Resurgent Cedric Benson Leads Way as Bengals Find Stride

CINCINNATI -- If Cedric Benson were going to make this climb from the NFL scrap heap to the top of the rushing list, it only makes sense that he'd do it here, among the well-known collection of misfits and ne'er-do-wells that league observers and HBO subscribers know as the Bengals.

This is in many ways the perfect spot for someone like Benson, who was unwelcome in Chicago before he even arrived and who drank himself out of town without ever delivering on the promise that comes with being the No. 4 pick in the draft. Here by the muddy banks of the Ohio River, in the shadow of the creaky Roebling Bridge, a team that's had only two winning seasons in the past two decades is happy to make Benson feel at home.

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"He's feeling that we're glad he's here," longtime Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson said. "We're happy he's here. We like that he's here. And I think that's important for him to know."

As long as Benson keeps running the ball as he has so far this year, he can count on his team to continue letting him know that. The 26-year-old running back, who signed with Cincinnati during the 2008 season after multiple complaints, disappointments and a couple of alcohol-related arrests led the Bears to release him, is currently leading the NFL with 487 rushing yards. He's a crucial reason the Bengals are sitting at 4-1 and in first place in the AFC North, and best of all he seems to be at peace.

"I'm definitely very honored and very privileged to be in a place where they believe in me and they're going to keep going to me," Benson said. "I've always seen myself as a guy who could be at the top of those charts, so it's not a surprise to me. But at the same time, it's only Week 5. We've still got a long way to go."

There's no denying Benson's talent. The Bears picked him fourth overall in the 2005 draft out of Texas and expected him to be the kind of back around whom they could build their team for years. When he's healthy, and focused, it's easy to see why.

"He's what we like to call 'Slow-to and fast-through,'" Anderson said, describing Benson's running style. "That's what he has -- that instant acceleration and that burst. That finish up the field. Explosive."

Which is part of what Bears coach Lovie Smith told Bengals coach Marvin Lewis when the two spoke by phone last year shortly before Cincinnati signed Benson. Part of it. The other parts are well documented. Benson was a training-camp holdout in his first year as a Bear, finally signing a $35 million contract and announcing himself as the starter upon his delayed arrival in the locker room.

"He wasn't accepted when he got there, and he didn't do anything to endear himself to anybody," Lewis said.

And then it got worse. Injuries, complaints in the media about playing time. Finally last year, the two arrests -- one for driving while intoxicated, the other for boating while intoxicated. Yeah that's right. BWI. Can't make this stuff up.

"Ced himself has admitted to the problems that he had and why, and the poor decisions and choices that he made, and the fact is, he was humbled," Lewis said. "And I think when a guy's sunk as low as he was sunk, he can do nothing but go up."

Benson also used the word "humbled" several times -- to describe the way he felt just before the Bengals signed him and the way they make him feel even now. He attributes his past mistakes to poor decision-making and prefers not to linger on them. And yes, he does enjoy being in a locker room full of people who feel they have something to prove to the outside world.

"That is present here, definitely," Benson said. "I think largely because of the way it went last year and knowing we have the opportunity to put that to a halt. I think we take personal pride in being that way. I think we have a lot of guys who like this position."

If motivation is what Benson needed, he's found a place where it is handed out with the cleats and the playbooks. If it's focus he lacked in Chicago, that's no longer a problem here. Since arriving in Cincinnati, Benson has worked his dreadlocks off to make sure his talent is maximized.

"Last year, he didn't know what he didn't know," Anderson said. "He was just playing on instinct and just playing football. And what he did last year, with a limited knowledge of our system and what we do, that was big. Now you take all of that and you put in the little intricate things of coaching and technique and drills and all of that, and now you've really got something."

Anderson sat Benson down in the off-season and had him watch film of the offensive line. His message was that Benson would be best served taking what the offensive line gave him, rather than trying to dictate where the blocking should go on any particular play. It sounds simple, but sometimes the simplest things still have to be spelled out. And Benson's attention to those lessons is endearing him to the big dudes in front of him.

"We feel like, with Ced, he's one of those backs that's unique in the sense that he's going to get extra yards after he's hit," tackle Andrew Whitworth said. "He's always going to fall and get a yard or two more. So we feel as an offensive line like our attitude and our mindset is to push and push and push. There's been plenty of times this season where he's been hit with a three- or four-yard gain and he's turned it into an eight-yard game just based off of effort."

Effort. Focus. Dedication. Humility. Peace. These are the things Cedric Benson lacked in Chicago, where he always had talent but so rarely had success. To find all of those things, he had to come to Cincinnati. Which sounds kind of silly, until you think about it.

Once you think about it, it all makes perfect sense.