That 1980 team was a lot better than they get credit for, and that season was a foreshadowing of what would happen in 1981.
They started 0-2 with losses by 5 points and 1 point, then defeated the defending champion Stealers, who came in at 2-0. The Bengals had been 2-8 against them the previous five seasons. They followed that up with two more losses, by 3 points and 5 points to drop to 1-4, setting up a Week 6 rematch with Pittsburgh, who was now 4-1. The Bengals beat them yet again, this time at Three Rivers, meaning that at that point, the 2-4 Bengals' only two wins were against Pittsburgh and 4-2 Pittsburgh's only two losses were against the Bengals. The Bengals four losses were by a combined 14 points. They were a good team that found a way to lose in the end.
After a 14-0 shutout of the Vikings, they were 3-4 and it looked like a first winning season in three years could be possible, but five straight blowout losses put them at 3-9 and it looked like a third straight 4-12 was in the works. They did win three more straight to get to 6-9 before losing a close one at home to Cleveland in Week 16. That was the game Pat McInally got injured on a cheap hit - I'll bet some of you remember it.
Does anyone remember if there were extenuating circumstances (injuries?) that led to that five-game losing streak? There was a night and day difference in their performance for those five games compared to the other 11 games.