Bengals Recap 2018

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone recaps the 2018 season of the Cincinnati Bengals. 

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

Who Dey Nation must feel like it’s reliving the same day over and over again when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals. After a dreadful season, the Bengals franchise announced that they had signed Marvin Lewis to another contract. Again. A majority of the fan base feels disconnected from the organization. Again. Many people want Marvin out of Cincinnati. Again. Mike Brown pissed off the fans. Again.

If this sounds like a familiar tale, that’s because it is. After the end of the 2010 season in which the Bengals finished with a record of 4-12, the franchise offered Marvin another contract that shocked many in Cincinnati. I was a freshman in college at the time, and I remember the press conference being awkward to watch. Fans of the team seemingly wanted to set Paul Brown Stadium ablaze when the news was announced.

Fast-forward seven years to December 31, 2017.  The Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens after Tyler Boyd took an Andy Dalton pass to the house on fourth and long to knock the Ravens out of the playoffs. It seemed like a nice way to send Marvin off into the sunset. A few weeks prior to the game, it was reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN that Marvin was going to leave the franchise. Although Marvin neither confirmed nor denied the report, the general consensus was that for the first since 2002 the Bengals would have a new head coach. Optimism was felt by Who Dey Nation. The Bengals won their final two games of 2017, and a new, bright future for the franchise was on the horizon. That optimistic feeling did not last long.

On January 2, 2018, the Bengals announced that Marvin would be returning as head coach for two more years. Excitement turned into anger. Optimism turned into despair. To say that Bengals fans were mad at the team’s decision to bring back Marvin would be an understatement. I cannot remember a time in which Bengals fans have felt more anger toward Mike Brown and the Cincinnati Bengals organization. The disconnect between the team and the fans is the largest it has ever been.

As Who Dey Nation prepares to endure two more years of Marvin, one has to wonder if there will be any real change this time. It’s hard to think there will be. I’m a diehard Bengals fan and love the team. I like Marvin and respect what he did for the franchise. He turned the team around and made them relevant again. Under Marvin, winning football games and making the playoffs changed from a pleasant surprise to an expectation. He raised the bar of professional football in Cincinnati.

However, he could never get over the bar. Seven playoff appearances all ended in defeat. A lack of urgency and the inability to step up in big games has characterized Bengals teams under his leadership. In my opinion, the 2017 version of Marvin seemed uninterested and unmotivated. To me, there was no way the Bengals could justify bringing him back. Leave it to Mike Brown to defy logic and expectations. Maybe he knows something that us fans do not. Maybe Marvin will prove all the naysayers wrong and actually win in the playoffs or better yet, win the Super Bowl. Maybe we will look back at January 2, 2018, as the day that Bengals Super Bowl Championship dynasty was born. That’s a big maybe. As for now, that day is looked at as déjà vu.

Who Dey…

A Controversial Pick

With the 2017 NFL Draft now officially in the past, hundreds of former collegiate football players realized their dream of playing for an NFL team. My beloved Cincinnati Bengals selected numerous players from various colleges from across the country. There is one player, however, that generated more buzz than all of their draft picks combined. That player is former Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon.

For those of you who are unaware, Mixon was caught on video punching a woman in the face in the midst of an altercation. He hit her with such force that she was knocked off her feet and suffered broken bones in her face. The incident occurred in 2014, and Mixon was suspended for one season at Oklahoma. Mixon also had to serve 100 hours of community service and undergo counseling. The woman filed a suit against Mixon in 2016 that ended in a settlement. Mixon has since apologized to the woman, and both parties have expressed their desire to move on from the incident.

Almost every team in the league said they would not select Mixon. I was hoping the Bengals would follow suit as I found what he did in 2014 absolutely disgusting. Despite the immense baggage that Mixon would bring, the Bengals still decided to draft him in the second round. When NFL hall of famer and Bengals legend Anthony Munoz announced the pick, the entire NFL draft crowd erupted in deafening boos. A Bengals fan was shown on camera giving a thumb down to the decision. Despite the obvious backlash, the Bengals decided to welcome Mixon into the fold.

Who Dey Nation can do nothing about it. Mixon is in the Queen City and will help make up the offensive backfield alongside Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. Despite Mixon’s presence, I am still going to root for the Bengals no matter what. I have been and will always be a diehard fan of the team. Mixon being on the roster does not change that. Media outlets have already criticized the Bengals for drafting the former Oklahoma Sooner. Let them. They need to realize that it was not Mike Brown or Marvin Lewis or anybody else on the team that punched that woman in 2014. It was one player. It was Joe Mixon. The Bengals are merely offering him a chance to play football. What Mixon does with it is up to him. It is his responsibility to change how people perceive him. The Bengals gave him the ball. Let’s see if he runs with it.

Bengal Graphs 2016 Part 4

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shows the different Cincinnati Bengals autographs he has gotten throughout the 2016 NFL season.

The Pacman Problem

Just when you thought a rough year for the Cincinnati Bengals could not get any worse, it did. On January 3, 2017, Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was arrested after being accused of disorderly conduct and assaulting a security employee at a hotel in Cincinnati. Officials said that Jones was pounding on hotel room doors and when hotel security arrived to investigate, Jones got into an altercation with an employee by pushing the employee and poking him in the eye. According to court documents, the police were called and while Jones was being arrested, he was “head-butting” and “kicking” at officers. He was then taken to the county jail where things got much worse.

While sitting in the back of the police car, Jones can be seen on camera saying a lot of derogatory things to the officer that I have no desire of typing out in this post. If you want to see the video of Jones in the police car, click here. In the video, Jones repeatedly calls the officer a racially insensitive word, swears at the officer multiple times, kicks the door of the car, and says that he hopes the officer dies. Once inside the jail, Jones was allegedly combative and had to be placed in a restraint chair. According to court documents, Jones also spat on a female nurse when she tried to examine him. That action led to a felony charge of harassment with a bodily substance in addition to the multiple misdemeanor charges Jones is currently facing.

