October 21, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers guard Willie Colon (74) and Cincinnati Bengals outside linebacker Vontaze Burfict (55) wrestle after the whistle at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-US PRESSWIRE

The Cincinnati Bengals will continue to be irrelevant until they can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.  That’s the sad bottom line for life in the AFC North.  Nonetheless, losing to a hated divisional rival in front of a home crowd of 63,411 fans at possibly the most pivotal point in the season, the Brown family is acutely aware this week of what this loss means to their own more fiscal bottom line.

Hearken back: last season the Bengals’ front office lost an incredible (but undisclosed) amount of money as Paul Brown Stadium boasted the lowest attendance of any NFL arena in 2011.  Home games were routinely blacked out, merchandise for rookies such as A.J. Green and Andy Dalton were boycotted as racks of antiquated Carson Palmer and Ochocinco jerseys collected dust, and the season concluded with a laughable buy-one-get-one-free ticket incentive.  Though NFL Owners do receive a percentage of profit-sharing from the League, the vast majority of their income is produced through vendors, parking, select seating in specified areas of their stadiums and overall sales, which means the whether he chose to admit it or not, Owner Mike Brown took a very serious hit from the fans last year.

A play-off game and a solid corps of young talent helped the Browns rebound from the worst year of season ticket and press box sales in over a decade.  It also didn’t hurt that the Browns under went a major public relations campaign – offering discounts on select seating for this season as well as season tickets, localized Spring Training in Cincinnati rather than Georgetown, fired Jim Lippincott, hired two new scouts, and set into motion strangely timed agreements with Hamilton County about cost-sharing of team facilities and practice fields.

There are several things that can make a football season have historical significance. Obviously, the first year of any team is an important year (that would be 1968 for the Cincinnati Bengals). I have decided not to include that in my list here, as it’s an easy choice, and would be true for all 32 franchises. I’ve created the list based on, well, my own set of criteria, and how I remember them. Without further ado, the five most significant years in Cincinnati Bengals history.

5. The 2005 Season:

Beginning with the 1991 season, the Bengals ran off 14 straight seasons without a winning record. That would in this season. Carson Palmer had been drafted in 2003, and going into his third season, was a rising star, mentioned along with names like Brady and Manning. Chad Johnson was also one of the leagues top receivers and he and T.J. Houshmandzadeh formed a formidable duo. The high-powered offense would pair with an opportunistic defense, led by a +24 turnover differential,  to lead them to an 11-5 record and 1st place in the AFC North. It would be their first trip to the playoffs since 1990. Unfortunately, it ended in disaster, with a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game in which Palmer suffered a serious leg injury, causing him to miss most of the loss. It would be another four years before the Bengals would go back to the playoffs.

4. The 2011 Season:

After a disappointing 2010 season that saw the Bengals go 4-12, Carson Palmer declared that he wanted to be traded or he would retire. This began a long standoff between he and owner Mike Brown. The Bengals, in an effort to start all over, drafted quarterback Andy Dalton and WR A.J. Green with their first two picks to be the cornerstones of the future. Nobody told the duo that they were rebuilding though and the young duo, along with a stout defense, started out 6-2. Though they faltered down the stretch against some quality opponents, they finished 9-7 and made the playoffs. Dalton and Green made the Pro Bowl and Dalton was in the running for Rookie of the Year honors. A team that was supposed to be starting fresh surprised the league, and began a whole new era of excitement in Cincinnati

Jul 31, 2011; Georgetown, KY, USA; Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown during training camp at Georgetown College. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

As training camp gets started this weekend I’m going to start off with a small defense of our executive and chief. An unpopular stance but I’m going to go ahead and be that guy that not only sticks up for Mike Brown, but willingly compares him to one of the great owners of all-time, the late Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders. Now upon first glance this comparison seems a bit of a hyperbole, but as it pertains to character, I believe these two men are cut from the same cloth. As far as current credentials go they are miles apart. As owner of the Raiders from the 1966 until he passed away last October, Al Davis accrued 1 AFL championship and 4 AFC championships which then turned into 3 Super Bowl titles. Mike Brown, since taking over ownership duties of the Bengals in 1991, has garnered 2 division titles and 1 Wild Card in 2011.

But once again, I’m not going to compare their teams on the field accomplishments because at this point, there aren’t any. Still, it is my strong belief that this years Bengals team might be the most competitive yet and as training camp gets underway, I think it’s time we start acknowledging that Mike Brown has got this organization going in the right direction and he just might have taken a few plays out of Al Davis’ playbook. Much like Al Davis, Mike Brown is a small market team owner. He hasn’t had the funds at his disposal that Jerry Jones and other large market teams have to get top rate free agents, facilities, and hotel rooms for every individual player on road trips. Instead, he had to fight tooth and nail to get city funding to build Paul Brown Stadium and while I can certainly understand the city’s initial reluctance, there is no question the new stadium and practice field has helped the reputation of a team that was once nicknamed the bungles.