Who would have guessed the Cincinnati Bengals to be a team that some are mentioning as "Super Bowl contender" lately? It's May, we haven't even reached training camp, and during OTAs, we're hearing more hype than anybody would've thought possible in regards to this team.
Across the division, however, things aren't exactly going swimmingly for the Cleveland Browns. In fact, after one of their recent practices, head coach Todd Monken gave us all quite the gem of a quote:
“Yeah, we threw interceptions in 7-on-7 for God’s sake. I mean, who does that? There’s no pass rush. I mean, it’s embarrassing.”
Interceptions were thrown by both Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel when they weren't even facing a pass rush ... in shorts ... in 7-on-7 drills.
You love to see it!
The Bengals' vibes are good and the Browns' quarterback situation only makes it that much better
As if the vibes couldn't get any better, lately, the Browns hand us yet another reason to smile. We all heard qutie a bit from Joe Burrow during his time with the media, this week, and Bengals fans couldn't be more excited.
There is already a lot of hype building around this Bengals team. With a healthy Burrow and the moves the team made this offseason, especially on defense, there is reason to believe the Bengals can win the AFC North and get back into contention.
To win the division would be a big victory, but for one team like the Browns to make it even easier ... well, that's just icing on the cake.
It doesn't really matter who the quarterback is in Cleveland, this year. If your head coach is already fed up with seeing interceptions thrown in 7-on-7 drills, it might turn out to be a long summer. And then, of course, that could spiral into being yet another long season in Cleveland.
For as much misery as Cincinnati fans have endured over the years, at least they aren't Browns fans.
For four years, the Browns have had Deshaun Watson. And, in those four seasons, he has started a total of just 19 games due to a plethora of reasons. Most recently, Watson is attempting to finally come back from an Achilles tear after multiple procedures to fix it.
If it's Watson under center for the Browns, great! The last time the Bengals saw Watson, in 2024, he threw for just 128 yards in a Cleveland loss. That 2024 season was historically bad for Watson. Although it was only seven games, Watson looked and played worse than anyone could have ever anticipated. It was one of the worst samples of quarterback play in league history.
Now, if it ends up being Shedeur Sanders, I don't think the Bengals are going to be scared, either. If anything, the Bengals are still seething for the fact that Sanders and the Browns somehow defeated them to end the season last year.
It isn't like he did much to help the cause, though, as Sanders finished just 11-for-22, 111 yards and zero touchdowns.
Back to the topic at hand.
In the grand scheme of things, this is only OTAs. But, it sure is hilarious to hear a coach as upset about interceptions being thrown when ... yep, there sure wasn't a pass rush!
As a Bengals fan, you've got to love it. And, hopefully, we have more to watch where that came from.
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