"How the Bengals used dirty play to tie the Redskins and stay alive in 2016"

[Benton]

Every team needs a story.

Ours was the Bungals, and it was how nepotism in the NFL was bad for football, that it led to an inept franchise where no decent coach would go and even someone like a defensive genius like Dick LeBeau couldn't win. Why? Because everything got bungaled.

But then... we won. We won a lot. We won against powerhouses, we won against favorites, we won against old rivals. We put ourselves in contention more often than not over a decade. We won with good players, we won with scrubs and fourth round picks. We won with a franchise — oh wait, we traded him and everyone laughed — oh wait again, we got a second round QB, won with him and shut everyone up. We won with coaches no one heard of. Remember how everyone laughed when we brought in some guy from the arena league? Just more nepotism.... until we won with him.

The Bungals chapter is over. The team is competitive even during inevitable down years like this one. But some lazy talking heads still need some story, some way to define the team. Unfortunately, it looks like it's rapidly becoming as the dirtiest team in the NFL. And the league isn't doing much to help that image with its inconsistent fining/suspension and bad calls that have plagued every team for the last couple seasons.

So, just like the Bungals, I'm going to embrace it. When I wear out my shirt and somebody makes a comment, I'll just shrug and realize they're either ignorant and misinformed, or they know the team and don't want to risk playing us on an up game. When someone makes a comment about who's suspended this week, I'll tell them their coaches are hair pulling sissies.