It’s Time For Bengals’ Fans To Stop Accepting This Organization’s Shortcomings
Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Well, here we are, watching the Cincinnati Bengals storm into the playoff picture with a four-game win streak. Now it’s time to break out the Pepe Silvia board and play the “OK… Here’s What Needs To Happen” game. This week should be easy. All Cincy needs is a win against the 10-6 Steelers, the Denver Broncos to lose to Carson Wentz and the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad, and for the Jets to get their fifth win of the year.
Spoiler Alert: it ain’t happening. The Bengals are hot right now, and Andy Reid knows that there’s only one active quarterback with a win against Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. As much as we want the Chiefs to win, Kansas City knows they want Bo Nix in the playoffs and not Joe Burrow, understandably.
This season has had things happen that I’ve never seen before in my time as a Bengals fan, including me rooting for the Browns last Sunday. Disgusting. And no one else wants to do the Bengals a favor either. Every time you turn on the sports networks, you’ll find countless talking heads, all saying “Nobody wants to see this Bengals team in the playoffs.”
"I don't think anyone wants to see the Bengals in the playoffs." @lukekuechly on the streaking Cincy team 🔊@heykayadams @Bengals | #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/E3fH1QfKFR
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) December 30, 2024
I’ll be honest, I hate hearing it. It’s just a reminder of what could have been, how 51 Bengals wasted a historic season from Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, and how my next nine months will be spent debating “shoulda, coulda, woulda” over and over.
The only thing that hurts worse than hearing how the AFC teams don’t want to face Cincinnati, it’s remembering all the times this phrase rolled off of fans’ tongues like it was nothing: “The Bengals ALWAYS start slow.” That’s the reason that our boys, realistically, only have one week of football left in the biggest “What could have been” season in the history of the Bengals season. With Cincinnati looking at being at home in mid-January along with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers, I guess it’s a bad year for the cat teams in the NFL. Make us proud, Lions!
While the offense clicked in crucial new areas — you’ve seen what having a capable tight end in Mike Gesicki and a productive Chase Brown can bring — the defense has allowed damn near 360 yards and 27 points per game. The Bengals are a decent, hell, maybe even below-average defense away from being a 12- or 13-win team this season. There’s just one game (vs. the Eagles) this season where Cincinnati has lost by more than one possession.
Even worse, you could make the argument that the Bengals haven’t lost by one possession, but that they’ve lost by one play! While not every single bad break was on the defense, it goes to shows you how close this team is to greatness. But unless the Bengals win and have two unlikely breaks go their way, we’ll left with one of the greatest What Ifs in franchise history, and perhaps, the history of the entire NFL.
I could go through right now and show you a breakdown of these key plays in each of their losses, but I don’t know if I have enough Zoloft to relive all that.
So here’s all that is left to be said, Bengals Nation: If the Bengals don’t make the playoffs this Sunday, don’t be upset with Reid for not playing his starters, and damn sure don’t be upset with the New York Jets for not winning.
Be upset with what we’ve become as a fan base. We have given way too many free passes to Zac Taylor, Mike Brown, and the defense. We passively accept a slow start every season, and living with those means living with this coming heartbreak. We know what this team is capable of, and we know what needs to happen. They know it, too. But it just doesn’t happen.
And it might keep not happening. We’ve seen the way both the Chase and Tee Higgins contract situations have been mishandled, and they’re two of the top players on the roster. The league has seen our poor defense and questionable head coach. Mike Vrabel, a successful defensive-minded head coach, is sitting on his couch as we speak, and there has been no urgency during the season from ownership to maybe show the fans that they want to change.
So while this crazy winning streak might boost fan confidence going into the offseason, that next season is still going to be a Bengals season. It’s the same old song and dance until ownership and the front office prove otherwise.
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