The Cincinnati Bengals have lost ten straight games. A facebook friend made the observation that the Reds have won a game more recently than the Bengals. Reading this fact sent me into a head-shaking fit that has yet to end and the only thing that will stop it is if I log my thoughts.
Probably the only team having a more dissappointing season than the Bengals are the Vikings. One year removed from their 13-3 record in which they were an ill-advised pass away from the Super Bowl, this season pales in comparison. And then this happened...
With all the jump cuts and angles it looks like a sequence in an action movie. "Hugh Jackman is dome-ologist Tom Foster. Can he save the dome from total destruction while keeping Brett Favre's streak alive? Will the Vikings move to Los Angeles. The fate of pro-football in Minnesota lies in the balance."
Working under two titles. The movie is going to either be called "The Day after Brett Favre" or simply, "Dome".
If you would've told me before the season started that the Bengals would at one point lose ten games in a row I would've kicked you in the head and called you stupid. I knew 2010 would be a tougher go of things seeing as how their schedule is a who's who of who's good in the NFL (Steelers 2X-Ravens 2X-Patriots-Colts-Saints-Jets-Falcons-Chargers Oy effing vey), but I never expected the roster that swept the AFC North a year ago would play with such ferocious idiocy this season.
Before the season and assuming the Bengals would play with the same heart and intensity they did in 2009, I pegged them for 9 to 10 victories. I figured that in the division they'd split with Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and beat Cleveland twice. They'd lose games against New England, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Atlanta. I thought they'd avenge their playoff loss to the Jets and they'd beat the Chargers, and I never thought they'd lose to Tampa Bay or Buffalo. That's what's been so maddening about this season.They haven't even beaten the "softies" on their schedule. Before the season wins over Buffalo, Cleveland twice, Carolina, and Tampa Bay looked like locks for W's, but one after the other they've played themselves out of wins. Only the Carolina Panthers were inept enough to give the Bengals a victory. The Panthers are 1-12 themselves, by the way.
The Bengals did beat the Ravens in week 2, which reminds me of the scene in Bull Durham when the manager is chewing out the team while the bench coach jumps in:
"how many games have we won?!"
"8"
"8! How did we ever win 8?!"
"It's a miracle"
"IT"S A MIRACLE!!!!"
translated to the Bengals' season:
Did we beat the Baltimore Ravens?
Yes
How did we ever beat the Baltimore Ravens?
It's a miracle
IT"S A MIRACLE!!!!
Once again: The 2010 Cincinnati Bengals
Some fun facts about this Bengals Season:
- They've had a winning streak this year. They won back-to-back games against Baltimore and Carolina in weeks 2 and 3, which also means that at one point they were above .500.
- The lost to the Buffalo Bills again, their tenth straight loss to Buffalo. The Bengals haven't beaten the Bills since the 1988 AFC Championship game. Another fun fact: The Bills and Bengals once played each other - in Cincinnati! - for the AFC Championship. Holy bizzarro world.
- In 2009 the Bengals swept the division and won the AFC North championship. So in one year they've gone from division champions to 2-11? Just trying to get that straight in my head.
Scholars maintain that this did actually in fact happen
More fun facts:
- This is the second ten game losing streak in team history which ties an in-season record for longest losing streak that was set by the 1993 team who started 0-10. The longest overall losing streak is eleven games which spanned from the last week of the 92 season through the tenth game of the 93 season. Those teams were coached by Dave Shula who was presumably only hired because Mike Brown didn't want to be the only incompetent son of a hall-of-fame coach working in the Bengals organization. Dave Shula is irrefutably the worst head coach in Bengals history (19-52 record as head coach) and the quarterback of that team was David Klingler and they were coming off a 5-11 season the year before. At least that losing streak makes sense when you look at the 93 team on paper. This current losing skid is one of the most baffling things I've seen in sports.
- As head coach, Marvin Lewis has had two separate losing streaks of 8 or more games. I'm willing to bet he's the only coach to ever win two division titles and also lose 8 straight games twice.
Out of curiosity I recently went through pro-football-reference.com and compiled the Cincinnati Bengals complete win-loss record since the day of my birth. Since that glorious day of September 6, 1987, the day that I became a fan, the Bengals have gone 148-240-1. In the 24 seasons since my birth only four have ended with a winning record. There's been four playoff appearances, five 8-8 seasons, five seasons with 13 or more losses, twelve double digit loss seasons, one stretch from 1991 through 1994 where the team went 3-13 three times in four years, and their last playoff win was in 1990 which is currently the longest such drought in the NFL.
