The Bengals have pulled off a few "worst-to-first" type seasons in their history.

'81 Super Bowl season followed a 6-10 season and one of the worst 3 season stretches ever (14-34)

'88 Super Bowl season came after a 4-11 season and was only our second winning season in 6 years.

'11 Playoff season came after a 4-12 season that based on preseason expectations was the biggest disappointment in team history. And like '88 it was only our second winning season in 6 years.

I thought it would be interesting to go back and look at the big games that convinced fans that things really had changed.

1981.... 5-3 Bengals at 4-4 Oilers. Over the 3 previous seasons the Oilers had won 32 regular season games and 4 playoff games. They were on the decline in '81, but they had beaten the Bengals 6 straight times including 4 weeks earlier. Bengals beat the brakes off the Oilers. They lead 34-7 in the fourth quarter and coast to a 34-21 victory. Even though the win over the Oilers was big to Bengal fans it did drop the Oliers to 4-5 so ther were still doubters in the national media. But the very next week we went on the road to San Diego. The 6-3 Chargers had gone to the Conference Championship the year before and were 23-9 over the previous two seasons. They were an undisputed powerhouse. Again we jump out to a 31-7 lead and blow them out 41-17. At that point everyone everywhere knew we were a Super Bowl contender.

1988.... The '88 Bengals had won 10 games just 2 years ago, so they were not as big of a surprise as the '81 team. They started the season 6-0 but mostly against losing teams. In week 2 they beta an Eagles team that would go to the playoffs, but Philly was coming off a losing season so that win did not seem very impressive at the time. In week 4 they beat the defending AFC North champion Browns, but they Browns stumbled to a 3-3 start that year, so again it did not seem like a "defining" win. After the Bengals lost their first game to a 3-3 Patriots team there were some questions if Cincy was as good as their record. The next week the 6-1 Bengals faced the 5-2 Oilers with first place in the division on the line. The Oilers had won a playoff game the year before in Coach Jerry Glanville's second season and were looking to establish themselves as the best team in the division. Bengals blitzkreig the Oilers and take a 28-0 lead IN THE FIRST QUARTER. Bengals coast to a 44-21 win and are generally recognized as a Super Bowl contender.

2011.... The preseason power rankings had the Bengals as possibly the worst team in the league. They started 1-2. The Buffalo Bills did not have a history of winning, but they started the '11 season on fire. They scored 113 points in their 3-0 start and beat the Patriots. The game started badly for the Bengals. Rookie QB Andy Dalton struggled in the first half throwing 2 interceptions in the final 4 minutes of the 2nd quarter one of which was returned for a td. Bengals trailed 17-3 at the half. But after completing just 7 of 20 first half attempts Dalton scorches the Bills in the second half (11-16, 182 yds, 1 td, 0 int) and adds a rushing td as the Bengals score on 4 of their 5 second half possessions and win 23-20. Bengals followed that win with 3 victories against losing teams to run their record to 5-2 before going on the Road to play the Titans. Tennessee was 4-3 and just a half game behind the Texans in the AFC South. Again the Struggled early and trailed 17-7 halfway through the third period. Then over the next two possessions Dalton heated up. He completed 8 of 12 for 79 yards and 2 tds to give the Bengals a lead they would never relinquish. It pushed the Bengals to 6-2 and a tie for fisrt place in the division.
Everyone started to take them seriously.

I neglect to remember that first half of the 2011 season somehow and those really were some great comeback games back then. The background on the other few seasons is great too as I wasn’t around for them. It really puts things into perspective.

I neglect to remember that first half of the 2011 season somehow and those really were some great comeback games back then. The background on the other few seasons is great too as I wasn’t around for them. It really puts things into perspective.

(10-29-2021, 09:55 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The Bengals have pulled off a few "worst-to-first" type seasons in their history.  

'81 Super Bowl season followed a 6-10 season and one of the worst 3 season stretches ever (14-34)

'88 Super Bowl season came after a 4-11 season and was only our second winning season in 6 years.

'11 Playoff season came after a 4-12 season that based on preseason expectations was the biggest disappointment in team history.  And like '88 it was only our second winning season in 6 years.

I thought it would be interesting to go back and look at the big games that convinced fans that things really had changed.

