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

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?