Will The Other Shoe Ever Drop?

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With a record of 8-0, the Cincinnati Bengals are off to their best start in franchise history. But the Bengals enter the second half of the 2015 National Football League season looking to exercise some demons that have been hovering over their franchise. The Bengals have made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, but they have still failed to win a postseason game since January 1991. And you have to wonder if this is the year where everything will come together for the Bengals.

The fast start in 2015 for the Bengals can be attributed to the fact that they have taken care of their business by defeating the teams that they are supposed to beat. Of the eight opponents that the Bengals have faced so far, only the Pittsburgh Steelers currently have a winning record and in year’s past, Cincinnati has played down to the level of their opponents as opposed to dictating the pace. But with that the Bengals have still shown character as they trailed the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, and Steelers in the fourth quarter before putting it altogether in the name of getting the victory.

Andy Dalton

The quarterback position is the most important one on the football team and the Bengals are no different than any other squad. In five years as the Bengals starting quarterback, Andy Dalton has seen his fair share of ups and downs. Dalton was the Bengals second round selection in 2011 and he has been the team’s starting quarterback ever since his first day in Cincinnati. Dalton has helped the Bengals reach the postseason in each of his years in Cincy, but he has taken the brunt of the team’s criticism. Dalton’s popularity reached an all-time low this past July when he was booed by fans during a celebrity softball game in Cincinnati. Dalton isn’t a bad quarterback, but in the past he has played “hero ball” where he attempts to do too much by himself. And when Dalton plays like that, it is not beneficial to neither he nor the Bengals due to the fact that this is not a team that solely relies on one player carrying the team.

And whereas Dalton has forced the football in the past as he attempted to make plays where there wasn’t a play to be made, he isn’t doing too much of that in 2015 as the results have shown in the Bengals record. Coming into this season Dalton had thrown 66 career interceptions, but so far in 2015, he has only thrown 4 while he is enjoying a career-high in his completion percentage (67.4).

A big reason why Dalton is having a better season is that he is in his second year with Hue Jackson as the Bengals offensive coordinator. And with Jackson calling the plays, he has relied on the strengths of all of skill players. The City of Cincinnati has not had an NBA franchise since 1972 when the Cincinnati Royals left town, but what the folks in the Queen City are currently seeing from the Bengals offense is Dalton orchestrating in the mode of a basketball point guard as his job is to simply get the football to the talented play makers that are around him.

The Bengals have the ninth best offense in the National Football League as Jackson and head coach Marvin Lewis have preached balance. Running backs Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill have split the carries which should result in both backs being fresh coming down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs. The same can be said about the Bengals passing game as five players have at least 20 receptions this season. But the Bengals still have the luxury of having one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in A.J. Green. This year Green is healthy and he’s one pace for one the best season’s as a receiver in Bengals franchise history.

But you cannot overlook the solid play of the Bengals offensive line this season at it has been the backbone for their success. Dalton has only been sacked 11 times this year and the law firm of offensive tackles Andrew Whitworth, and Andre Smith, guards Kevin Zeitler and Clint Boling, along with center Russell Bodine have been a no-named unit all season long, but the strength of any good offensive team begins with the play of their line.

Marvin Lewis

Before becoming the Bengals head coach in 2003, Lewis made his reputation in the National Football League as a defensive coordinator which included him helping the Ravens win Super Bowl 35 in January 2001. And what Lewis has done with the Bengals is to build depth at every position. Defensively the Bengals are currently ranked 11th in the NFL in total defense and they possess talent at every level which ranges from the likes of defensive end Carlos Dunlap, middle linebacker Vincent Rey, and free safety Reggie Nelson who leads the team in interceptions this season with 3.

But what the Bengals currently have in each faze of the game is something that they’ve lacked for a very long time which is discipline. During the 2000’s, the Bengals became the laughing stock of the National Football League as some players consistently found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Sadly the Bengals off-the-field issues resulted in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell paying them a visit as he looked for them to put an end to their issues and become more responsible. And that irresponsibility showed up on the field for the Bengals as they would consistently come apart in key situations. However the current Bengals are truly a team as there isn’t a player on this team in 2015 that is attempting to put himself ahead of the team which is resulting in a better team. And just as the Bengals have become a more disciplined team off of the field, they have done the same on it as they aren’t getting as many penalties while the players are simply doing what is asked of them which is not to play “hero ball”.

Heading into Week 10, the Bengals find themselves up four games in the loss column on the Steelers. And with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger expected to miss a few weeks after suffering a foot injury this past Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh doesn’t have a good shot to catch the Bengals for first place in the AFC North. The Bengals should win the AFC North in 2015, but they need to adjust their mindset to more than just reaching the playoffs. The Bengals are tied with the New England Patriots for the best record in the AFC as each team is undefeated while they are one game up on the Denver Broncos which is vital if Cincinnati will be able to get a first-round bye. Securing the top seed is important for the Bengals due to the fact that in each of their AFC Championship seasons, they had the best record in the conference as the road to the Super Bowl went through Cincinnati.

What the Bengals must attempt to do now is avoid the second-half swoons that have undone them lately as this is the only way for them to shed their reputation of not being able to get it done in the months of December and January when the chips are pushed to the middle of the table while the entire football world is watching.

Of the Bengals remaining eight regular season contests, they will only meet three teams that currently have winning records, but that doesn’t mean that things will be easy. In Week 12, the Bengals will face the St. Louis Rams who arguably have the most physical team in the National Football League which will be followed by road trip to Northern Ohio to meet the Cleveland Browns as there is no love lost between these two organizations. But the Bengals ultimate test will come in Week 16 when they travel to meet the Broncos in a game that could decide home-field advantage in the AFC. The Bengals control their own destiny and along with it, an opportunity to exercise some demons: it’s just a matter of whether or not that they’ll be up for the challenge.

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By | 2015-11-10T12:40:59+00:00 November 10th, 2015|Categories: National Football League|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

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