Were the pre-Joe Bengals as bad as most think?

[*Nately120*]

(01-31-2023, 11:10 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: With the Chiefs, it's a combo. Reid made them very good, but Mahomes took them from that level to that of a yearly title contender.

Before the Chiefs got Reid, they were also 2-14. They had at least 12 losses in 4 of their previous 6 seasons, and they hadn't won a playoff game since 1993, finally winning one in 2015 after a 22 year drought.

I don't think the situations are massively different.

It's different because you brought up Mahommes who was taken to be a project in a perfect situation.  When the Chiefs went 2-14 they did so when the draft famously had zero QBs worth a 1st round pick much less the 1st overall.  They got rid of Matt Cassel and Romeo Crenel and got Andy Reid and Alex Smith, turned the team from 2-14 to 11-5 on a dime and eventually drafted a project QB to develop.

We went 2-14, kept the coach that went 2-14 and drafted a 1st overall pick QB to start on day 1.  Both teams did the right thing in the end, but you have to admit we took the riskier route.