Bass: Why Bengals have Chiefs right where they want them

[Arkansas Bengal]

Mike Bass Special to The Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 10:29 AM CST·5 min read

 

 

“@SportsFanCoach1: You have done this as long as I can remember ... this Era of Bengal fandom is different from ANY I’ve seen. They overcome adversity over adversity. This is just so refreshing to see. I thought after the start Browning was having the balloon had burst. #whynothim”

 – @bengalralph, Dec. 17

 

“The Bengals have never had a run like this. And just when you think they are in trouble, they do this.”

­– SportsFanCoach1 (me)

 

That X (ex-Twitter) exchange was a day after Bengals 27, Vikings 24. The winning streak was three. The record was 8-6. Jake Browning was the season savior.

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning (6) is sacked by Pittsburgh Stealers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward (97) in the fourth quarter of the NFL 16 game between the Pittsburgh Stealers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. The Stealers won 34-11.More

 

A week later came the novocaine shot that was Pittsburgh 34, Bengals 11. A rout like that numbs until it hurts. When it did, I thought about @bengalralph and our exchange. I felt better. I remembered how different these Bengals are, that just when you think they are in trouble, they rebound.

 

Why stop believing now?

 

@Bengalralph, aka Ralph Goyette, has not changed his view. Or so he typed on Christmas while watching football and trying out his newly gifted pizza oven (a multitasking feat we honored with some editing for clarity). Yes, he still feels the same way about Browning.

 

“Of course!!” Ralph wrote. “He is growing. A lot of pretty good players have been confused by the Steeler defense. ... Mike, I’m not the knee-jerk guy. I pitched BASEBALL into my 30s. People don’t realize how hard it is – like the bar guy who says, ‘I could go 3 minutes with Mike Tyson,’ when in fact they couldn’t go 3 minutes with a club fighter. #6 (Browning) has performed at every level he has played, so #whynothim?”

 

I would love to be with Ralph if that bar guy said, “I could bowl a 300 if I really tried.” At 16, Ralph Goyette rolled a perfect game to earn another Enquirer Bowler of the Week writeup. In his mid-30s, he rolled back-to-back 300s in the 1999 Cherry Grove Classic. He cashed in at some U.S. Opens, and some of his old “King of TV Bowling” series matches are available on YouTube.

 

Perspectives change as fans grow older

 

Now 59, his background admittedly gives him a different perspective on sports and the participants. He tries to take the Bengals as they are, understand their situation.

 

“The injuries on defense have taken a toll,” Ralph wrote.  “#29 (Cam Taylor-Britt) and #98 (DJ Reader) are out. #94 (Sam Hubbard) isn’t healthy.”

 

Injuries matter. The response to injuries matter.

 

“I witnessed bad teams w/ poor effort,” Ralph wrote. “When #9 (Carson Palmer) went down, they were booking vacations. This team didn’t start booking vacations when #9 (Joe Burrow) went down. This team cares.”

 

It took about six quarters for No. 6 and the Bengals to coalesce and find another way to win. It is what these Bengals do.

 

Look, every team faces adversity. Good teams overcome it to win. Great teams keep winning. The Bengals rebounded from 7-6 to reach a Super Bowl, then 0-2 to reach another AFC title game. This time, they overcame 1-3 and an ailing Burrow, then 5-6 and no Burrow.

 

Why not again?

 

 

This version of the Bengals overcame a 1-3 start with a banged-up Joe Burrow, and a 5-6 record when Burrow went down for good, but is still playing with a shot at the playoffs.

 

The Pittsburgh clunker leaves the Bengals with a 19-percent chance of making the playoffs, according to the New York Times simulator I tried Wednesday. If the Bengals win their last two, that percentage soars to 94.

 

Is it me, or is this just the Bengals being the Bengals, setting themselves up for their annual late run?

 

Maybe not. But I like the odds. And it beats those years when the Bengals set themselves up for disappointment.

 

Ralph knows. In 1970, he became a Bengals fan at age 6. In 1973, he attended his first Bengals game, a win over Len Dawson and the Chiefs. He returned that December for another win over another Hall of Fame quarterback, Fran Tarkenton, and the Vikings. He remembers the Bengals’ Bob Trumpy catching a touchdown pass in front of him and screaming, “F---, yeah!” It was the first time 9-year-old Ralph had heard an adult use the F-bomb.

