Nickname For The Bengals This Year: The Season Of Broken Losing Streaks

At first it was the Cincinnati Bengals beating the Buffalo Bills for the first time in over 20 years, snapping a ten-game losing streak that began after Cincinnati's AFC Championship victory in 1988. The same Buffalo Bills team that Cincinnati defeated in week four handed losses to the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders and The Nightmare Dream Team.

Cincinnati's 30-20 win over the Jaguars on Sunday snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Jaguars during games played in Jacksonville with the last win coming on November 26, 1995 in a 17-13 effort, despite Jeff Blake's three interceptions; Dan Wilkinson posted two quarterback sacks that afternoon. Down by three points with 3:19 left in the game, Jeff Blake engineered a 13-play, 88-yard drive that was capped with a five-yard touchdown pass to Carl Pickens with only 21 seconds. remaining.

That's two losing streaks broken. And another coming this weekend.

The Cincinnati Bengals have never beaten a Peyton Manning led Indianapolis Colts squad. Considering that Manning won't be playing this weekend when the Bengals host the Colts on October 16, it's unlikely that particular streak will be satisfied. However, overall, the Bengals have lost seven straight to the Colts, with their last win coming on November 9, 1997. Cincinnati scored 14 third quarter points to win the game 28-13.

Boomer Esiason replaced Jeff Blake in the third quarter and completed seven of 10 passes for 82 yards passing and two touchdowns in the game. Former NFL greats like Marshall Faulk (151 yards from scrimmage) and Marvin Harrison played (eight receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown) played in the game.

Since this season can be dubbed the season of broken streaks, it just makes sense that the Bengals add to their reputation by breaking another this weekend.