Andrew Whitworth: Bengals need more swagger

Could 'swagger' be the missing ingredient to make the Bengals a true Super Bowl contender?

They've certainly shown the potential to contend for a Super Bowl every year during their four straight playoff berths. The confidence this team plays with at times makes them look like they can go toe-to-toe with anyone. At other times though, the Bengals look like a team that doesn't fully believe in itself, especially on offense.

Having more confidence and 'swagger' is something left tackle Andrew Whitworth knows this team needs more of. He singled out new intern former receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh as someone who defines swagger, and who can teach the current Bengals players about embracing it.

"That kind of confidence and attitude is something that would be good for our offense," Whitworth said, via Bengals.com. "We need some of what these young kids call swagger. We need some of that ability to have a confidence in us no matter who you are or where you’re from or how good a team we’re playing…we’re really good. And we’re going to bring it. We need a little bit of that attitude."

Having swagger means an athlete would be very confident and maybe even arrogant in their confidence. The Bengals showed flashes of this in 2014, particularly in wins at Baltimore, New Orleans and against Denver. Other times, they looked scared out of their cleats, especially in Indianapolis and New England.

Houshmanzadeh was the kind of guy who never backed down and always believed he could thrive against whoever was covering him.That's the kind of mentality every guy on offense needs to have for this team to take the next step and start winning in the playoffs.