Posted: 3:25 p.m.
The always engrossing NFL Record & Fact Book has made its 2007 appearance and some Bengals have supplied powerhouse offensive trends while the team's winning percentage over the last four years is in the top 12.
Since Marvin Lewis became head coach in 2003, the Colts and the Patriots lead with a .781 winning percentage in the regular season, followed by Denver (.656), and Philadelphia and Seattle at .641 each.
The Bengals, 35-29, rank 12th at .547 after four seasons they are one of five teams that haven't had a losing record.
Individually over the past two seasons, Carson Palmer's 60 touchdown passes and Chad Johnson's 2,801 receiving yards lead the NFL. Palmer has thrown one more touchdown pass than Peyton Manning, coverboy of the record book, and 10 more TDs than both Tom Brady and Drew Brees.
Palmer is tied with Brady with 78 touchdown passes over the past three seasons, a distant second to Manning's 108. Johnson also has the most receiving yards over the past three seasons with 4,075, 184 more than the Rams' Torry Holt.
Running back Rudi Johnson has the most carries in the NFL over the past three seasons with 1,039, a stretch in which he has racked up the fourth most yards with 4,221, trailing only Tiki Barber, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Shaun Alexander.
SLANTS AND SCREENS
Don't look for a long-term deal in the next week for Justin Smith, which means his $8.66 million franchise player salary will stay on the books until the end of the season even if a deal does get done after July 16.
But that is far from imminent. Agent Jim Steiner says he hasn't had any recent discussions with the Bengals, "but nobody is mad about that," he said. "I think we're all happy and ready to go into the season."
The deadline for getting a mutli-year deal done to wipe out the franchise number on the salary cap is a week from Monday, the 16th of July.
It's not clear if middle linebacker Odell Thurman is going to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before the league rules on his application for reinstatement. Indications are no meeting has been set up. It's believed the decision could be announced as soon as Wednesday, July 11. That's the anniversary of Thurman's year-long suspension for violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Two days before, on July 9, Thurman celebrates his 24th birthday.
