03-15-2019, 12:12 AM
(03-14-2019, 11:22 PM)Jonescincy Wrote: Yeah I don’t recall anyone saying the Bengals were going to own the division. In 2003 Palmer didn’t even play. When did Hines Ward play for the Bengals in 2003? Must have missed that. They did have a good running game but hottest coach in the league? Rabid and hungry fan base? They had SOME momentum. Talk about overselling it. Even if all of what you said was true there would still be one HUGE difference. Mayfield is a leader and the Bengals have not had that at QB since Boomer. Ok Kitna was a leader but he also had no arm.
Yeah, people were absolutely saying that. The fact that Palmer didn't even play in 2003 only fed into the hype, because they were turning it around without the aid of the #1 pick in the NFL and everyone knew he was more talented than Kitna. Marvin Lewis *was* the hottest coach in the league, having changed the fortunes of the NFL's wasteland virtually overnight. Chad Johnson was not only the best receiver in the division, but one of the best in the conference and was white hot. The fans *were* rapid and hungry after more than a decade of complete irrelevance - PBS *still* hasn't been as wild as it was during that KC game, and anyone who was there will tell you the same. They had all the momentum in the division - they finished with a better record than a Steelers team that (wrongfully) appeared to be fading (pre-Ben) and a Ravens team that was getting old. You're just pretending Carson wasn't a leader to try to make some type of point, but that's a total falsehood as well if you've ever heard any of the guys who actually played with him talk about him. I swear the amount of outright denial some people wield around here is nuts.
That team was every bit as set up for a long run at the top as today's Browns are and are the perfect proof that what's on paper doesn't always translate to what's on the field. Crown the Browns if you want, but it is by no means even remotely close to being a sure thing.
