Week 16: Bengals @ Dolphins

[HoosierCat]

The final road game of the year send the team south to face the suddenly scrappy Fins, who after starting 1-6 have gone 5-1 and are currently on a 4-game win streak (pending tonight’s game in Pittsburgh, of course). So the Bengals will get them on a short week, which is something, I suppose.

Cincinnati has been eliminated from the playoffs so all they can do now is screw up their draft position. They are currently in the 9th spot. DC and NO share the same 4-10 record but both have weaker schedules, so the Bengals are at the bottom of the pile.

Realistically I would say their floor is about 16, but there are enough teams with fewer than 8 wins that I think the pick 18 booby prize is still mathematically possible. The first overall is also still mathematically possible but practically speaking, fugggedaboutit.

It’s tank time, boys. Don’t screw it up.

[ArmyBengal]

F-I-N-S, FINS, FINS, FINS !!!

Wait is that another teams chant?
Who cares?  It works in my scenario !!

[HoosierCat]

For Miami, I think it's "Go Mighty Blowholes".

[ArmyBengal]

Go Mighty Gloryholes?
Wait, did I read that wrong?

[Stripes]

So. Who've we fired today?

[ArmyBengal]

The assistant to the gloryhole repairman?

[COB]

Steelers are beating the dolphins.   What a year.   We crater.  Our hated rival wins the division.  Burrow gets smashed up then suffers an existential crisis.  Mike just goes on and on.  

[HoosierCat]

One other reason to tank: to get that fourth-place schedule in 2026.

If the season ended today, they would play the 3rd place teams in the AFC East, AFC West, and NFC East, which are currently Miami, Kansas City and DC. By contrast last place nets the Jets, Raiders and Giants. 

I hate rooting for Cleveland, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal.

[ArmyBengal]

1 hour ago, HoosierCat said:

I hate rooting for Cleveland, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal.

Thank you Hoosier.

I will root for all of them, Ravens, Steelers, and Browns without thought. Just lose Bengals.

[HoosierCat]

Brutal but true: the Bengals don't give a shit what we or anyone else thinks.

Quote

Subject: Does Cincinnati Bengals ownership care about fans?

Message: As a Bengals fan since their founding and a former season ticket holder, I keep wondering why I should care when they don't seem to.

Reply: I wonder why you should care, too. Because Bengals ownership does not care about you.

Mike Brown and his family operate in a system where they can do whatever they want without being accountable to anyone. That system allows them to operate in an insular bubble, immune to criticism. It said all you need to know about the Bengals when they were the only franchise to vote against private equity firms being allowed to buy minority stakes in NFL teams last year.

Outsiders' money, voices and opinions aren't welcomed and don't matter to Bengals ownership. That's why they won't hire a general manager and fully staffed scouting department. Ownership thinks it knows best and doesn't want someone coming in and telling Brown and his family to do things differently. Why do you think they always hire career assistants to be head coach instead of an established NFL head coach?

It's the same way the Bengals view criticism from fans and the few journalists in town willing to challenge them. They've never won a Super Bowl and have all-time losing record. Thanks, but Brown and a few others in his small, isolated circle know best and your input isn't needed.

You say you're not renewing seasons tickets after this disastrous season. You write a letter to the editor blasting Bengals ownership. You take to Facebook and tell your friends to also stop buying tickets. You think it'll make an impact and force Brown to change.

Think again.

The Bengals get handed a fat, NFL revenue-sharing check annually – $433 million in 2024 and it'll be more this year – for just being a member of the league. The Bengals get that whether they win every game or go winless. In other words, it's a welfare check from the NFL overlords.

Ownership got handed another sweetheart stadium deal last summer. Taxpayers hardly said a word. And amazingly, some county officials and local media praised the Bengals for their willingness to pay 25% of the Paycor Stadium upgrade costs – because, well, it was more than they paid last time. The bar was that low. The bar is always low for the Bengals, who live by the mantra that it's better to receive than give.

The Bengals have you even when you think you're completely divorced from them and not giving them a dime. You stopped buying tickets. You stopped buying hats and hoodies. You stopped watching them on TV. You stopped listening to their games on the radio. You stopped clicking on their website. Hands completely washed, right?

Well, guess who got a cut off that Coke Zero you bought at UDF in Hyde Park the other day? Or the groceries you bought at Blue Ash Kroger? Or the cheese coneys you inhaled at Clifton Skyline? How about that iced latte you had at Wyoming Community Coffee? Yep, you're helping to fund the Bengals' stadium with the sales tax on every purchase you make, every day across Hamilton County. Brown, his family and their lawyers revel in that.

No wonder the Bengals organization didn't bother to clean the snow and ice off the seats before last Sunday's game. What was the incentive to hire a crew to do that? Most of those seats were already sold whether fans showed up or not. The Bengals announced 64,907 attended. About half that many people were actually there, but it means that many tickets were sold. Thousands of folks paid the Bengals not to show up, like a charitable donation.

