The Bengals are Back on Track

With an early season trade that sent superstar receiver Jeremy Maclin and two contributors on the defensive line packing for two 1st round draft picks, the Bengals appeared to be in rebuilding mode. But after an extended leave of absence by the coach for personal reasons that haven't been disclosed to the media (out of town over Thanksgiving Break) led to an 0-2 start, 3 wins in a row have given the Bengals a 3-2 record and pulled them right back into the race for the divisional title. The latest of these victories came over the hated Cleveland Browns (not actually hated, DW is one of my favorite people to play), and it leaves the two teams tied atop the division. Here's Michele Tafoya with Bengals QB Robert You.

Michele - "Robert, first off, congratulations on an impressive performance both as a team and individually. You guys have a reputation as a run first team, but with 5 TD passes and only 2 incompletions for the day, you certainly showed that you can move the ball through the air if you have to. How were you able to have so much success against their defense?"

Robert - "Well honestly, we really are looking to run the ball and control the clock if we can, but with they way the Browns were moving the ball on offense early on, we knew we would have to put up points if we wanted to hang with them, and that meant we had to air it out a little. The offensive coordinator did a great job keeping them off balance with the play calling, and all I had to do was throw the ball to a spot and I knew my WR's would be there. With the success the run game was having, the Browns had to commit extra people to stop Slaton and Thomas, and once you leave guys like Smitty, B Hart, and Deon isolated in space, they are going to get open eventually."

Michele - "In the first half, it looked like your defense was struggling to stop them, especially against their run. Tell me what happened with that, and why were you guys able to shut them out in the second half?"

Robert - "You know, our defense has played pretty well this year, and we have a lot of faith in those guys and their ability to get stops when we need them so that we can get the offense back out on the field. You have to give credit to the Browns, they had a great game plan and they exposed some weaknesses early, but again our coaching staff made the adjustments and they got our guys in position to make some plays in the second half of the game. When we were finally able to get the lead late in the game and force them to pass, our secondary did a great job of clogging the throwing lanes and making plays on the ball when Schaub put it up there."

Michele - "Robert, obviously every win means a lot in this league, but was this victory maybe even sweeter than most?"

Robert - "Definitely Michele, it sure was. When ever the Bengals and Browns get together its a special game, but with a tie for 1st place on the line we knew we really needed this one if we hope to continue playing meaningful games into December and January. Plus, after the Browns feasted on our coachless team in week 2, we felt like maybe we owed them a little payback this time around."

Michele - "Well congratulations again on the win, and good luck with the rest of the season. With Pittsburgh adding a new coach recently, the path to the AFC North crown got a lot tougher, but this win certainly helps out."

Robert - "Thanks Michele, with the addition of Made2Shyne to a division that already sent 2 teams to the second round of the playoffs last year, some could argue that we are now in one of the toughest divisions in football. But we like that, we welcome the competition, and we know that it will only make us a better team in the long run."

Excellent post surf!!! I choked again in the 4th quarter.

Deathwish22 wrote:Excellent post surf!!! I choked again in the 4th quarter.

let's be honest though, that field goal you missed cause of the lag definitely did not help ha

Good read bro!

My team is never on track lol

my teams so off track its a trainwreck haha

but good read surf, those 3 game win streaks don't come easy.

falconfansince81 wrote:my teams so off track its a trainwreck haha

but good read surf, those 3 game win streaks don't come easy.

nah, not for me at least, especially with Cheddah and DW in there. And your players may be getting old, but you are still one of the teams to beat in the NFC for sure.