Jump on the bandwagon and drink the kool aid!

by Carl Zander on Oct 5, 2009 8:32 PM EDT

According to playoffstatus.com the Bengals at 3-1 have a 60% chance to make the playoffs this season. This website uses historical data to determine the odds of making it to the ever elusive postseason. By contrast the Pittsburgh Steelers currently sitting at 2-2 have only a 36% chance of making the playoffs. The Browns and Titans are gripping a miniscule 2% chance of moving on and their grasp is slipping away quickly.

I know that Bengals fans have been jaded by recent (the last two decades) history. I know us fans have a king size chip on their shoulder since Stokely plucked that deflected miracle out of the sky. I know it hasn't been pretty, but the bottom line is that the Bengals are 3-1 and that beats the alternative.

The schedule gets tough now. Right? Well two out of their next 4 games are against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have one of the best Linebackers of all time. The Ravens were in the AFC championship game last year. The Ravens were #1 in the ESPN power rankings coming into the week, none of which bodes well for us Bengals fans... but "not so fast" my friend!

In the Marvin Lewis era the Bengals are 7-5 (.580) against the Ravens while they have posted a .428 record against the rest of the league. If we could take a mulligan on the 2008 season it would be 7-3! When your a Bengals fan you have to look for any edge, because...because we rarely have any edge. Maybe I'm still drunk from the state record effort I put in down at PBS two Sundays ago, but I want to believe in the Bengals.

One other thought...The Bengals reported today that the Chicago game is sold out. Hopefully the Houston game will sell out this week, but if...scratch that, when the Bengals win on Sunday a sell out against Houston is merely a formality. But even if the Bengals were to lose to the 8.5 point favorite Ravens on Sunday they would still come home for their third home game with a winning record. Under Marvin Lewis they have only come home for their third home game with a winning record twice (2005 and 2006). If NOTHING ELSE, at least the Bengals have kept our interest level into mid October.

Who Dey? So far only the undefeated Denver Broncos...and it took a miracle to do so.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I'm running along side the Bandwagon

Let’s see how they play with the Ratbirds. If they man-up and at least have a chance to win I’ll jump on helmetless.

Early thoughts. On Offense- Please throw early to set up the run. Don’t try to run up the middle to their strength. Let Scott have some runs to the outside. On Defense- Play Flaco like Rothlisberger and keep him in the pocket. No aggressive Blitzing but run blitz. If the Ratbirds can run we don’t stand much of a chance. Special Teams-can’t comment without blowing out a brain anurism.

by featherman on Oct 5, 2009 9:37 PM EDT reply actions

unfortunately those numbers are only %'s based on the record..

not on how the team is playing and/or has won.. they do not take into accout things like missed Fg’s, or missed snaps, or dropped balls, or missed blocks, or missed tackles, or INT’s, or bad playcalling, or bad time management, or fumbled kickoffs, or our D giving up the big play, or our owners ability to manage the team during the year. since he hires himself for the job..

there is a separate equation for the Bengals chances of getting in the playoffs..
(above mentioned %) x (number of bad snaps) x (mike browns age) x (SB rings) = new %

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Oct 6, 2009 9:39 PM EDT reply actions