 

“It has been,” he wrote, “a wonderful journey.”

 

The worst of times make the good ones better

 

Although he left Cincinnati some 20 years ago for Florida, where he worked for Lockheed Martin before retiring, he never left Bengaldom. Like all Bengals fans of his generation, he endured decades of some good-but-disappointing football after the 1980s, and a lot of bad-AND-disappointing football. There was nothing like the 2020s, not in Bengals history.

 

Which is Ralph’s point.

 

Why would he let one eyesore of a game spoil the view?

 

Why not check out the remaining competition?

 

The Chiefs have come back to earth

 

“I also believe watching this game today the Chiefs have some real issues,” he wrote. “The Browns may not have anything to play for, so may not play starters.”

 

The Chiefs lost Monday to Las Vegas. They have dropped three of four. The Bengals have won three of four. Kansas City has a short week to prepare for the Bengals, who have not played since Saturday. The Bengals keep beating the Chiefs in these late-season matchups.

 

As for Cleveland, consider the Flacco Factor. Joe Flacco is 9-12 against the Bengals. No team has beaten him more. Remember Game 3 last season? Flacco had thrown for 307 yards and four TDs for the Jets the previous week. The Bengals intercepted him twice and sacked him four times. Flacco didn’t start again until the season finale. He has not beaten the Bengals since the 2017 opener.

 

Why would that change now?

 

“Once the tournament starts, anything can happen,” Ralph wrote. “The Giants beat Tom Brady and a perfect record.”

 

Why not dream a little?

 

What harm is there in lowering expectations and maintaining hope?

 

If the Bengals lose Sunday to Kansas City, it won’t be a shock. The Chiefs are home and touchdown favorites. The Bengals might not be good enough to win out, especially if Ja’Marr Chase is not healthy. Opponents might be more talented. Defenses might be adjusting to Browning.

 

Then again, just when you think the Bengals are in trouble, they might just surprise you again.

 

With some help from Ralph Goyette, I remembered.

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bass-why-bengals-chiefs-where-162901647.html

[claptonrocks]

2 hours ago, Arkansas Bengal said:

Mike Bass Special to The Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 10:29 AM CST·5 min read

 

 

“@SportsFanCoach1: You have done this as long as I can remember ... this Era of Bengal fandom is different from ANY I’ve seen. They overcome adversity over adversity. This is just so refreshing to see. I thought after the start Browning was having the balloon had burst. #whynothim”

 – @bengalralph, Dec. 17

 

“The Bengals have never had a run like this. And just when you think they are in trouble, they do this.”

­– SportsFanCoach1 (me)

 

That X (ex-Twitter) exchange was a day after Bengals 27, Vikings 24. The winning streak was three. The record was 8-6. Jake Browning was the season savior.

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning (6) is sacked by Pittsburgh Stealers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward (97) in the fourth quarter of the NFL 16 game between the Pittsburgh Stealers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. The Stealers won 34-11.More

 

A week later came the novocaine shot that was Pittsburgh 34, Bengals 11. A rout like that numbs until it hurts. When it did, I thought about @bengalralph and our exchange. I felt better. I remembered how different these Bengals are, that just when you think they are in trouble, they rebound.

 

Why stop believing now?

 

@Bengalralph, aka Ralph Goyette, has not changed his view. Or so he typed on Christmas while watching football and trying out his newly gifted pizza oven (a multitasking feat we honored with some editing for clarity). Yes, he still feels the same way about Browning.

 

“Of course!!” Ralph wrote. “He is growing. A lot of pretty good players have been confused by the Steeler defense. ... Mike, I’m not the knee-jerk guy. I pitched BASEBALL into my 30s. People don’t realize how hard it is – like the bar guy who says, ‘I could go 3 minutes with Mike Tyson,’ when in fact they couldn’t go 3 minutes with a club fighter. #6 (Browning) has performed at every level he has played, so #whynothim?”

 

I would love to be with Ralph if that bar guy said, “I could bowl a 300 if I really tried.” At 16, Ralph Goyette rolled a perfect game to earn another Enquirer Bowler of the Week writeup. In his mid-30s, he rolled back-to-back 300s in the 1999 Cherry Grove Classic. He cashed in at some U.S. Opens, and some of his old “King of TV Bowling” series matches are available on YouTube.

