These Young Cats Will Show Flashes of Greatness

          The reaction after the Cincinnati Bengals' first two preseason games was second to none. Local media, fans and national media scrutinized the Bengals. They were a young team that was mismanaged. Andy Dalton was just too young to play quarterback in the NFL. The Bengals lost both preseason games by a total score of 61-10. This team was not given a shot and rightfully so. The fans and local media members began looking ahead to the draft and even mentioned who they wanted to draft with the number one draft pick overall (Andrew Luck, # 1 prospect in 2011 draft).

          I didn’t react the same way a lot of media members and fans did. In fact, I was on the other side of the spectrum. I thought that some of the MAJOR mistakes the Bengals made the first two games would get corrected. I thought this was a young team, but for the first time in the Marvin Lewis era, I’m not expecting 8-8 or better, I don’t expect to compete for a playoff birth and I don’t expect this team to have many Pro Bowl players. I do have some expectations for this team. I expect them to improve, show flashes of how good they can be and really compete and be a spoiler down the stretch. What does it mean to be a spoiler down the stretch? Essentially, it means we’ll end up with 4-6 wins, which isn’t good. The team won’t be that good, but they will compete. At the end of the season if the Cincinnati Bengals are 4-12 it will feel so much better than last year when we finished 4-12. I think people should have a positive outlook this year. I may get frustrated on Sundays, but nowhere near how mad I and essentially all of Cincinnati was at the end of each Sunday in the fall of 2010.

          On my previous post, I mentioned how this team will show flashes of what it can do. It will show us that it can compete at this level, despite its age and lack of experience. Well, on Thursday night, the Bengals did just that. In the first home preseason game against the Carolina Panthers the Red Rifle (Andy Dalton) completed 11 out of 17 first half passes, threw his first touchdown in the NFL to AJ Green and out dueled rookie counterpart and number one overall pick Cam Newton. However, the run game definitely set the tone for the Bengals. Cedric Benson ran 16 times for 68 yards (all in the first half) and also had a touchdown run. Bernard Scott broke away from Panther defenders and ran for 63 yards and had a touchdown on only six carries. The Bengals were physical on both sides of the ball and it translated into a win. It seems they will have a beat em up, physical style that the AFC North takes pride in. For one night the Bengals showed us the potential they have. Dalton and Green showed flashes of how good they may become, Bernard Scott showed us how important a healthy change of pace back can be and that defense showed it could stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback. I am not saying this will be the case on most Sundays during the regular season, but for at least one summer night in August, Bengals fans had a reason to be optimistic. Not only about this season, but about the future of the franchise.

The Bengals were no doubt more physical in the trenches against
the Carolina Panthers. The Offensive-Line opened up
numerous holes against the Panthers defense.