Hard Knocks history favors Bengals over Falcons

Other than beating the Ravens, the best thing to happen to the Bengals in Week 1 came when the Falcons beat the Saints in overtime, 37-34. That meant Atlanta would travel to Cincinnati with a 10-record, but history suggests they'll leave 1-1.

The Falcons were part of this year's "Hard Knocks" series on HBO. Twice, Cincinnati was part of the show, and twice they started those season 1-1.

In fact, in the nine seasons that show has run, only one team featured on it has ever started their season 2-0. The 2008 Cowboys are the only team that started 2-0.

The 2001 Ravens, 2002 Cowboys, 2009 and 2013 Bengals, 2010 Jets and 2012 Dolphins all started their seasons 1-1. The 2007 Chiefs started 0-2. That's eight of nine teams going no better than 1-1 in their first two games.

Just food for thought.