They’ll Be Back…

I can’t get on board with most Bengals fans on this one. Yes, the refs made some terrible calls against our beloved Bengals, but for me, there were a lot of questionable decisions made down the stretch, such as clock management and why that last punt was returnable and not out of bounds? Joseph Ossai has a bright future ahead of him. Everything I’ve read and heard about the guy has been positive. He made a mistake. He made a crucial mistake at a critical time in the game. To me, it was flashbacks of the Marvin Lewis era of undisciplined players all over again. Here’s the good news, this is not Marvin Lewis’s Bengals.

I and the fanbase will forever be grateful for what Marvin Lewis did for this franchise and city. Marvin changed the culture from dumpster fire to relevant. We had some great seasons with him at the helm, but we couldn’t get over that hump of winning the big one, whether it be a primetime game or a playoff game. And we’d lose those playoff games, wondering if we’d ever get back.

That feeling does not sit inside me anymore. And this is where the mentality of the fan base needs to change. There’s a perfect chance that Joe Burrow will be our quarterback for the next ten-plus years. These Bengals will be a championship contender as long as he’s under center. Yes, it stings the way they went out, and Lord knows the Reds aren’t going to give us anything to look forward to, but we can head into the off-season knowing damn well that we’ve got something a lot of sports towns would kill to have. We have a great coach in Zac Taylor and a great leader in Joe Burrow.

I’ll finish with this, even if the Bengals start 0-2 again next year, tell yourself this is not the Bengals of the past. This is Katie Blackburn’s team. This is Zac Taylor’s Team. This is Joe Burrow’s team. They are winners and will continue to win for a long time.

Respectfully,

Mike “Fly Eagles Fly” Weghorst