Tennessee has Chris Johnson and LenDale White, Dallas has Marion Barber and Felix Jones, Carolina has Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, and the New York Football Giants have Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. All of these teams, and there are others, use their "two-headed monster" at running back. It's usually a power back and then a fast scatback to change the pace. Using a two runnning back system serves many purposes. First, it keeps your number one guy healthy. When your number one back gets all the first and second down carries all the time, you can almost bet on not having that guy all 16 games in a season. Running backs have a short shelf life anyway. The second purpose it serves is it keeps the defense on their toes. Not only does the defense need to prepare for the power back but they need to prepare for a good change of pace back and the passing game. It's just common sense, the more difficult you make things for a defense, the more likely you are to put some points up on the board.
So who is the second head of the Bengals two-headed monster? It's obvious that the number one guy is Cedric Benson. Brian Leonard? No, he's great as a third down guy and is too much like Benson in size and speed. That leaves Bernard Scott, the rookie from Abilene Christian. He's the second head if Bob Bratkowski desides to utilize him. Last week they put Scott in every once in a while. At the end of the game, Scott had 6 carries for 41 yards including runs for 11 and 16 yards on the last minute touchdown drive to tie the game. He's smaller and lighter and faster than Benson and he's got fresh legs. He would be perfect as the second punch in a one-two punch combination that could help knock out some of the tough defenses in the AFC North.
Baltimore has an aging defense but they're still tough. They don't give up yards on the ground easily and it's no secret that the best way to set up a successful passing game is to establish the running game. If Benson and Scott can force the Ravens front seven to focus on them and load up the box, Carson will shred the weaker Baltimore secondary.
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