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5 Infamous Moments from the Cincinnati Bengals/PS Rivalry

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OK, Cincinnati Bengals fans – the week is here.

The Metal People are coming to town. Even better, they’ve looked as soft as melting gold so far this year. Those from the “pit” are ripe for the picking.

Notice how we haven’t named them yet? That’s because, with some teams, you just dislike them so much that you want to say their name less than Voldemort. And there’s a reason for that hatred. In fact, there are several.

Cincinnati and the pit town have had more than their fair share of run-ins over the last few years. That has mushroomed into a pretty fierce rivalry – one that would give Da Bears!-Packers historic rivalry a run for its money.

Here are five moments/games that have really brought this thing to a head. And made us want to rip someone’s head off.

5 Big Moments in the Cincinnati Bengals Rivalry with “Them”

5. Time to Shine
Some might say this was more shallow than an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but it was still fun. Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh had a great game in a 38-31 victory at Heinz field in 2005. To top it off, he used a Terrible Towel to shine his cleats in the tunnel. We can think of only one better use for the Terrible Towel. Hint: It wouldn’t be the shoes that you wipe …

4. Refereegate
The sting of this one is still fresh. It’s December 2017 and the Cincinnati Bengals are still hoping for a playoff bid. But the black and gold team stopped them cold, with some help from the black-and-white striped team. The Bengals were flagged 13 times for 173 yards (a team record). Many of those were the result of poor officiating. The worst was a BS holding call against Giovani Bernard in the second half that wiped out an Andy Dalton touchdown pass. It was such a phantom call that you half-expected to see an opera along with it. The TD – and the momentum – was officially lost. Along with a 17-point lead, the game, and the postseason.

3. Taking a Knee
The first playoff meeting between the two teams was in 2005. The stakes were high, the tension higher. Said tension reached a fever pitch when Bengals’ QB Carson Palmer was drilled on the second offensive play (in what many people thought was a late, dirty hit) and left the game with a knee injury. Cincy still managed to take a 17-7 lead, but the bottom fell out after that. The Other Team scored 24 straight and won 31-17, paving their way to a Super Bowl title.

2. You’re Late … Again and Again and Again. If you thought one late hit was a doozie, how about a second half full of them? That’s what we witnessed in the 2015 Wild Card Playoff game. Things seemed reasonably calm in the first half. Then the rain started falling … and the bodies. Assistant coach Mike Munchak pulled Reggie Nelson’s hair. Giovani Bernard was on the receiving end of a Ryan Shazier helmet-to-helmet tackle. Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones donated 30 yards in penalties to the Make-a-Field-Goal foundation. Even Ben Roth ….Roethles …. Roethlis … Big Ben was pelted with garbage as he was carted off the field after being sacked by Burfict. Where were the WWE superstars to make it a complete circus?

1. You Want Somma This? Well sorry, it’s ours! The 2009 Iron Workers football team allllmost qualified for the playoffs at 9-7. How sweet was it then, that two of those losses were to the eventual AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals? Because, ya know, without those two losses, Pitt would have made the postseason. Claiming a playoff spot with one hand and shoving your heated rival away from it with the other hand? Ummmm, yes please!

4 Old Cincinnati Bengals Players Who Could Help This Year

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The Cincinnati Bengals have been pretty close to the playoffs the last couple of years. Well, maddeningly close. OK, knife-throwing-act-at-the-circus close. Not really, but it’s not far fetched to think that they are closer to being one of the Bengals teams that made the playoffs 5 straight seasons (2011-2015) than a team that is in total rebuild mode.

Since we can’t change the past, we’ll do the next best thing – we’ll go back to the past. We’re gonna make our call on which four players from Cincy’s best teams (1988 and 2005) could help get this year’s team into the postseason.

4 Cincinnati Bengals Players We Wish We Had On This Year’s Team

Carson Palmer (2005)
No offense to Andy Dalton, but we’ll take 2005 Carson Palmer any day as our signal caller. That year, he threw for 4.35 miles and had as many interceptions as he did multi-touchdown games (12). The 101.1 QB rating doesn’t hurt either.

Palmer was also sacked only 19 times in ’05. Yes, that has more to do with the offensive line’s performance, but the quarterback still has to be able to avoid the rush and deliver the ball. Palmer did that.

Chad Johnson/Ocho Cinco/Johnson/7-11/WTF
The only thing tougher than remembering Chad’s last name was trying to cover him in 2005. He posted a career-high 97 catches for 1,432 yards, and had 23 catches of at least 20 yards. On a scale of 1-10, his performance was a 16/dieciseis.

