The Bengals Are for Real This Time (SV)

November 10, 2009


Deep within a bunker under a nondescript casino in Las Vegas, an old sports wizard scans his yellow, glassy eyes across dozens of television screens and creates point spreads based on what he sees. Apparently, he wasn't all that impressed from Cincinnati's first seven games and declared the Bengals a three-point home underdog against the Ravens in Week 9. This despite the fact that Cincinnati owned a better record, was coming off of a bye week after dismantling Chicago and already beat Baltimore once in the season.

“Same old Bengals,” he murmured to himself and squashed another cigarette butt into his ashtray.

This man, like the rest of the sports world, is wrong about that and has been all season.

Once again the Bengals proved it by shoving Baltimore out of town bruised and beaten. After the win, NFL Network anchorman Rich Eisen asked Deon Sanders why the Bengals are so good all of a sudden. All of a sudden? Cincinnati wouldn’t have a 6-2 record if wins and success were any kind of recent development.

No, sir, the Bengals are for real and it’s about time the world starts seeing them that way. The old formula of winning the AFC North with rushing yards and run defense is a new blueprint for Marvin Lewis’s team, but it’s starting to cash in. This year’s roster is made up of men who are only concerned about the meetings, practices and games of today – not about the graveyard of the past or the big stage of the future. They appear disciplined and prepared on game days, and the coaches have etched out and stuck with game plans that work.

Some fans grumble about the conservative stubbornness of Marvin and his staff, but the man’s unwavering determination to manage the team his way has created a sense of consistency and routine for the players. As a result, this group goes about their business like daily laborers rather than well-paid superstars. It’s exactly how Marvin wants it; you come to work every day just like everyone else.
Bengal teams of the past had issues dealing with success. In 2005 no one was used to them winning; the fans, the media and the players themselves all hopped on the super-bandwagon. Nothing seemed impossible in those days; every week was magical. Then life reminded us yet again that there is no such thing as magic and obliterated Carson Palmer’s knee to prove the point. The world looked around and shrugged, “Same old Bengals,” they all agreed.

That is the underlying reason why the Vegas wizard and everyone else can’t, or won’t, believe in them; they first must prove they can handle winning. The term “mental toughness” is used when defining the intangibles that are believed to make up championship teams, and a pervasive doubt exists in the minds of many football freaks that Cincinnati has what it takes upstairs. This too is simply incorrect.
Look at what they have already overcome: a freak loss to Denver to open the season, four straight come-from-behind wins, a tsunami in Samoa and the death of Mike Zimmer’s wife, Vikki. They have been doubted in nearly every step of the way this season, yet people remain surprised when they achieve any success at all.

I don’t expect the skeptics to be swayed until the Bengals win the Super Bowl. Even the notion of that possibility causes the wizard to roll his old eyes and snigger.
“That’ll be the day,” he says to the television screen that displays the score of another Bengals win. “I might have to find a new job if that happens.”

Las Vegas is now accepting resumes for an open sports-wizard position.