1981.... 5-3 Bengals at 4-4 Oilers.  Over the 3 previous seasons the Oilers had won 32 regular season games and 4 playoff games.  They were on the decline in '81, but they had beaten the Bengals 6 straight times including 4 weeks earlier.  Bengals beat the brakes off the Oilers.  They lead 34-7 in the fourth quarter and coast to a 34-21 victory.  Even though the win over the Oilers was big to Bengal fans it did drop the Oliers to 4-5 so ther were still doubters in the national media.  But the very next week we went on the road to San Diego.  The 6-3 Chargers had gone to the Conference Championship the year before and were 23-9 over the previous two seasons. They were an undisputed powerhouse.  Again we jump out to a 31-7 lead and blow them out 41-17.  At that point everyone everywhere knew we were a Super Bowl contender.

1988.... The '88 Bengals had won 10 games just 2 years ago, so they were not as big of a surprise as the '81 team.  They started the season 6-0 but mostly against losing teams.  In week 2 they beta an Eagles team that would go to the playoffs, but Philly was coming off a losing season so that win did not seem very impressive at the time.  In week 4 they beat the defending AFC North champion Browns, but they Browns stumbled to a 3-3 start that year, so again it did not seem like a "defining" win.  After the Bengals lost their first game to a 3-3 Patriots team there were some questions if Cincy was as good as their record. The next week the 6-1 Bengals faced the 5-2 Oilers with first place in the division on the line.  The Oilers had won a playoff game the year before in Coach Jerry Glanville's second season and were looking to establish themselves as the best team in the division.  Bengals blitzkreig the Oilers and take a 28-0 lead IN THE FIRST QUARTER.  Bengals coast to a 44-21 win and are generally recognized as a Super Bowl contender.

2011.... The preseason power rankings had the Bengals as possibly the worst team in the league.  They started 1-2.  The Buffalo Bills did not have a history of winning, but they started the '11 season on fire.  They scored 113 points in their 3-0 start and beat the Patriots.  The game started badly for the Bengals.  Rookie QB Andy Dalton struggled in the first half  throwing 2 interceptions in the final 4 minutes of the 2nd quarter one of which was returned for a td.  Bengals trailed 17-3 at the half. But after completing just 7 of 20 first half attempts Dalton scorches the Bills in the second half (11-16, 182 yds, 1 td, 0 int) and adds a rushing td as the Bengals score on 4 of their 5 second half possessions and win 23-20.  Bengals followed that win with 3 victories against losing teams to run their record to 5-2 before going on the Road to play the Titans.  Tennessee was 4-3 and just a half game behind the Texans in the AFC South.  Again the Struggled early and trailed 17-7 halfway through the third period.  Then over the next two possessions Dalton heated up.  He completed 8 of 12 for 79 yards and 2 tds to give the Bengals a lead they would never relinquish.  It pushed the Bengals to 6-2 and a tie for fisrt place in the division.
Everyone started to take them seriously.

Great moments, and I remember all of them. 

One additional (stupid) note of significance.  The Bengals made a significant overhaul of the uniforms in the 1981 season, their first Super Bowl year.  

Forty years later....

Good post, being healthy has been HUGE so far this year, but injuries are an 'every team' part of the game, and the key to that, again, is depth.

I don't have the gumption to do this much research, and not even sure if something like this could even BE researched, but I AM curious as to what kind of injury reports BOTH of those SB teams had game to game.

What year did they fall way behind Seattle only to eventually win it in the 2nd half?  That was the game that defined me going fishing to make em win.. It seemed to work for awhile, but it faded.. I quit fishing after the lake was invaded by otters.. LOL

(10-30-2021, 10:41 AM)grampahol Wrote: What year did they fall way behind Seattle only to eventually win it in the 2nd half?  That was the game that defined me going fishing to make em win.. It seemed to work for awhile, but it faded.. I quit fishing after the lake was invaded by otters.. LOL

2015

Trailed 24-7 in 4th quarter to team with #1 defense in the league.  Dalton then went 13-16 for 125 yds, ran for a td and threw for a td as he led 4 scoring drives to win 27-24 in overtime. 

Same year we also erased a 10 point 4th quarter deficit to the Cardinals who had the #5 defense in the league, but our defense gave that one away.