Based on last year, the Bengals went 10-6 and the New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl XLIV. Obviously with the improvements made to the Cincinnati Bengals passing offense, as well as the Saints being the Super Bowl champions (which is impossible to forget because every damned NFL game has them on a damned commercial), this weekend's game was supposed to be a showcase of awesome proportions with the Bengals obviously having the edge of a superior rushing offense and a better overall defense.
Then the teams actually started playing the season.
New Orleans, in second place behind the Atlanta Falcons, isn't even in the top scoring offense in their own division. October was rough for the Saints, with losses to the Browns and Cardinals. And that was after the Saints pulled out a 16-14 win after a 25-yard John Carney field goal with four minutes left in the game. Thanks to an easier schedule in December, the Saints destroyed the Panthers, beat the Seahawks and bought Thanksgiving dinner for Roy Williams (not our Roy Williams).
So naturally Paul Brown Stadium will be sold out this Sunday, while the Bengals host the Saints. Right? Fat chance. According to Geoff Hobson, as of Monday morning, the Bengals ticket office isn't expecting the game to be sold out. This would mean, of course, that the only (legal) chance of watching Sunday's game will be at the stadium or a journey outside the 75-mile radius from Paul Brown Stadium. We're actually not sure which is crazier.
The Bengals are sporting an eight-game losing streak, with the chances of actually setting franchise marks for longest losing streak. And we're talking about a team that was once considered the worst franchise in the 90s. In all of professional sports. With Christmas coming up and scarce money amongst blue collar workers being better used for gifts for the kiddies and wife (husband), one doesn't really have to wonder if the stadium will sell out.