 

Perspectives change as fans grow older

 

Now 59, his background admittedly gives him a different perspective on sports and the participants. He tries to take the Bengals as they are, understand their situation.

 

“The injuries on defense have taken a toll,” Ralph wrote.  “#29 (Cam Taylor-Britt) and #98 (DJ Reader) are out. #94 (Sam Hubbard) isn’t healthy.”

 

Injuries matter. The response to injuries matter.

 

“I witnessed bad teams w/ poor effort,” Ralph wrote. “When #9 (Carson Palmer) went down, they were booking vacations. This team didn’t start booking vacations when #9 (Joe Burrow) went down. This team cares.”

 

It took about six quarters for No. 6 and the Bengals to coalesce and find another way to win. It is what these Bengals do.

 

Look, every team faces adversity. Good teams overcome it to win. Great teams keep winning. The Bengals rebounded from 7-6 to reach a Super Bowl, then 0-2 to reach another AFC title game. This time, they overcame 1-3 and an ailing Burrow, then 5-6 and no Burrow.

 

Why not again?

 

 

This version of the Bengals overcame a 1-3 start with a banged-up Joe Burrow, and a 5-6 record when Burrow went down for good, but is still playing with a shot at the playoffs.

 

The Pittsburgh clunker leaves the Bengals with a 19-percent chance of making the playoffs, according to the New York Times simulator I tried Wednesday. If the Bengals win their last two, that percentage soars to 94.

 

Is it me, or is this just the Bengals being the Bengals, setting themselves up for their annual late run?

 

Maybe not. But I like the odds. And it beats those years when the Bengals set themselves up for disappointment.

 

Ralph knows. In 1970, he became a Bengals fan at age 6. In 1973, he attended his first Bengals game, a win over Len Dawson and the Chiefs. He returned that December for another win over another Hall of Fame quarterback, Fran Tarkenton, and the Vikings. He remembers the Bengals’ Bob Trumpy catching a touchdown pass in front of him and screaming, “F---, yeah!” It was the first time 9-year-old Ralph had heard an adult use the F-bomb.

 

“It has been,” he wrote, “a wonderful journey.”

 

The worst of times make the good ones better

 

Although he left Cincinnati some 20 years ago for Florida, where he worked for Lockheed Martin before retiring, he never left Bengaldom. Like all Bengals fans of his generation, he endured decades of some good-but-disappointing football after the 1980s, and a lot of bad-AND-disappointing football. There was nothing like the 2020s, not in Bengals history.

 

Which is Ralph’s point.

 

Why would he let one eyesore of a game spoil the view?

 

Why not check out the remaining competition?

 

The Chiefs have come back to earth

 

“I also believe watching this game today the Chiefs have some real issues,” he wrote. “The Browns may not have anything to play for, so may not play starters.”

 

The Chiefs lost Monday to Las Vegas. They have dropped three of four. The Bengals have won three of four. Kansas City has a short week to prepare for the Bengals, who have not played since Saturday. The Bengals keep beating the Chiefs in these late-season matchups.

 

As for Cleveland, consider the Flacco Factor. Joe Flacco is 9-12 against the Bengals. No team has beaten him more. Remember Game 3 last season? Flacco had thrown for 307 yards and four TDs for the Jets the previous week. The Bengals intercepted him twice and sacked him four times. Flacco didn’t start again until the season finale. He has not beaten the Bengals since the 2017 opener.

 

Why would that change now?

 

“Once the tournament starts, anything can happen,” Ralph wrote. “The Giants beat Tom Brady and a perfect record.”

 

Why not dream a little?

 

What harm is there in lowering expectations and maintaining hope?

 

If the Bengals lose Sunday to Kansas City, it won’t be a shock. The Chiefs are home and touchdown favorites. The Bengals might not be good enough to win out, especially if Ja’Marr Chase is not healthy. Opponents might be more talented. Defenses might be adjusting to Browning.

 

Then again, just when you think the Bengals are in trouble, they might just surprise you again.

 

With some help from Ralph Goyette, I remembered.

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bass-why-bengals-chiefs-where-162901647.html

Hope is what we have.

I see a close victory in Burrowhead

with Jake and Tee putting on a show.

 

Now if the oline can sustain blocks 

they could roll to a larger margin.

Bengals all day ..