Having him as a complement to A.J. Green would keep defenses on their heels, and that’s before we insert a deep threat. Speaking of which …

Eddie Brown (1988)
Brown was the long baller (now, now) that we hope John Ross will be. He proved it by averaging 24 yards per catch in 1988 (still an NFL single-season record). The cherry on top of that sundae was how he saved his best games for Pittsburgh. In his two 1988 games against the Steelers, he totaled eight catches for 281 yards and three touchdowns.

Having Brown on this year’s Cincinnati Bengals team – with two wins against Pittsburgh under our belts – would have the Paul Brown Stadium crowd dancing like a Fortnite flash mob. Let’s hope Ross can channel his inner Eddie.

Anthony Munoz (1988)
Munoz, the best O-lineman in franchise history, missed only three games in his 13 pro seasons, and none in 1988. You couldn’t get that kind of consistency if you custom-made an offensive tackle on Madden and raised all his durability levels to 99.

Even more than his toughness was his productivity. That much is evident by his nine first-team All-Pro recognitions. And in a pinch, he could be used as a receiving option (seven catches, 18 yards, four TDs). We know we’re talking more about his career than just that season, but … c’mon, it’s Munoz.

Honorable mention

There’s no shortage of Cincinnati Bengals fans who think Marvin Lewis needs to go. If it happened (not that we’re saying anything), good ol’ Sam Wyche is the perfect replacement. He’s a proven winner who has a voice that sounds like a chainsaw revving up. Besides, anyone who does this needs to be leading the team. And he should get Valentine’s Day cards.

Dalton and Green: Where They’ll Rank in Cincinnati Bengals History

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Andy Dalton and AJ Green are among the most talked-about members of this year’s Cincinnati Bengals. Each is entering his seventh season in the pros. Both already rank among the most productive Bengals in history at their respective positions.

So where will they be when their done? Hope we don’t shock the heck out of you, but it should be at the top. What should shock you, though, is how much faster they’ll achieve some records than the other guys did.

 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton

Dalton ranks fourth in Cincinnati Bengals’ history in yards, completions, attempts, and touchdowns. In each category, the guys above him are Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason and Carson Palmer (they are in that order, too, except for completions, where Palmer leads Esiason by a mere nine completions). That means this is a good apples-to-apples comparison of where Dalton is relative to the Big Three.

Anderson and Boomer played 15 and 13 years in the NFL, respectively. Palmer was only here for six seasons. Dalton has also played six, and he’s hot on everyone’s cleats. The short tenure is to Dalton’s advantage. He has several years to go in a pass-happy NFL era; an opportunity that Anderson and Boomer did not enjoy.

Dalton needs only 105 completions to jump to second place in that category, and only 481 yards and 13 TDs to get to third place on those two lists. Both should happen in the first half of this season. From there, the sky – and Ken Anderson – are the limits. Put another way, by 2018, this Dalton will own more passing records than Patrick Swayze’s Dalton owned all those mullet drunks in Road House.

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver AJ Green

Of the two of them, Green is higher up on the charts than Dalton. Most of that is because of his skill, physical tools, and work ethic. The other part is being the No. 1 receiver on a team that hasn’t otherwise seen a standout WR since Chad Johnson/Ochocinco/Johnson/WTF-his-name-is. Green has thrived in the role, amassing 7,135 yards in six years to rank 2nd all-time. It took J/O/J/WTF a decade to pile up 10,783 yards. So don’t be surprised if Green, who is averaging 1,189 yards per season, moves into first place sometime during 2020 – less than 10 years into the league (with a few more to go after that).

Green currently ranks fourth in team history in receptions (481) and touchdowns (49). But he’s ahead of the curve, as it took Carl Pickens (530) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (507) seven years to accumulate their reception totals. Even with a subpar 60-catch season, Green will take over the No. 2 spot this year – which means he’ll get there sooner than that if he puts up his typical numbers.

Green best scoring years were in 2012 and 2013 when he hauled in 11 TD catches each. It might be asking a little much for him to record 18 scoring receptions this season. But if he pulls it off, he’ll snatch the all-time team record from Ochocinco in three fewer years … which includes his injury-shortened 2016 campaign.

So sit back and get excited, Cincinnati Bengals’ fans. You’re about to witness history.

Bengals Welcome Palmer Back to Cincy

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In his first visit back to Cincinnati since being traded to the Oakland Raiders last year, Carson Palmer was booed consistently, sacked 4 times, hit at least 10 times, threw an interception, fumbled once, and only had 146 yards passing.

The Bengals were the dominant team for three of the four quarters and won by a final score of 34-10. Bengals QB Andy Dalton on the other hand threw 3 TD’s (2 to Mohamed Sanu), had 210 yards passing and no interceptions. Benjarvus Green-Ellis had another big day running the ball for 129 yards and a TD. Read more.