pro A.J. Green looked like the top-ten WR that I believe he is. His ability to separate almost at will was on display, and his incredible hands, strength, and body control were all shown off on a 50-yard TD strike down the right sideline from supposedly candy-armed QB Andy Dalton as Green pushed, twisted and turned his way across the goal line before falling out of bounds on the good side of the pylon.

The play also showed that Andy Dalton has plenty of arm to get things done in the NFL, if he hadn’t proven it last year. Rookie WR Mohamed Sanu added a 12 yard touchdown reception from Bruce Gradkowski in the second half.

Injuries have already bitten the Bengals, which makes their strong showing even more promising. Former Panther and starting Bengals’ left guard Travelle Wharton was lost for the season in last week’s game against the New York Jets, while rookie Kevin Zeitler is starting at the right guard spot. TE Jermaine Gresham had a nice catch and run, but apparently got his foot caught in the turf on the tackle and awkwardly fell to the ground. He did not return, but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.

Defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap will miss the entire preseason with a sprained knee and his status for the game one opener is questionable. First-round pick Dre Kirkpatrick, a CB from Alabama, is in a similar situation.

The good news is that everyone but Wharton should be ready by either the opener or week two, depending on how things go.

As for the Falcons, Matt Ryan hit on 18 of 21 attempts for 174 yards and a TD. He spread the ball around and Julio Jones reminded us that A.J. Green wasn’t the only promising young WR on the field with several nice catches of his own.

The Browns’ victory over the Packers shouldn’t concern Green Bay fans as the Packers have their offense in order and are protecting AR-12 (QB Aaron Rodgers) as much as possible during the preseason. For the Packers, the 2012 preseason is about settling their starters on defense and generating a pass rush.

Cleveland Browns rookie QB Brandon Weeden has been named the starter for a few weeks now and went 12 of 20 for 118 yards, but had a would-be interception dropped by Packer LB A.J. Hawk and another dropped by Casey Hayward. Weeden was lucky last night and clearly has work to do. Colt McCoy, now the second-string QB, went 4 of 6 for 58 yards on a long touchdown drive and actually looked better than Weeden. Interesting.

This is more a case of Green Bay’s backup QB, Graham Harrell, playing poorly than anything else. He completed only 12 of 24 passes for a measly 100 yards and 2 interceptions. That’s 4 yards per ATTEMPT and throwing short passes shouldn’t generate interceptions like that. He wasn’t so “lucky” as Weeden and also had an intentional grounding penalty.

The Packers appear to be in trouble if Aaron Rodgers were to ever get injured. No Matt Flynn this year; he’s wearing a different shade of green.

Jan 07, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) attempts a pass during the first quarter of the 2011 AFC wild card playoff game against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

The Cincinnati Bengals went 9-7 with another rookie QB at the helm. Andy Dalton did the one thing Cam Newton couldn’t do despite all the heroics.

Dalton led the team to the playoffs.

He paired up with fellow rookie WR A.J. Green from Georgia who had a 1,000 yard initial season. Those were the headlines for the team for last year. Let’s look at their draft:

1 17 Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama
1 27 Kevin Zeitler G Wisconsin
2 53 Devon Still DT Penn State
3 83 Mohamed Sanu WR Rutgers
3 93 Brandon ThompsonDT Clemson
4 116 Orson Charles TE Georgia
5 156 Shaun Prater CB Iowa
5 166 Marvin Jones WR California
5 167 George Iloka FS Boise State
6 191 Dan Herron RB Ohio State

I wasn’t sold on the Bills’ 10th overall in Stephon Gilmore, and I’m not sold on Kirkpatrick. He’s got the height, but that’s not everything.

The team needed help on the inside on the offensive line and got Kevin Zeitler from offensive linemen U. Devon Still was a good value pick where they got him, and should help seal up that middle. The defense got gashed in the playoffs, so they drafted Sill and Brandon Thompson from Clemson.

The big story of the draft for the Bengals was 3rd rounder Mohamed Sanu. Some sicko called him and impersonated someone at the Bengals draft room saying he had been drafted with the 17th pick.

Okay, so he’s prone to getting Punk’d, but wound up with the team in the third round anyway. If he can be anything like the steady TJ Houshmazadeh from a few years back, he’ll give Dalton a very nice pair of receivers to throw to. There’s a little mini-camp buzz around the guy, so watch out.

It appears they’ll take a typical running back by committee approach with workhorse back Cedric Benson gone. They did pick up the Law Firm from New England in the offseason, so a committee approach should suit Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis just fine.

Despite “appearances,” the roster has changed quite a bit from last year’s squad. They think since Ellis is a better receiver from the backfield than Benson ever was, they can use him in the West Coast Offense of theirs.

The AFC North is getting rather crowded with talent. The Bengals will need that DT help with the running backs in the division. Sure it’s a passing league these days but the Bengals are the only team in this conference to get that memo.

They also took a chance on a troubled young man with amazing talent in Vontaze Burflict.

Pittsburgh’s Reshard Mendenhall is coming off injury and won’t start out the season but is a formidable force when he’s on the field. Baltimore’s Ray Rice has made a huge name for himself, and Cleveland rookie Trent Richardson is being touted as the best RB to enter the league since Adrian Peterson. The Bengals need to stop the run. Period.

They ranked 7th overall last season, but towards the end of the year and in the playoffs, they struggled some. Taylor Mays will be asked to come in and work one of the safety spots. That’s their weakness on defense. Otherwise, they’ve got good talent all around. DT Geno Atkins got injured but was named to the Pro Bowl anyway.

Two things are going on here: The Bengals look to be a hot, young, up-and-coming team. The bad thing is the Bengals have a history of making spotty one-year wonder teams. They’ve been doing it going back to the Sam Wyche days. Which direction will the 2012 team go?

This team does have the core talent – at QB and WR – to be a ten-year force in the league. QB Andy Dalton lacks arm strength to wow, but he has the poise, accuracy, and leadership you want in a franchise QB. WR AJ Green was a player I was high on from the start. Everyone raved about Julio Jones and his 4.38-40 at the combine, but I’m an SEC fan and Auburn alum. I saw AJ green as a guy who would take over games in college on a regular basis. Julio Jones really did not do that much. Mohamed Sanu looks to be a nice snag and could start.

With the draft they had, they got good value at positions of need. They play in a bruising division. With that in mind, I say…

Two steps forward. Next, the Cleveland Browns…