The Cincinnati Bengals: It's nice to see a comeback
It's probably been pretty difficult to be a Bengals fan for the past 10 years and even beyond as their seasons have just been filled with never-ending disappointment and unfulfilled promises of rebuilding. This has been especially true for the past 5 years where they never had a winning season. This duldrums reached an apex in 2019 where they went 2-14 losing their first 11 games. The only teams they defeated the entire season were also terrible: The New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.
This is why I am so excited to see the Bengals finally do well and also to have made it to the playoffs as a number 3 seed. Also, they are just coming off of a win versus the number 2 ranked Kansas City Chiefs and that certainly was a surprise as they rallied in the 4th quarter for the win.
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I am not a Bengals fan. I don't think I have ever even set foot in Ohio. I've driven through it a couple of times but I have no affiliation with the place. I also have a little bit of hatred for the place because of Ohio State University's football program. However, I don't like to see bad teams remain bad for very long stretches of time. Being an NFL fan in Ohio has been a tough road for the past decade or so and although I would have bet on the Browns being the first to change this, it looks like the Bengals have a real shot at glory this year.
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They still have a really tough road ahead of them and I am just extremely hopeful that both they and Kansas City can win their first games so we can see a rematch since that particular game was so epic. There are a lot of holes in the Bengal's overall team because their defense is certainly nothing to get excited about and they rely heavily on offense and on Joe Burrow in particular.
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Their defense started the season strong but now they are just slightly above the league average and ranked 18th overall by defensive metrics. There are a lot of factors at play here of course and it is difficult to quantify a defense but the Bengals are really going to have to step this up if they are going to have any chance in this thing.
At the end of the day, I don't follow the Bengals but I love a good story of a team that is able to turn things around after many years of obscurity and just being a disappointment to the residents of the city. It's been a long time since the people of Cincinnati have had much to look forward to in the NFL, and who knows? This could be their year.
Of course there is a bit of a "curse" on the Bengals and it will be a time for jubilation if they can manage to break it this year. Cincinnati hasn't made it out of the wild card playoff round since 1990 and between 2011 and 2015 they managed to lose in the first round 5 years in a row. They've also only ever been to the Super Bowl twice in 51 years and they lost both times.
Well now I just feel like I am jinxing them.
I'm a Ravens fan so really, I should be wishing them utter failure and hating what they've achieved. Having said that I'm in Australia so some of that rivalry you'd feel in the heart of the action I don't get. Happy for Burrow considering the injury last year and for a fanbase waiting for so much.
What makes me think there is hope for the Bengals is that Vontaze Burfict isn't on the team ready to pop up with the wrong play at the wrong time.
I'm just happy for the city to be honest. I don't really follow the team because every season just kind of starts out with Cincinnati folks wondering "how bad are we going to be this year."
Burrows is at the moment on a one year contract for very little money (1.5 million dollars) considering how epic he has been this year. No matter what happens he is going to be worth considerably more when contract renegotiations come up at the end of this season.
I went to high school with a guy that was on the Super Bowl team with the Ravens. Unfortunately he got into a lot of trouble with the law after getting cut from the team and they have scrubbed him from the record books. He does have a ring though!
OH how cool! Is that Clarence Love from Jackson High by any chance? Just putting my research skills to the test. Unless you went to New Rochelle and it was Ray Rice?!
No, it is Pedro Edison and his rookie year was the Super Bowl year in 2000. I don't think he played very much, he never really amounted to much and sadly wasted all of his millions that he made in just a few years after getting his contract revoked.
He was later caught stealing credit cards from a gym that he got a free celebrity membership to, then went and used them at places with CCTV... completely stupid behavior. Last I heard he was managing a garage that does oil changes and helps coach youth football. He had a real opportunity that guy and he threw it all away.
Yeh wow that's crazy. The fact he's managing a garage that sounds good as opposed to being locked up.
There are so many players who have an opportunity and they just blow it. Damon Arnette, Antonio Brown ...
Although the more I read about AB, the more I link it to the hit from Vontaze. Ouch.
He certainly seemed like he was headed towards criminality and I'm sure his fame probably helped him not do jail time. He had already been in trouble with the law several times prior to this when he was in college, and those were violent altercations that resulted in him losing his scholarship. The truly sad thing is that him going to court got him more press than playing football ever did. That's his legacy: Crime, not football. Such a waste and I am sure he has tons of regrets.
Damn bro. Well...any publicity is good publicity...right???????
Ye.
Maybe not.
One of the teams I remember from years gone by along with the 49ers. I think it is healthy when teams have to rebuild and not stay at the top constantly and is a natural progression. I don't really follow the NFL but happy to see it is not being dominated by one team like we see in other sports.
Well, there's the New England Patriots and people could argue that they tend to be consistently good. Most other teams go though troughs and high points though and the Bengals are one of those teams that over the 51 year history, is BAD more often than not.