The video of Jones in the police car went viral on January 23, and a tidal wave of criticism and outrage came crashing down on Jones and the Bengals. The Bengals issued an apology to its fans as well as the city of Cincinnati, and Jones’ attorneys issued an apology to the officers, the Bengals organization, and fans of the team. At the time that this post was written, the NFL has yet to impose any kind of punishment on Jones.

Jones has been a tremendous asset to the defense during his time with the team, and he earned himself a hefty contract following a standout 2015 season. He seemingly turned his act around after years of off the field trouble. I went to an episode of “Beyond the Stripes” during the 2016 season in which Jones was the guest player. He was the best guest the show had all year, and he had nothing but good things to say about the Bengals franchise, the city of Cincinnati, and Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. He credited Lewis with saving his life. The Adam Jones I saw that night made the one from years past seem nonexistent. Unfortunately that is no longer the case as the work Jones did to rebuild his life and reputation has taken a huge hit due to his actions on January 3^rd.

Needless to say, the Bengals are in a tough situation. The charges alone Jones is facing are enough for the Bengals to cut the cornerback. Add in the video of Jones reverting to his past self in the back of the police car, and it is almost a forgone conclusion that Jones will not be with the team next season. He is a representation of the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that was once known for its players getting into trouble with the law. After essentially hitting the reset button and attaining the reputation of a model franchise in the NFL, it would make no sense for the Bengals to keep Jones. I love the Bengals, and I am a fan of Jones as a player. As a person though, Jones has proven that he has some work to do. I hope that Jones apologizes for his actions himself and takes the necessary steps to correct his behavior.

Here’s hoping to hear nothing but good news about the Bengals the rest of the offseason! Who Dey!

Taken for Granted

Being a Cincinnati Bengals fan is not always the easiest thing. Aside from having to deal with the constant reminder that the Bengals have not won a playoff game since 1990, you also have to deal with internal conflicts and wars of words amongst fellow members of Who Dey Nation. There are constant debates of whether or not Marvin Lewis should be fired or if AJ McCarron should be the starting quarterback over Andy Dalton. While these internal arguments seemed to decrease within the last five years, the 2016 season has seen a resurgence of these debates. The conflicts are again raging on with the topic of whether or not Ken Zampese should remain offensive coordinator being thrown into the mix. But why are these arguments once again the main focus of Bengals fans? It is because the team will not make the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season.

After a very disappointing 2010 campaign in which the team finished with an abysmal 4-12 record, the franchise was essentially forced to hit the reset button. Star quarterback Carson Palmer refused to come back to the team, and the question of who would be behind center for the Bengals was a topic hot discussion during the offseason. In response to Palmer’s poor display of team leadership, the Bengals drafted Texas Christian University quarterback Andy Dalton in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. Dalton was paired with Bengals first round draft pick A.J. Green, a wide receiver out of the University of Georgia. Together the duo helped lead the Bengals to a 6-2 record through the first nine weeks of the 2011 season which prompted the team to trade Palmer to the Oakland Raiders for two future draft picks. The 2011 Bengals finished the season with a record of 9-7 and qualified for the playoffs as a wildcard team.

2011 marked the first of five consecutive years in which the Bengals qualified for the playoffs. They qualified as a wildcard team in 2011, 2012, and in 2014 and qualified as division champs in 2013 and in 2015. Bengals fans began to expect the team to become a yearly contender. Instead of hoping for the team to make the playoffs, fans began to hope that the team would find postseason success. Questioning if the team would make the playoffs became laughable. This state of mind was shared by nearly every member of Who Dey Nation including me.

I had no doubt that the team would once again reach the playoffs at the end of the 2016 season. In my Bengals 2016 season preview video, I predicted that the team would reach the postseason and win in the first round. That will not happen. I, like so many other Bengals fans, took playoff qualification for granted. What us fans have to realize is that making the playoffs is not a guarantee. Each game during the NFL season has huge consequences when it comes to the playoffs, and members of Who Dey Nation are getting an unpleasant reminder of those consequences this year.

I have come to terms with the fact that the Bengals will not be playing for a chance to win the Super Bowl this season. I have also realized that the opportunity to play for a Super Bowl title is not a guarantee. The 2016 season has proved that playoff qualification should not be taken for granted and that the five-year stretch of success the Bengals had could be difficult to duplicate in the future. I have learned my lesson, and I hope all Bengals fans as well as the entire Bengals franchise has learned their lesson as well. Hopefully 2017 will be a rebound year that will include a valuable trip to the playoffs.

Who Dey!

Autograph Page Update

#Autograph Page Update @ https://t.co/ULDHSOUCJg With New #Bengals Autographs#whodey #letsroar #football #NFLPlayoffs #nfl #sports pic.twitter.com/jmiefKMcPt

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 4, 2017

Photo Page Update

Photo Page Update @ https://t.co/JzwEdxiFEu With New #Bengals Pics#WhoDey #LetsRoar #NFLPlayoffs #Sports #NFL #BeyondTheStripes #football pic.twitter.com/q1CUygF1AL

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 4, 2017

Bengal Graphs 2015 Part 2

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shows the Cincinnati Bengals autographs he has gotten over the course of the season.

Photo Page Update

PHOTO PAGE UPDATE @ https://t.co/yzF6TznxxM WITH #BENGALS SHOWS PICS #WhoDey #LetsRoar #NFL #BeyondTheStripes #MLB pic.twitter.com/lO5qA6ksWb

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) October 21, 2015

Bengals 2015 Season Outlook

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone previews the 2015 season of the Cincinnati Bengals.