The Cincinnati Bengals won’t be one of the 12 NFL teams to still be playing next week. But unlike 11 of those teams, they’ll know their last game of the season was a win.
Cincy downed the Baltimore Ravens 27-10 on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. The victory brings the Cincinnati Bengals to 6-9-1 on the year. Both teams were playing for pride, as neither is going to the postseason. But the Bengals claimed their fifth straight home win by scoring on their first four possessions, holding the Ravens to 72 yards rushing, and logging three sacks. All in all, it makes for some good vibes for the players as they clean out their lockers.
Now we can officially start looking at – and getting our hopes up for – 2017. For our part, we’ll be brimming with optimism. Why? Glad you asked! Here are a few reasons why we’re feeling good as we pull away from 2016.
3 Good Things About the Cincinnati Bengals to Take to the Offseason
1. The 2017 offense gon be guuud. Bengals Talk’s church choir has been singing about Andy Dalton all year. The two-time Pro-Bowler threw for 4,206 yards in 2016. The offense got better late in the year as some shuffles were made along the offensive line. Wide receiver A.J. Green made defensive backs see red until his hamstring injury a few weeks ago. Throw in tight end Tyler Eifert and we’ll be watching the points pile up.
2. Injuries, bad luck won’t hit as hard next year. From Cedric Peerman in the preseason to Tyler Eifert and A.J. Green, the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense struggled this year because good players were injured and proven backups weren’t available. Mike Nugent struggled with extra points, which affected the outcome of games – or at least the offensive strategy in close ones. We won’t see such bad luck in 2017 … right?
3. The team will want to rectify. Cincinnati had made the playoffs for 5 straight years. They were itching to finally notch a postseason win – which is fine if you make it to the postseason. They didn’t. And that’s a bad taste they’ll gladly want to wash out come next fall.
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