Highlighting the positives of the last 4 seasons

[Luvnit2]

(07-18-2015, 01:24 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: It easy (and understandable) to focus on the negatives of the last 4 seasons. Marvin Lewis has extended his playoff record to 0-6, which has never been done by an NFL head coach with a single team. The QB play has continued to be abysmal. The rest of the team hasn't been much better. It seems like the best this group can accomplish is a 10-6 record (.500 in the division) with little hope that they'll win a playoff game.

That said, there's been plenty of positives in the regular season that really don't get the attention they deserve, thanks to the epic post season failures. So what were some of your favorite moments?

1. Favorite regular season win?

Possible candidates:
2012 - beat defending champion Giants 31-10. Defense was incredible, Dalton threw 4 TD's
2012 - beat Palmer's Raiders 34-10
2012 - beat Steelers 13-10 on last minute FG, knocking Steelers out of the playoffs on their own field
2013 - beat Packers 34-30. Came back from a 30-14 deficit late in the 3rd quarter
2013 - beat the Patriots 13-6
2013 - beat the Jets 49-9. The most embarrassing beat down a Marvin team has dished out.
2014 - beat the Ravens 23-16 on opening day. Dalton finally played well against the Ravens with 301 yards and a 98.7 rating
2014 - beat the Ravens 27-24 to complete the sweep. Dalton connected with Sanu for 53 yards and ran for the game winning TD.
2014 - beat the Broncos 37-28 on MNF. This game just had too much good stuff to list.

2. Best rookie season?

Possible candidates:
2011 - AJ Green - 1057 yards and 7 TD's
2011 - Andy Dalton - 3398 yards, 20 TD's and 13 INT's, 80.3 passer rating
2012 - Kevin Zeitler
2013 - Tyler Eifert - 445 yards and 2 TD's
2013 - Gio Bernard - 1209 yards from scrimmage and 8 TD's
2014 - Jeremy Hill - 1339 yards from scrimmage and 9 TD's

3. Best offensive season?

Possible candidates:
2013 - AJ Green - 1426 yards and 11 TD's
2013 - Andy Dalton - 4293 yards, 35 total TD's and 20 INT's, 88.8 passer rating
2013 - Gio Bernard - 1209 yards from scrimmage and 8 TD's
2014 - Jeremy Hill - 1339 yards from scrimmage and 9 TD's
2014 - Andrew Whitworth - O sacks

4. Best defensive season?

Possible candidates:
2012 - Geno Atkins - 54 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles
2013 - Vontaze Burfict - 177 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 8 pass deflections
2014 - Carlos Dunlap - 68 tackles, 8.0 sacks
2014 - Reggie Nelson - 99 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 4 INT's, 12 pass deflections

It is hard for me to pick individuals so I will go with team wins:

2013 - We beat Ben, Rodgers, Brady and Rivers. There was a time it was said the Bengals only could beat cupcakes, this ended those thoughts.

2014 - The Denver game at home was very fun for everyone at the game (I was lucky enough to be there) and watching on TV. It was our first Peyton win and added to our recent success beating great QB's.

2014 - It was huge beating the Ravens twice.

2011 - It was shocking losing our all world QB and then watching a rookie OC and QB get to the playoffs.

I loved us thrashing Eli and beating Stafford on the road.

I am optimistic this  team is peaking now and 2015 will be a very good year.

[*Nately120*]

(07-18-2015, 01:24 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: 2012 - beat Palmer's Raiders 34-10
2012 - beat Steelers 13-10 on last minute FG, knocking Steelers out of the playoffs on their own field

I have to say as someone who wants to see Palmer and the Bengals do well it was great to see the Raiders and Bengals both beat the Steelers in 2012 to keep them out of the playoffs.  Just sayin'.

[Bengal Dude]

1. I'd say that the Denver win was my favorite just because of the scenario we were in. It seemed like everyone was against us because of our primetime record.

2. Jeremy Hill's rookie season was so much fun to watch. I wasn't sure what to expect from him and it turned out that we may have found our best back since Corey was playing for us.

3. AJ's season in 2013. It just seemed that AJ was catching everything his way that year.

4. Without a doubt, Geno's season in 2012 with the sack of Palmer being the highlight. Geno was basically unstoppable and it had been a long time since we'd seen a DT play like that for us.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

Nice thread Shake.

Dalton had a great rookie season especially for having the short offseason.

Green was great as well, hope they both improve cause last year was a tough one for the both of them.

Hill was just a stud last year with his opportunities.

Geno was downright dominating in 12'. Consistently dominated.

If these guys show up this year, look the hell out.

This is not even mentioning guys like Dunlap, MJ, Burfict, Iloka, Nelson, Adam, Dennard, Dre, Gio, MLJ, Eifert, Zeit, Whit, Andre, Hewitt etc.

Got one hell of a team if they live up to it.

[Shake n Blake]

1. Favorite regular season win? 2014 - beat the Broncos 37-28 on MNF. 

This game had it all. A rare prime-time win, first win against Papa Peyton and clinched a playoff spot. The who-dey chant was awesome, as was DreKirk's game clinching INT.  

2. Best rookie season? 2014 - Jeremy Hill - 1339 yards from scrimmage and 9 TD's

We'd been waiting for a stud RB since Rudi or Dillon. So it was a great feeling watching a truly dominant runner for a change. Hill proved he can do it all.

3. Best offensive season? 2013 - AJ Green - 1426 yards and 11 TD's

I would've given it to Andy's 2013 season if he had a few less INT's. He broke records and won POM for October. As it stands, AJ's 2013 was also amazing, without the turnovers.

4. Best defensive season? 2012 - Geno Atkins - 54 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles

It was like watching a non-idiot version of Warren Sapp. 12.5 sacks for a 3-tech is JJ Watt level dominance.