Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The 2012 Cincinnati Bengals went 10-6 and frankly they could be even better than last year especially with teams like division rivals Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers potentially having down turns due to key retirements and cuts to make cap space for each team. Also the Cleveland Browns won’t be quite there yet.
Besides their divisional rivals that very realistically could give the Bengals six wins, they play the AFC East this year and have the New England Patriots and New York Jets at home which could be two more wins as the Jets are in a downward spiral and who knows which Patriots team the Bengals will get including a possibly declining Tom Brady. The Bengals could have the hottest season ticket in the NFL, if I lived in Cincinnati, and I had the means, I would buy them in a heart beat.
This Bengals Defense is young and hungry to say the least, and not to mention their offense isn’t bad either with quarterback Andy Dalton, running back BenJarvis Green-Ellis, and wide receiver A.J. Green. However, the scariest thought with this Bengals franchise is they are dead last in salary spending and will have to be aggressive either this off-season or next year’s, or both considering they are about $50 million under the salary cap, and they are well below the newly implemented salary floor. I’m not predicting a 2013 or a 2014 Super Bowl appearance, however, I wouldn’t be surprised either.
Thanks for reading! If you want to discuss anything sports related, I’m on twitter @TheProfessorSD, Google+, and Facebook. Have a great day!
