The picture of Bengals fans celebrating on the couch every Sunday has faded away along with the hope of the post-season. Now, Sunday evenings bring quiet living rooms and jerseys hung back up in the closet.
Many Cincinnati Bengals fans dread even watching the Bengals. With the loss of Joe Burrow, due to turf toe, and other key players, Sunday has been dim on an otherwise bright and sunny day. But, not all the lights are out in the Queen City. With stars like Joe Burrow, Trey Hendrickson, and Mike Gesicki expected to return, maybe things will turn around soon.
We started off the season with high hopes: a healthy Bengals team. Joe Burrow coming off of a Comeback Player of the Year season, Ja’Marr Chase coming off of a Triple Crown year, Trey Hendrickson coming off of a Defensive Player of The Year runner up year. These hopes did not last very long, however.
Week 1: @ Cleveland Browns W 17-16
The first win of the season was really thanks to the Browns kicker, or lack-there-of, and the Bengals defense. What?! The nice 1-0 start against a division rival.
Week 2: VS Jacksonville Jaguars W 31-27
This was the beginning of the end. An exciting game, but that was about it for the positives. Joe Burrow got injured and was projected to not return until December, but now we know that he’s coming on Thanksgiving. Read this article to learn more about Burrow’s Turf Toe injury.
Why did we have these hopes, though? Just because some stars were all healthy? Not exactly. Zac Taylor’s Cincinnati Bengals have had a historically slow start in the first 2 weeks. Not this year. We started out 2-0 again! The last time the Bengals had a 2-0 start under Head Coach Zac Taylor was when we went to Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams. If only Burrow had 2 more seconds…
Under then 2nd string Quarter Back, Jake Browning, we had 0.5 wins and 3 losses. I’m giving him half a win because he played the 2nd half of the Jaguars game, which we won thanks to a third quarter Browning touchdown and a McPherson field goal. The game was too close for comfort, not thanks to Browning with 3 interceptions. This, however, was the only highlight for Browning this season.
Jake Browning finished the season with 6 memorable, but ultimately useless touchdowns, and 8 infuriating interceptions.
Under current 2nd string Joe Flacco, who was acquired on an October 7th (specifically during 6th bell, actually. I remember getting the notification) trade, we went 1-6, the 1 win being in an exciting “Unc Bowl” where both quarterbacks combined for an age of 81, with Flacco being 40 and Pittsburgh Steeler Aaron Rodgers being 41. Most of these losses were due to bad officiating and defense.
Joe Flacco finished the season with 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
First, we need to take care of our business. Ideally, we win out the rest of our games going 10-7, but we have a little bit of wiggle room and can go 9-8. We need to win the division, so we can’t sneak in as a Wildcard team. If you’re confused about these terms, I will break it down later. Let’s break down the rest of the schedule.
Week 12: VS. New England Patriots
The Patriots seem to be reliving their dynasty after a short break. From legend Tom Brady to uprising star Drake Maye, New England doesn’t seem to have issues finding quarterbacks. Hopefully we can help stop another Patriots reign. This game will not have Ja’Marr Chase, which is a tough loss after his slobbery suspension after the Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the one of the games we can accept to lose.
Week 13, Thanksgiving: @ Baltimore Ravens
Short week! Just 4 days to prepare after the Patriots game. The Ravens have had their own share of injuries, specifically to stars Lamar Jackson (QB #8) and Derrick Henry (RB #22), but they are both healthy in time for the return of Joe Burrow. This will be a close game that we need to win.
Week 14: @ Buffalo Bills
This is our first week of December and we go to Josh Allen’s (QB #17) home turf, in which he is notorious for doing well in the cold. Hopefully it doesn’t snow! If we win against the Patriots, then we can lose this game. If we lose against the Patriots, however, this is a must win game.
Week 15: VS. Baltimore Ravens
We get a full week to prepare this time. No turkey. Must win.
Week 16: @ Miami Dolphins
An unpredictable team. Their quarterback, Tuanigamanuolepola “Tua” Tagovailoa (QB #1), has had so many concussions that we know how to say his name better than he does. We don’t know how to say his name, by the way. Must win.
