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Comparing Bengals' first two games of 2014 to first two games of 2015

How does the Bengals' great start in 2015 compare to how they played in for the first two weeks in 2014?

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Rewind back to late September, 2014.

The Bengals defeated a good Ravens’ team in Baltimore 23-16 in Week 1, and easily trampled over a Falcons team with a 24-10 win in Week 2, who at the time, many expected to be playoff bound.

Through those two games, the Bengals held a +5 turnover margin (5 takeaways, 0 giveaways).

Andy Dalton was playing very efficiently in Hue Jackson’s offense, and had thrown for 553 yards with a pair of touchdowns, and just as important, no interceptions.

Now let’s fast forward to late September, 2015.

The Bengals have just destroyed a nominal Raiders team 33-13 on the road, and got past a solid Chargers team at home with a 24-19 win.

After these two games, the Bengals again hold a positive turnover margin, and again had had five defensive takeaways. This year the Bengals are +3 (5 takeaways, 2 giveaways).

And again, Andy Dalton was playing very well in Hue Jackson’s offense after two games. He has thrown for 483 yards with five touchdowns, and again – no interceptions.

Both the 2014 season and the 2015 season held very similar starts for the Bengals.

+ Winning the turnover battle
+ Very good play by Andy Dalton
+ Successful 2-0 start

So how did 2014 play out after the 2-0 start?

The Bengals destroyed a bad Titans team at home 33-7 to jump up 3-0 and began to receive a lot of positive comments from the national media for their solid start.

Unfortunately that great 3-0 start was brought to an abrupt halt by road losses to a pair of very good teams, the Patriots and Colts. Then came a surprising tie at home to a mediocre Panthers team. That great 2-0 start quickly turned into 3-2-1.

So how will 2015 play out for the Bengals after another 2-0 start?

After this week's game at Baltimore, the Bengals play at home against Kansas City and then Seattle before traveling to Buffalo for a game against the Bills. They then have their Week 7 bye. The Bengals have started strong in back to back years, but can they continue stronger this year than they did in 2014?