Will continuity bring the Bengals a playoff win in 2018?
By Emile Pierce
The Cincinnati Bengals have a long offseason agenda. But, the main focus should be getting that first playoff win checked off.
Football is such an addictive game. Watching the chess match played out the offense and defense can be a thrilling experience. And when the experience is taken to the next level, it can be like a dream come true. Making the playoffs is no easy feat, in the NFL. So, when that achievement comes on a yearly basis, it can truly spoil fans. The Bengals’ run of five straight years gave fans something to look for. With two years of failing to break the .500 mark, the postseason feels like it was decades ago.
Cincinnati has already been on edge. Since the January 2016 mass of chaos at PBS, fans are walking around like powderkegs. Any little thing will light the fuse and cause spontaneous combustion. To make matters seemingly worse, Mike Brown gives a thumbs-up to bringing Marvin Lewis back for two more years.
Here’s the deal. The damage is done. Now, it’s all about getting focused on the 2018 campaign. How do the Bengals achieve that? Simple, faithful Bengals fan. Simple. Zero in on what needs to happen before the opener and don’t deviate. To be real, winning cures a ton of ills.
I see better than I hear
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Don’t talk about winning a Super Bowl. Even Mikey Boy knows that’s part of coach-speak etiquette. There are levels to this thing. The first step is the one that has avoided Lewis and the Bengals for 15 years. Just win a playoff game. Is that so hard? Well, evidently, it is. Bengals fans have been waiting, crying, pouting and ranting for a postseason victory since January 6, 1991.
Let me phrase that another way. The Bengals haven’t won a (expletive) playoff game in an entire generation. Bryan Adams was atop the Billboard Top Hot 100 song list. Cartoon Network ruled and The Ren & Stimpy Show was pushing the envelope. Big hair was the fashion…let’s not go there. Point made.
Lewis has made it back for another couple of years. Now, it’s time to make good on all the promises that have been floating in the Cincinnati atmosphere for decades.
Brown brought Marvin back to keep the Bengals on track for the next phase. Marvelous Marv brought on the coaches he felt would get the results the fans want. What seems like a two-year plan…just may work. But, it has to be more than a smoke and mirrors type situation.
Make the change
Bengals Nation is rightfully frustrated and deserves better. Mikey Boy is all about the cash. There’s no way around it. But, there are a few sad souls who will keep insisting he cares. Yeah. He cares…about that black line going upwards.
The only way Bengals fans will believe the hype that has been spewed forth this offseason is through the postseason. The Bengals have to blow teams away and then annihilate them in the playoffs. Well, it may not be that serious. But, it’s way past time for things to gel. There have been far too many playoff caliber teams doing a one-and-done under Lewis.
Again, either this franchise gets a clue or fans will start to find their football fix elsewhere.
How did Sam Wyche say it?
"“There’s golf to be played and tennis to be served up and other things to be done besides worrying about a football game.”"
Maybe Sam has a point. But, until then, continuity will be the Bengals’ playoff motivation.