Week 17: VS. Arizona Cardinals
Typically an unremarkable team. We should win this. Then again, we SHOULD have won against the New York Jets. Lots of redacted words will resurface if we lose this game.
Week 18: VS. Cleveland Browns
Burrow ends the season how it started: against the Cleveland Browns. Winning this game does not matter for the Browns, but it does for us. Don’t expect our starters to leave the field.
These wins will not matter, however, if the other pieces of the puzzle fall out of the Cincinnati Bengals’s paws. We need some other teams to slack off. It’s worth mentioning that the following order is not necessarily the only order, just what I consider “realistic.”
First up, probably the more worrying one’s path: the Baltimore Ravens. Because everyone likes receiving the bad news first, right?
After Baltimore’s Thanksgiving loss to the Bengals, they need to lose at least 2 more games
Lastly, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Under Head Coach Mike Tomlin, they have almost always had a winning record. Not consistently in the post-season, though.
The Steelers also need to lose at least 2 more games.
It is important to note that we can still win the division at 8-9 IF Baltimore and Pittsburgh also go 8-9 or less as long as Cincinnati does not lose to Baltimore.
If all of this happens, we will enter the playoffs as the 4th seed at home against the 5th seed.
If you think I’m talking about plants, then you’re wrong. “Seed” means place, like if you’re 1st place, you had the best record, 2nd place you had the 2nd best record and so on. There are 7 spots in the AFC playoff bracket.
We used to suck.
Lifelong Bengal’s fans know this to be true. Countless top ten draft picks handed to us because we did not meet expectations of our glory days. Why is there a resurgence of hope?
The first time we saw a glimpse of glory: January 24th, 1982. 42 years ago. Most of us were definitely not thought of, most of our parents were not thought of, either. Sorry to make you teachers feel old, but 1982 was a long time ago. Super Bowl XVI was the San Francisco 49ers VS the Cincinnati Bengals. San Francisco’s Joe Montana against Cincinnati’s Ken Anderson (who just made the Pro Football Hall of Fame final ballot, by the way!) It was a close game, the Bengals just falling short by 5 points, with a final score of 26-21.
The second time, January 22, 1989, 35 years ago. Now we were definitely not thought of, our parents probably were. Teachers, you are still old, sorry. Super Bowl XXIII was the Cincinnati Bengals VS the, guess who, San Francisco 49ers. Cincinnati’s Boomer Esiason against San Francisco’s, again, Joe Montana. This time, Montana had help from legendary receiver Jerry Rice. The Bengals fell short 4 points with a score of 16-20.
The third time, ending a 31 year drought of playoff wins, the 2021 NFL season. Every fan remembers hearing those chilling words. “And for the first time in 31 years… Cincinnati, your Bengals have won a playoff game.” – NBC announcer Mike Tirico in 2022 Bengals-Raiders playoff game. With Germaine Pratt intercepting Raider’s quarterback Derek Carr. With our first win in 31 years, we went to the Super Bowl.
Los Angeles Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford VS Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow. Stafford had help from Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua on offense. Burrow had Chase, Higgins and a dream.
This dream was crushed by the 6’1, 284-pound man known as Aaron Donald. The offensive line did not help in this best of the best showcase. Joe Burrow was sacked a whopping 7 times, something Bengals fans know well. The showing ended in a disappointing 23-20.
We should be grateful
We shouldn’t have these high expectations all of a sudden. We didn’t win a playoff game for 31 years. We should be extremely grateful that we’re even whispering “playoff” in the Queen City. 10, 20, 30 years ago, they’d say you’re crazy for even thinking about thinking about the possibility of the playoffs.
Many call for the removal of Head Coach Zac Taylor, and I won’t disagree, but you have to think about it from a head office perspective. A stupid one, but a head office perspective nonetheless. We have had playoff success under Taylor, a lot more than we have for the past 30 years, obviously. Some might say that it’s not his doing at all and it’s all because of the players. I’d say so too.
As of the December 14th loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals are eliminated from the playoffs.
The Bengals now are way better than in recent memory, even when they’re disappointing. It’s just Cincinnati football. We have it a lot better now than we used to.
