06-05-2016, 09:47 PM
(06-05-2016, 08:54 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I'll agree Dalton doesn't get the credit he deserves BUT what teams do you consider media darlings to the point that their QBs are puffed up?
I'd call the Packers, Patriots, Steelers, Seahawks, and Cowboys as "media darlings" but in all fairness those teams account for 8 of the recent SB wins and feature 3 HOF QBs and 2 guys who are Cinderella story types. It's really hard to say if the Steelers and Packers are just darlings for their history or their current success.
Then we have QBs like Newton, Palmer, Brees, Rivers, who are high on this list but play for some historically irrelevant franchises. Hell, Brees is one of the people who pulled the Saints into relevance after his first team let him go, so if the Aints can do it, why can't we?
Anyways, I know bias exists but the fact that the Bengals aren't "media darlings" but also have 0 playoff wins in 25 years, 0 SB appearances in 28 years, 0 HOF QBs ever, doesn't help. Add to the fact that we haven't been relevant past week 1 of the playoffs as long as the current regime has been around and it's clear winning can make a team a darling.
Dalton is also the first QB listed who has 0 playoff wins, and other than Romo I think the other 11 ahead of him have actually taken their team to the Conference Championship game at the very least.
Rodgers - SB win
Brady - 4 SB wins
Pig Ben - 2 SB wins
Newton - SB appearance
Palmer - NFC Championship appearance
Brees - SB win
Luck - AFC Championship appearance
Wilson - SB win
Rivers - AFC Championship appearance
Eli Manning - 2 SB wins
Romo - 2 Divisional Round appearances
Ryan - NFC Championship appearance
It just seems like relevance is heavily dependent upon being left standing when the entire country is forced to watch the last 4 or so teams playing. Not to sound like a downer, but as Bengals fans we haven't seen an actual playoff push from this team since 1990 so...so what do we actually remember about being on a playoff run, really? It's super important, I think.
Pittsburgh is huge in the NFL, media darlings because of Rooney. There's no way I will ever believe that Rooney didn't have any serious influence in getting a Steelers/Bengals game in one of the first 3 games. (Burfict out).
If Rooney had his way he would have had games 1 and 3 Pittsburgh/Cincinnati contests, so they wouldn't have to face Burfict.
Cincinnati is not a media town. The ONLY reason they couldn't ignore the Reds in the 70s was because what they accomplished, was impossible to ignore.
Look at Romo. He has won 1 playoff game! However, the media acts like he's invincible!
As a matter of fact, when the Panthers came to Dallas and ONLY because Romo was scheduled to play, the media had them favored to win!
Panthers 33 Cowboys 14
Romo 11/21, 103 yds, 0 TDs, 3 Int
