Robert Griffin likely to start against us

[*ochocincos*]

(12-07-2016, 05:58 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I don't see the profit in making the Bengals "pay."  I'm more likely to believe they want to see the Patriots and Steelers play in the AFC title game to pull in massive ratings while the Packers and Seahawks play in the NFC so they can talk about the final 4 dynasty franchises squaring off and so on and so forth.

Look, it's naive to think there are no ulterior motives at work within the NFL but the reason people do sleazy stuff is because of money.  There is no money in "making the Bengals look bad."  Hell, the Bengals becoming a huge villainous franchise ala the old school Raiders or the Philadelphia Flyers/Detriot Pistons etc could actually be profitable for the Bengals.

So unless the NFL is going out of their way to build brand equity for Mike Brown I think we can list this theory under "Unlikely."

Our thinking is actually aligned, as I think you interpreted my post in the wrong way.

What I mean is that the NFL doesn't necessarily want the Steelers to win the Super Bowl, as they would be happy to see the Cowboys, Giants, Patriots, Seahawks, or whichever other "popular" team also win it.

I really believe that the Bengals are not a popular team to a majority of NFL fans and their actions in last year's playoff game really gave those fans a horrid picture of the Bengals. Now, those fans want nothing more than to see that team not in the playoffs and the "good guys" (aka the popular teams) in the playoffs instead. By having this, the NFL would have more viewership and money coming in.