The 2005 Bengals

[BengalFanInNJ]

(05-09-2019, 11:19 PM)NKURyan Wrote: OK, let's address this point by point:

First, they did have a chance to wrap up a first round bye in Denver, and McCarron fumbled it away. I maintain that if Andy Dalton in the midst of an MVP-quality season is out there, that never happens. The offense changed completely after Andy was out for the year, which helped keep that game close.

Second, you are vastly underselling Vontaze Burfict and what he did for the Bengals. I don't fault the Bengals at all for bringing him in - they took a flyer on him and he paid off for them. Was he dirty? Probably, but I don't care because when you play in the division with the Steelers you need guys who can get nasty right back at them - that's what the Ravens do. While Vontaze cost them dearly at the end of the game on, if Jeremy Hill doesn't fumble the ball Vontaze is the hero and goes down in Cincinnati sports history for clinching the first playoff win in decades with his INT. I'm not bagging on the Bengals for running him out there.

Third, the box score just backs up what I said originally - Andy would not have got shut out for three quarters with that offense in 2015. Period.

Fourth, the Bengals lack of rushing production can be attributed to two things. One, with McCarron out there you don't have to respect the passing game much at all. Two, the Bengals were playing from behind for pretty much the whole game. Hell, Gio Bernard was damn near killed on the field and got carted off while the Steelers danced (pretty sure that was one of the turnovers, too). I don't look at 91 yards as being a huge failure on the fault of the running game.

Finally, while that team may have gone 4-4 over the last 8 games, all 4 losses came against playoff teams. One of those losses was to the eventual Super Bowl champions, and two others were to teams that won playoff games that season. Two of the losses (Pittsburgh and Denver) came with their backup QB. No shame in any of that, and I don't think that's any great indictment of what that 2015 team was.

That 2015 Bengals team was something special, and yeah, had they not lost their MVP quarterback they would've broke through, no question in my mind. I hope all those folks who pined for McCarron over Dalton for years are happy, because they got what they wanted and it killed the best team the Bengals fielded in decades.

Agreed. Excellent points here. People forget that Dalton was in the running for MVP before he got hurt. That team was special. Hell, it was so special that they almost beat the Steelers in the playoffs without their QB.