The Return of 85

For too long now, it's been plain old Chad Johnson on the field for the Bengals on Sundays. This week, though, with DeAngelo Hall and the Atlanta Falcons coming to town ... quiet, understated, reserved Chad Johnson is staying home. 85 is coming out to play.

Head coach Marvin Lewis told him to lose the midweek braggadocio, the endzone dances ... basically, everything that makes Chad Johnson fun (I guess since Paul Tagliabue is retired, someone has to take the fun out of the league). But Johnson's been shackled for long enough, and he vows to get back to his roots weekend.

"I'm taking a risk," Johnson said, more energized than he had in weeks. "I'm coming out. Coach Lewis has told me to tone it (down). He's told me to be quiet. I've been quiet all year. I haven't said much. I'm back. I'm going to let it rip."

"I'm tired of being quiet," he said. "I ain't had no motivation. I ain't had no energy. I ain't had no drive, nothing to look forward to on Sunday. I don't care if they put five people on me, I'm going to get it done this week.

"It's going down this Sunday. I'm celebrating. I'm going to score. I'm going to score more than once."

There's no way in hell I'm going to miss that Bengals/Falcons game now. In fact, I wish CBS would put one camera following the Johnson/Hall matchup all game long. I'd buy that on pay-per-view.

I'm probably getting my hopes up too high for this. Last week, I thought something awesome might happen in the Steve Smith/Chad Johnson showdown, and nothing did. If this one disappoints, I'll be crushed. I at least hope there's some kind of a Deion Sanders/Andre Rison slapfight.