Bengals News (2/6): For Harambe

Hobson's Choice: Super Bowl Edition
Free agency will always come down to the number of beans on the table and opportunity on the depth chart. But one of the things that has flown under the radar this year and is just beginning to get noticed by the national media is how attractive head coach Zac Taylor makes things here in Cincinnati. The players like each other. The team likes itself.

Photo Gallery | Bengals Super Bowl LVI Uniforms
The Bengals are scheduled to wear black jerseys, white pants (orange stripes) and orange socks in Super Bowl LVI against the L.A. Rams. Check out the players' media day shoot for Super bowl LVI. Presented by Fifth Third Bank.

Samaje Perine and Drew Sample spoke with the media after the last practice in Ohio before Super Bowl LVI
The Rams have superstars scattered all over the field. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr., on offense with defensive tackle Aaron Donald, linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Jalen Ramsey on defense. And the Bengals are ready to take on the stout lineup.

Bengals Hold Last Practice Before Heading To Super Bowl LVI
The Bengals held what is expected to be their last practice in Cincinnati Saturday before Tuesday's departure for Los Angeles and a week of workouts at UCLA culminating in Super Bowl LVI against the Rams.

Super Bowl secret weapon: The Bengals' viral sensation 'The Cart' is headed to Los Angeles
The contraption was initially used by the Bengals to conduct interviews outdoors as a result of Covid-19 restrictions with journalists placing microphones, recorders or phones on the cart.

Can New York Jets copy-cat Bengals' rise? Robert Saleh preaches patience
What the Bengals have accomplished in such a short time is not the norm. They’re an outlier, a way-outlier -- a 125-to-1 shot in the preseason to reach the Super Bowl, according to sportsoddshistory.com. They’re only the third team to go from the worst record to the Super Bowl in a two-year span, and their 2020 win total matches the fewest victories in the year prior to winning a conference championship.

This Bengals run mirrors the 2001-02 Patriots' journey in many ways
New England entered that season with +6000 odds to win the Super Bowl, which was the seventh-lowest in the NFL, and a win total over-under of 6.5. Cincinnati entered this season with even-worse odds, at +15000, which was the third-lowest in the league, and a win total over-under of 6.5 as well.

'He's as tough as it comes' - Why the Bengals' Joe Burrow plays QB like a linebacker
Well, it was really through tackling. In a 2014 Ohio state championship game, Burrow was playing for Athens High School as a defensive back, trying to stop Toledo Central Catholic and running back Michael Warren II from scoring the game-winning touchdown.

KC Chiefs fans need to end the conspiracy talk and give the Bengals credit
If you feel targeted by the previous statement, hold onto your tinfoil hat. Here comes a swift breeze of reality: the Bengals deserve credit for their victory in the AFC Championship game. This is by no means a proclamation against the fact that an 18-point lead eluded the Chiefs at home in the biggest moment of the season. It will not be a “Rah-Rah” speech about how great the season was. And it certainly is not going to be fun to write. It will be, however, a stark opposition to the perspective that the Chiefs lost on purpose.

How Cincinnati Bengals Tee Higgins Made it to Super Bowl LVI in Photos
After claiming their third-ever AFC crown on Sunday with a 27-24 win over the Chiefs in the conference championship game, the Bengals now travel to Los Angeles for a Feb. 13 matchup against the LA Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

Harambe has entered the Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl conversation
Appearing on the “Pardon My Take” podcast ahead of Super Bowl LVI, Hubbard fielded a question about Harambe and said the following: “That’s our guy. That’s our hero. I think that’s known. It kind of goes without saying. We’re doing this for him.”

Around the league

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: Results of efforts to promote diversity within head coaches 'unacceptable'
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a memo Saturday morning to all 32 teams in which he said "we must acknowledge" that the results of their efforts to promote diversity with respect to head coaches "have been unacceptable."

2022 NFL head coach hires: Exploring the results of another cycle marred by diversity issues
Plenty of time and brainpower have been spent formulating ways to improve the chances for more minorities to join the head-coaching ranks, and there was some optimism in the first few days after the 2021 regular season ended that all of the league office's re-engineering of the system would pay off. Teams were taking more time with their searches -- the first hire was not made until 18 days after the regular season ended -- and bringing in more candidates. Multiple highly-qualified minority candidates were being interviewed, with more in the pipeline coming up behind them. Two more Black general managers were hired in Chicago (Ryan Poles) and Minnesota (Kwesi Adofo-Mensah), bringing the total to seven Black GMs (the most since 2016), important diversity in the job that usually advises owners most closely on football matters. Those were all, inarguably, positive developments.

Trevor Lawrence 'really relieved' by Jaguars' hire of former NFL QB Doug Pederson: 'Everybody's excited'
For nearly two months, Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars were without a head coach. Urban Meyer was fired on Dec. 16 with four weeks to go in the season, giving Jacksonville a seeming head start on other clubs to locate its next leader.

Jimmy Garoppolo trade destinations: Five best fits for the 49ers quarterback
The abrupt end to the San Francisco 49ers' Cinderella story -- losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game -- has officially kicked off one of the most intriguing storylines of the offseason. Despite Jimmy Garoppolo's overwhelming success as the team's starting quarterback, he is expected to be traded this offseason.