2012 NFL season – Cincinnati Bengals should prove themselves to their fans – NFL Feature
The Cincinnati Bengals are a team no different from their American Football League (AFC) North division rivals Cleveland Browns: while the Browns are most likely to end a National Football League (NFL) season at the bottom of the division,
the Bengals might finish just ahead of them.
In real terms, the Bengals are a team who can somehow manage to get past the first leg of the NFL season – the regular season – but they are least likely to make any distinguished achievement from there.
They, for example, won the last wildcard out of the sheer amount of luck and made it to the playoffs in 2011. Their loss in the first round against Houston Texans, however, showed them a team not ready for playing into the second leg of
the season.
At the end, the Bengals did not have much to comment on their pathetic form once again. This was in spite of the fact that they had remained tied with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers on the league’s points table until middle
of the regular season. Their miserable form was visible from there and then, and it ended with the poor show-off in the first round of the playoffs.
Even that opportunity, as earlier said, was a result of the development of a favourable situation for them on the overall scorecard of the league. The development let down the teams like the New York Jets.
It is not that the Bengals did not deserve the chance. They did, but did not prove themselves as an outfit ready for the second round challenges.
The management is baffled and even more confused and furious are the Bengals’ fans. A large number of them as a matter of fact deserted the team so much that the managers found it very difficult to fill their Paul Brown stadium up to its
capacity in their last few home games.
Many of the fans openly expressed disappointment and anger over the team’s consistent failings.
Later, some of the rebellious fans showed up for the last game but that was due to the fact that the team had been confirmed for the second round, a sense of some compensation to the fans for their support, loyalties and time. The sudden
shift in the mood of fans was also a result of some incentives the team had offered to season ticketholders to attract them to the ground.
Nevertheless, the past is past and it is over. Again, this is also where the main concern lies and proves that the fans are true to their protesting attitudes. They do not like to see their team writing the same chapter of their performance
every year, learning nothing from their mistakes.
It has been for the past many seasons that the Bengals have not given an impressive run of their form. They often are predictable to finish third in the AFC North. They cannot go down further, given there is no other team with credentials
to perform better than them. The Browns are content with four or five wins for last many seasons.
This may be the fact that the Bengals do not face challenge from another opponent of their calibre. This, however, also questions their ability to aim for higher. Their ability to get past the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens has
been questioned by their fans, and to answer it the Bengals cannot have a season better than the present one.
The team has a right balance at almost all positions. The fans loyalties are expected to increase given the team held its training camp at the local stadium for the first time, allowing them free entry to watch their favourite players
training. The fan backing provides the Bengals with one of the rare opportunities to defy the odds and prove them that they are a team better than they have been watching them for last few seasons.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article in no way reflect bettor.com's editorial policies
Tags: