I was at the game yesterday...

[WeezyBengal]

(01-03-2022, 12:45 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Too many fans think defense does not count.

The '05 Bengals had a poor defense and was not a serious Super Bowl contender.  This year's defense is better than the '05 team, but still a problem when talking about winning a Championship.

Both the teams from '13 (#6 scoring offense, #5 scoring defense) and the '15 (#7 scoring offense, #2 scoring defense) were mor balanced  and more likely to win a championship than the teams from '05 (#4 scoring offense, #22 scoring defense) and this year (#5 scoring offense, #18 scoring defense).

I am not bashing the current team.  Once a team gets in the playoffs anything can happen, but neither the '05 team nor this year's team had the best offense in the league that could just steamroll every opponent.

Good offense is better than good defense these days in the NFL. It just is. Look at SB winners in recent history - Chiefs, all those Patriots teams, etc. Elite offenses with capable and good enough defenses. That's what this years Bengals are.

That being said, I mentioned the Dalton Bengals the year he broke his hand as being elite mainly because of their defense. It was elite. Once Mccarron took over as QB for that team though they just werent SB contenders. He just wasn't good enough.