We didn't even really notice it at first until reading Jamison Hensley's comments on ESPN's AFC North blog. It was so understated at the time that it was almost like, as Bengals fans, we expected it. We always expect it. When asked during Monday afternoon's press conference how Lewis reassures the younger players (who experienced much more success in college) and keeps them ready, Lewis said:
"We just have to continue to work at the things we're not doing as well. There's really not a big change. We're early in the year. We've got a lot of season ahead of us. And you know, at the end of this week when we're 2-2, there's going to be probably the other third of the league that’s going to be in the same situation. So I think we have to understand that.
Whoa, nelly. Let me put on my long white lab coat and confer with Dr. Walter Bishop for a moment.
The Bengals are currently 1-2. Using my advanced mathematical brain, in order to reach 2-2, we're required to add one on the left column which usually represents wins (scratching beard, finding inspirations in the heavens). Based on a vastly complicated formula that was concocted on a 10-foot dry-erase board, that can only mean Lewis is saying "after the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills". Nice. Not that it's happened since 1988, but these historical trends are meant to be broken. And we can't imagine one better than this one.
But I guess we'll just have to let that play out, won't we?