02-04-2022, 10:25 AM
After watching us fall in the Super Bowl twice, it wasn't until Wyche was fired that I gave up hope of returning. Heck, there were seasons where I just hoped we wouldn't lose all 16 games. I just never felt any of the coaches hired from that time until Marvin could get us there again. When Marvin was hired, I had great hopes and he did great things, but always failed when the playoffs came around. I was then of the mindset we would just be a mediocre middle of the pack team who twice a year took beatings from the Stealers. When Mike Brown went out and hired a new, untested, offensive minded coach who explained what his visions for this team were, for some reason I believed what he was selling. There was just something that told me "This is going to be the guy." Of course, we know his first year was horrible, dealing with an aging and often malcontent roster, and his second year was derailed by injuries that devastated the roster. With Burrow coming back, I predicted 10 wins this year, but was not sure 10 would be enough to take the division, or even back into the playoffs as a Wild Card. But I thought a 10-win season would show we were on the right path. Less than 9, and I said it was probably time to move on. But Taylor never wavered in his vision of how he wanted to rebuild this team. We got 10, got into the playoffs, and have now beaten 3 teams, all of whom were supposed to beat us. So win or lose, we are in the Super Bowl again, and the future could not look any brighter for this young team. I really expect this to be the year they return to Cincinnati with the Lombardi.
