Three years ago the Cincinnati Bengals were horrible. They were a team with a bunch of loud mouth players getting their but kicked on the field. I remember watching them play the Jets on Thanksgiving Night of 2010 and thinking "this team sucks!" Brad Smith scored two touchdowns via kickoff returns and an end around against them.
Off the field the team wasn't much better. They were a bad group of character guys who were always getting into trouble with the law. Chad Johnson change his name to Chad "Ochocinco". This became the point of his career when he also became "Ocho-Stinko." Their quarterback, Carson Palmer, was so fed up with the organization after the season he said he'd "rather retire then play another down for the Bengals". When a player in his prime would rather give up money and not play just to get away from an organization you know there are some real problems.
Fast forward three years and the Bengals are now in prime position to be a Superbowl contender in a very good AFC. How did their fortunes change? Staying the course with their coaching staff was a big plus. Mike Brown (Bengals owner) could have fired long time coach Marvin Lewis after a pitiful 4-12 season. Although he has not had the best record over his decade tenure with the team, Lewis is a man of principal and became more important to ownership then its fledgling stars of Palmer, Owens and "Ocho". His coaching staff made up of Jay Gruden (offensive coordinator) and Mike Zimmer (defensive coordinator) are probably in the top 5 of the league.
The silver-lining of having a bad season is that you get a high draft pick. Every once in a while a team gets lucky and a great player falls into their lap. Such is the case with the Bengals and wide receiver AJ Green in the 2011 draft. Green has developed into a top NFL receiver and does not provide the headaches or bulletin board fodder that other high profile players at his position do. Matching him up with their second round pick in the 2011 draft, quarterback Andy Dalton, was a good decision. Dalton is a solid NFL QB and lead the team to playoff appearances in back to back seasons.
Mix in 2010 tight end draft pick Jermaine Gresham (just as good as Jermichael Finley of the Packers just doesn't get enough recognition) with Mohammed Sanu, a 3rd round pick from Rutgers in 2012 and the Bengals have a very formidable offense for opposing defenses. Their defense isn't half bad either. They have a pair of stud lineman in Geno Atkins and Michael Johnson and their secondary is solid with veteran Leon Hall and youngster Dre Kirkpatrick.
After 3 years of rebuilding the team the right way with high character young guys through the draft the time is now for the Bengals to win a Super Bowl. It is at least their time to win the AFC North division. Baltimore and Pittsburgh seem to be rebuilding (or retooling) and the Browns are a long way away from contention.
Provided their star players stay healthy, Bengals fans may proudly say again "Who dey think gonna beat them Bengals!" at the end of this season...while hoisting a Lombardi trophy.
Go Bengals! I hope they win the division title next year. I do not like the Ravens or the Steelers. The Steelers will be fine this coming year but I think the Ravens may struggle to win 7 games. They gave Flacco to much money. He is a poor man's Eli Manning. Good post. Well written.
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