Keyshawn Johnson: "Bengals are not at the top of the class in the AFC"

[SunsetBengal]

(05-27-2022, 12:35 PM)Whatever Wrote: I think that's fair to a point, but I also don't think the standards are necessarily the same when it comes to different franchises.

The Chargers are a trendy pick pretty much every year, and they never live up to expectations.  

The Ravens have won a pair of SB's this century, but they are also 1-3 in the playoffs during the Lamar Jackson era.  They have missed the playoffs 5 out of 9 seasons since their last SB win and have only 2 playoff wins in that span.  

The Steelers have also won a pair of SB's this century and Tomlin has never finished below .500 in the regular season, but they haven't won a playoff game since '16 and Tomlin has a losing record in the playoffs.  

The Dolphins and Raiders haven't won a playoff game since '00 and '02 respectively.  Cleveland has one playoff win since returning to the league in the late '90's.  Denver hasn't won a playoff game since '15.  

To bolded, that is why I used an extreme example like the Patriots to make my point that the Bengals haven't enjoyed enough sustained success required to demand respect across the pundit community.  In most people's eyes, the Bengals simply had a fluke hot run that landed them in the Superbowl.  Now, if they back it up with another strong season and advance in the playoffs?  Then they should command a bit more respect in the sporting world.

As for the rest of your post, that is a great list of examples, but you never really wound up to any conclusion from it.  Was there something else that you wanted to add?