Bengals Are The SMARTEST Team In the AFC ???

[Soonerpeace]

(02-18-2024, 05:34 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I think you may be setting the bar too low relative to the team's potential.


Before Joe Burrow, all I wanted was a single playoff win. I didn't even dare hope that we'd be Super Bowl contenders because it felt like the team was not capable of even competing for that level of success since we had not won a playoff game in going on 30 years (my entire lifetime).

So from 2011 to 2019, I just said "let's just win a playoff game. Get over that hump. And then, after we get used to winning playoff games, maybe we can build on that into real success."

We made the playoffs 5 years in a row, and each time I was just praying we'd get that 1 win. 

and we never did.

That's what made 2021 so surreal. We got the first playoff win in 30 years...then we got another...and another....and then we were literal minutes (and 1 penalty) away from winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history.

In 2022, I didn't dare to think that should be the new standard. Despite the success in 2021, we still felt like underdogs, since so much of our success was predicated on big bombs to Chase and the defense inexplicably shutting down Patrick Mahomes in the 2nd half of the AFC CG.

But, as the season went on, we stopped being a chippy under dog and started behaving like a true contender. 

By the time we reached the playoffs, we had not lost a game in almost 3 months. We felt like the favorites rather than the underdogs.

And we played like it in Buffalo (the Baltimore game was a bit iffy, but that's division rivals for you).

The problems occurred when we were entering the AFC CG with half an Oline, and then more injuries followed iirc.

Despite it all, we still only lost by 3 points and should have gone to overtime if not for a horrendous punt and a really bad penalty.

Coming into the 2023 season, why would Bengals fans settle for something less than winning or at least reaching the Super Bowl?

That doesn't really make sense to me. Of course that's the new goal. We've already crushed all the other goals. It's time to get that SB.

Admittedly, some fans go a little crazy, calling for Zac to be fired for this or that. But that's literally every fan base. I don't think having high expectations is equivalent to not appreciating the success we've had.

Great post. There’s not a thing wrong with having higher expectations as the team is close. There’s no reason to not be upset if they don’t win won soon. I’m not setting the bar too low. I’ve been extremely critical of the run game. Pollack is awful but it’s Zac job to fix it. I’m a lot more objective about Zac than people want to credit me with. I’ve been critical that they didn’t have a better feel for Jake. We should have sat Joe out early. Maybe they’d agree now too but they still missed on that. One more win and we make the playoffs.Should have made the playoffs. That was a failure. But you are right. Kyle Shanahan is getting blistered much more than Zac did losing the SB. Of course I’m looking at Notbiggio and Tony and a few others. Brownshoe was that way for awhile.

But not to derail the thread. The thread by 2 people not Bengal media that have a serious formula and say the Bengals are the smartest AFC franchise and it’s not been the case until about 5 years ago. All the credit does not go to Zac but who arrived 5 years ago?