Yes, they went to the Super Bowl in the 1988 season which falls in that time frame, but I was 1 year old. I'm not counting something I have zero memory of.
Worst of all about the Bengals in my time as a fan is their winning percentage of .380. The NFL is a league built on parity. It's systematically designed so every franchise has an equal shot at winning the Super Bowl. Sports are cyclical and things even out, at some point the law of averages says that things should get better in Cincinnati. The NFL has a draft without a lottery, there's free-agency rules, they have the salary cap. There's no reason any team should be below .500 in a 24 season stretch. You have to be specifically avoiding trying to win when you only win 38% of your games.
That said, I'm still surprised with how bad things have been for the 2010 Bengals. Very little has changed from the team that won the division and went 10-6 in 2009. If anything, the roster got deeper and healthier, yet with all the historical evidence piled against this Bengals team having a good year, here are 5 reasons why we shouldn't be surprised by the Bengals 2-11 record...but still are.
5. Carson Palmer
Why we shouldn't be surprised by his bad play this season:
Because Carson Palmer is not the quarterback that most people believe he could be. He isn't a bust, but his career in Cincinnati hasn't lived up to its billing. This isn't to say this is his fault. He's played behind some terrible offensive lines for a lot of his career and because of this some serious injuries have cost him time and probably some of his ability.
Most people will point to his knee injury in the 2005 playoff game against Pittsburgh as the point when his career started to slide downhill. I will maintain until the day I die that Kimo Von Oelhoffen was trying to injure Palmer on that play, but Carson Palmer actually had his two best statistical seasons coming off of rehab in 2006 and 2007 throwing for 4,000 yards in both seasons. In those seasons Palmer looked like the prototypical pocket passer with a rocket arm that we knew he could be and threw for 28 and 26 touchdowns, respectively. The point where he took a turn for the worst and hasn't been the same since was his elbow injury that he sustained early in 2008. He sat out the final 12 games of the 08 season and the Bengals limped to a 4-11-1 record. In 2009 the Bengals were primarily a running team and the success of Cedric Benson had a lot more to do with the offensive side of the Bengals division championship than Carson Palmer.
Why we're still surprised:
Because this guy looks like he'd be a good quarterback. Actually, everything about him is designed to give the appearance that he's a good quarterback and for years he's put on the illusion that he is or could be a very good quarterback. There's flashes there. He's never thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and he's had two pro-bowl seasons. In 2009 he led game winning drive after game winning drive. 4th down conversions in crucial situations were automatic. But these days, it's back to just looks. At times he looks like he could be the next great quarterback and there are times when he makes decisions that rookies don't make. During the Pittsburgh game CBS aired a montage of Palmer's pick-6 touchdowns from this season alone. We're still surprised this guy isn't performing because he's a 6'4 Heisman trophy winning quarterback with a laser arm who looks like Dan Marino in a football uniform. Palmer could play a QB in a movie, we're just beginning to think he can't play one in the NFL.
4. Chad Ochocinco/Terrell Owens
Why we shouldn't be surprised by their impact on this season:
Nobody has raised more attention or eyebrows over the last decade than Terrell Owens. With Owens as a free-agent, the Bengals decided to sign him and pair him with professional goofball Chad Ochocinco. The two then hosted their own grating VH1 reality shows in the off-season and then teamed up for the TOchocinco show on Versus during the season. At the very least, the two have been a distraction. At the most, Owens has thrown a wrench into the delicate chemistry that exists in a football locker-room. My theory is that his presence has tricked with Carson Palmer's timing and rhythm. Regardless something is off with the offensive unit and the wide-outs are at least somewhat responsible.
Why we're still surprised:
Because TO isn't having a terrible season. He had 71 receptions through the first 12 games and 9 touchdowns. The guy is one of the best wide receivers to ever play the game and Ochocinco through all his chatter has quietly put together a nice career of his own. It can be argued that these two have actually been one of the few bright spots, but they were supposed to open up the offense and allow Ced-Bens to run more easily, but this hasn't happened and although it's not their fault, the sputtering running game that they were supposed to supplement is surprising in itself.
3. Expectations
Why we shouldn't surprised they haven't lived up to expectations:
Rule of thumb about the Bengals: if they're supposed to have a good season, they won't. They haven't had back to back winning seasons since the mid 70's when they went 11-3, 10-4, and 8-6 in 1975 through 1977. The Bengals are a team that plays with a lot of emotion and in 2009 they were a motivated bunch. This season that chip on their shoulder is gone. We shouldn't be surprised because the last Marvin Lewis coached Bengals team that came off a division title went 8-8. They were prone to losses in close games that ultimately led to them missing out on the playoffs.
