12-24-2022, 12:31 PM
(12-23-2022, 04:52 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: What does winning a division title mean if we have super bowl aspirations? We all know this team can get to the super bowl. Why does it really matter?
Plus, going to jax or tennesse is a lot easier than facing LA, baltimore, or Miami in cincy
Ask any team fanbase who got to a super bowl. Do they remember a division title or wild card spot? Sure, but that’s secondary to winning the conference championship.
I think of the 2021 bengals as afc champs, not afc north champs
Winning the division title brings at least one home playoff game. It also helps build a winning culture around the team. You don't create a winning culture around a team with a "Super Bowl or bust" approach. Even with a great team, the odds of consistent success in that approach are just too long.
You have it backwards to suggest that last year was proof that home games don't matter. The Bengals were clearly a better team but the win against the Raiders still came down to the wire. That game could have turned on any number of close plays (early whistle, for example) and there's no question that you're those things are more likely to go your way at home. If that game were in LV the road may have ended right there.
Then there was the rest of that playoff. The Bengals had so many miraculous plays in that run that it's foolish to act like duplicating that run on the road in any given year is no big deal. Cos "you ain't scared," like that matters.
Last year the Bengals sat their starters because the division was clinched and the chances of securing a 1 or 2 seed were slim. That was the right play. It would be the right play under those circumstances this year, as well. But the chances this year that we'll have the division clinched and know that we're unlikely to improve to 1 or 2 seed before kickoff in week 18 seem slim. Maybe if the Ravens drop one or two and we have a late game on Sunday we'll have that opportunity.
