5 reasons to be excited about the Bengals in 2022
By Eli Zink
“Who-Dey think gon beat them Bengals!” will be yelled many times this year due to the dramatic shift in the culture in Cincinnati. After a huge year from the Cincinnati Bengals last season, these five things on this list are all reasons for fans to be excited for the upcoming season in 2022.
Whether you’re a new fan or one who had to tag along during the poor play of the Bengals, this team has a ton to offer in terms of excitement. It looks as though the stripes have finally established themselves among the best in the NFL, especially after their appearance in the Super Bowl just last year.
Fans all around will learn to respect the Bengals for many reasons but these five are at the top of the list.
5. Zac Taylor
Although many thought after his first two seasons that Zac Taylor wasn’t the guy for Cincinnati he did more than prove himself in 2021 taking the team to the Super Bowl with his strategic game plans. In his first two seasons, he only accumulated six wins in 32 games, a stat that will soon be forgotten forever as this past year he led the team to 10 wins in 17 games while also leading the team to their first playoff win since the ’80s.
What makes Taylor so special as a coach is his ability to hold a belief in his process of turning the team around. Nothing shows this more than when Taylor said “I believe in what we’re doing, I think that’s the most important thing,” after a 38-3 blowout loss to the Ravens at the end of the 2020 season.
Since he arrived in Cincinnati, he has only kept 13 of the players from the roster he inherited when accepting the job. He has been more active in free agency than any former Bengals coach going out and grabbing big-name players to increase the team’s chance to be great.
He has also proven he is a very capable drafter as he has acquired some of the Bengal’s most useful players from the draft such as Logan Wilson, JaMarr Chase, and Tee Higgins. As a fan, he should have you excited for 2022 as he has only improved every year since he has been coaching. Expect another playoff run in 2022.