Bengals Conspiracy Theory: Stealth Tank was ALWAYS the plan
By Logi Baker
Why Stealth Tank?
I am a die-hard Bengals fan who happily paid $400 to get two Jungle Passes for the 2019 season. I did this with the knowledge that the team had been bad previously, and could potentially be bad again. However, the team moved on from Marvin Lewis and there was a chance that I could actually be present at the dawning of what would be dubbed the New Dey.
That is why I believe the Bengals actively chose to execute what is being referred to on social media as a “stealth tank”. Unlike the Miami Dolphins who have been pretty blatant in their tank job, the Bengals actually did a pretty good job of selling their fans on the idea that Zac Taylor and his new young coaching staff would be able to squeeze a couple of extra wins out of the nearly identical roster from the 2018 season.
Would I, and many other fans, have spent our money on season tickets to a team that openly stated that it would not be winning a lot of football games this year? Probably not.
A predetermined tank would also explain why the team chose not to put A.J. Green on IR. The weekly potential of Green coming back would always help drive ticket sales and keep hope alive, while the extra body on the roster isn’t really impacting anything.
However, I’m not upset that I bought my Jungle Pass. After all, if the team truly is planning on tanking in order to have long-term success, then I’m still going to show up at the stadium and have fun cheering for my underdog team to beat the odds.
I have the luxury of being a fan who doesn’t have to concern myself with the future of the team. I’m allowed to simply want them to win every week and not worry about how that happens. But, if your last name is Brown, Blackburn, or Tobin you better be figuring out how this team is going to win a Super Bowl in the future.
So let’s review the evidence that suggests that everyone who has been begging for the front office to tank, trade, and make moves motivated by getting better in the future, are getting exactly what they’ve been wanting…even if they might not realize it yet.