Vegas and ESPN AFC North Division Outlook

[BengalChris]

(06-17-2019, 07:48 PM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Both agree on one thing. The Bengals will end up in last place. Vegas is picking the Browns to win it. ESPN is picking the Steelers to win it. ESPN claims the Steelers have gotten rid of their cancers in Bell and Brown so they can focus on winning games. The Browns have the better talent though. The Ravens and Bengals are both at the bottom. I would love for the Bengals to win it and show them both wrong. We do have Green and Mixon as weapons so don't overlook them.

In 1981 a very talented Bengals team was coming off a losing season and were beginning again with a disciplinarian at HC in Forrest Gregg.

Predictions for that year had the Bengals coming in last because the other teams in the division were just so much stronger, not really because the Bengals were weak. The Steelers were only two year removed from a SB win. The Browns were still decent. And Houston was still being led by Earl Campbell. And the Bengals had a history of never taking that next step.

Then it happened, and they went to a SB.

That year the team's 1st round pick was a WR bust in David Verser, but another WR stepped and played like a 1st rounder across from Isaac Curtis. Dan Ross was the team's excellent TE. FB Pete Johnson was a 1,000 rusher who also had 46 catches and was a 3 down beast.

The defense was talented and needed to come together and they did.

There are parallels with this year's team.