Why we're still surprised:
Because the Bengals still had a lot to play for coming back for the 2010 season. They were embarrassed by New York in the wild card round of the playoffs and all off-season the experts picked Baltimore and Pittsburgh to win the division. As the defending champions they should've taken offense to that. They've completely let down and haven't played up to their potential. Injuries on the defensive side of the ball haven't helped, but you'd think a professional football team would be able to rise above injuries and wouldn't need extra motivation to play good football. Still, don't be surprised if they come out and win 8 or 9 games next season, pending lockout. That's just the way things go for this franchise.
2. Marvin Lewis
Why we shouldn't be surprised:
Marvin Lewis has a losing record. He's 58-66-1 as the Bengals head coach. His teams have won two division titles, but they've also had three 8-8 seasons, a 7-9 year, and now two seasons with more than 10 losses. In every single one his seasons with the Bengals I can say that his teams should've and could've easily won two to three more games. His teams play undisciplined mistake-prone football that often costs them games. Against the Saints the Bengals had New Orleans at 4th and 2 on their own 5 and the Bengals were leading by 3 with less than a minute to play. The Saints "went" for it and drew defensive lineman Pat Simms offsides. The first down gave them room to score the winning touchdown. It is likely that the only thing the Saints were trying to accomplish by going for it was to draw someone into the neutral zone so they could get a first down. Had nobody jumped then Drew Brees probably would've called timeout and the Saints would've lined up for the tying field goal. This episode is a micro-cosm of Marvin Lewis' teams. They don't play with any intelligence and game after game is given away because of dumb play.
Why we're still surprised:
We're still surprised because Marvin Lewis has done a lot of good for football in Cincinnati. He's only 3 wins away from tying Sam Whyche for most wins as the Bengals head coach. He came into a situation in 2003 where the team hadn't won in years. He took a 2-14 team, changed the culture completely and instilled a goal that they hadn't seen before. He won the division in his third year and I contend that with Carson Palmer that 2005 Bengals team would've been dangerous in the playoffs. He was supposed to be the savior for NFL football in Cincinnati, he was supposed to be the guy who could look Mike Brown in the face and tell him when he's wrong but it seems as if he's been beaten down by the big man. He's more a victim of a poorly run front office than anything else.
Marvin Lewis is a really good person, but at some point you have to move on. We've played 8 seasons under Lewis and we have zero playoff wins to show for it. I like the guy and think he's been good for Cincinnati, but It's time to move on, start over, and see what somebody else can do. Mike Zimmer, the defensive coordinator, might be a good hire.
1. Mike Brown
Why we shouldn't be surprised:
Mike Brown is the worst owner in professional sports. He's the common denominator in the Bengals failure as a franchise. Since his father's death in 1991 he's had a winning percentage of .350. Not only does he contribute to the poor play on the field with his refusal to hire a competent GM, choosing instead to run football operations himself, but he also encourages mediocrity. 8-8 non-losing seasons are celebrated. First round playoff losses are celebrated. Above all that he's perpetuated a culture where he's always right. If you stand up to him then you won't be around much longer. There's no incentive to win with him.
You win in the NFL with good ownership and smart coaching. The Bengals have neither. The Brown family looks to be locked in as owners for the foreseeable future and most smart coaches won't touch the Bengals job with a first-down marker. The Bengals need a guy who can tell Mike Brown when he's wrong. They need a guy who can make the personnel decisions. The problem is that Mike Brown would never hire that guy.
Why we're still surprised:
I'm not surprised. Mike Brown is the worst. It's become apparent that the 11-5 and 10-6 division titles were more accidental than they were the result of steady planning and goal-oriented work. The Marvin Lewis/Carson Palmer era will be looked back on as a simple distraction from the regular ineptitude that permeates the Mike Brown-run Bengals. Honestly, it's amazing that Marvin Lewis has been able to win as many games as he has. Is there any way the fans can fire an owner?
Still, I love this team. I don't know why. At the Tampa Bay loss the guy in the seat behind Sports-Hate-She and I yelled, "Why do I even like these a**holes!". I don't know and honestly, I was thinking the exact same thing. All I know is that we've put in our time. We've been through these miserable hopeless seasons many times before and I'm tired of being miserable and hopeless. I want the NFL to be fun again and 24 seasons of hopelessness isn't fun. You think maybe it's time for somebody else to suck? How about Pittsburgh, those people could use the kind of character building that a 2-14 season delivers.
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