Any surprise why the Bengals owner and executives rarely go before the media to answer questions? They don't feel like they owe anyone an explanation for how they operate, even when they're taking millions a year in taxpayer money for the stadium. They don't believe they have to explain why Zac Taylor is returning as head coach and Duke Tobin is coming back as the top player evaluator. The Bengals may be the only billion-dollar mom-and-pop shop in the world.

Does this help put things into perspective as to why the Bengals aren't going to change anything after missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season?

There are no real consequences to the Bengals' bottom line business if running-it-back doesn't work again in 2026 or 2027 or 2028 or beyond. There's no sense of urgency.

Ownership still gets paid.

It still gets its taxpayer-funded stadium upgrades.

And it still doesn't have to care what you or I say.

 

[HoosierCat]

Anyhow, that depressing reminder over, Tua could be riding the pine on Sunday.

Quote

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the man viewed as the franchise savior last year when he signed a four-year, $212 million contract extension, could lose his starting job as soon as Sunday’s 1 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I think the quarterback play last night was not good enough,” coach Mike McDaniel said Tuesday, referring to Monday’s 28-15 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers, “so for me everything is on the table.”

Tagovailoa was 22 of 28 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and one interception against Pittsburgh, but he struggled for the first three quarters. He didn’t put anything together until the fourth quarter, which was desperation time after Miami trailed, 28-3.

McDaniel said he will make the call on whether Tua plays today. If he doesn't it'll be Zach Wilson or Quinn Ewers. No matter, of course, because we all know how gracious the Bengals defense is to journeyman and noobs.

[ArmyBengal]

53 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

Brutal but true: the Bengals don't give a shit what we or anyone else thinks.

 

This is exactly where I find myself at the end of 2025.
I just find it hard to care anymore.  I have no reason to.

It would have been exciting to see the team leave Cincinnati.

[HoosierCat]

And the answer is…Ewers.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47335130/sources-dolphins-bench-tua-tagovailoa-favor-quinn-ewers

350 yards, 5 TDs, no picks, Miami wins 42-6.

[ArmyBengal]

So a late round, rookie QB will be starting against our Bengals Sunday?

I will take the over on your estimates Hoosier !!

Skull drag INCOMING !!!

[TJJackson]

Just lose, baby

[COB]

2 hours ago, HoosierCat said:

Brutal but true: the Bengals don't give a shit what we or anyone else thinks.

 

Mike definitely knows best.  When he does his annual interview or whatever it is, if he gets pressed by questions about football operations, coaching, scouting, etc, he’ll answer the question.  But he always kind of smirks.   Sort of a wry smile.  I always interpret that as “what do I care what fans, who don’t understand the nfl, think?”  His answer is usually that the fans have in a misguided way fallen for an untrue narrative, and he knows better.

[COB]

Fan Duel doesn’t have any numbers up on Ewers yet, so all the Cincy fans who are rushing in their to put their whole account on the over for his yards or tds or whatever, will just have to be patient!

[ArmyBengal]

Being both a Buckeyes and Longhorns fan, I will be interested to see how Ewers does in his first start.

Here's hoping he sets the NFL world on fire Sunday !!!  Don't break the trend now Bengals, just lose.

[COB]

Pretty heavy weekend of tv sports.  Tonight we get a CFP game, Oklahoma vs Alabama, and that strange fight between a YouTuber and Anthony Joshua.  
 

Tomorrow, Saturday, we get a noon CFP game, Miami vs. Texas A&M, should be good.  Irrelevant and can be ignored - Tulane and James Madison find themselves in the deep end of the pool.  NFL on Saturday to save us from CFP blowouts!  Eagles versus Commanders, and the Packers play the Bears. 
 

Sunday a full slate of nfl games including our beloved Bengals.  Mike and family have taken a beating in the press this week, so they’ll welcome a weekend in sunny Miami.  Of particular interest: Steelers play the Lions and the Patriots play the Ravens.  
 

Of local interest: for the first time in a long time, the bengals game will not be aired in the central Ohio market.  We’re getting the Browns/Bills instead.  It’s a sign of the times, I guess.  I’ll likely head over to Columbus to a particular Bengals bar, they always show the games.  I haven’t had to go there in quite some time, a pretty good run by the networks.

Enjoy this pretty great weekend of football, and remember, you think about a lot of things.

Finally - life long boxing fan here.  This Joshua fight is perplexing.  The YouTube guy, Jake Paul, weighed in at 216, AJ weighed 243.  
 

So Paul is fighting a heavyweight.  Why?  AJ is a bit of a last minute replacement for the original opponent.
 

 Paul was supposed to be fighting Tank Davis, a damn good fighter, BUT, Tank Davis fights at lightweight, 135 lbs, and is 5’5”.  Unfortunately Tank is a violent maniac and is getting sued over various violent acts he has perpetrated, and his agent pulled him out of the fight to avoid (allegedly) the bad publicity.  More likely, in my opinion, Tank had time to contemplate the terms of what was being sanctioned not as a true bout but as an exhibition, and decided he couldn’t throw a fight.  

So they somehow were able to get AJ, who normally fights at 250-255 lbs.  

This YouTuber goes from fighting a 5 foot 5 inch lightweight who fights at 135, to fighting a 6 foot 6 inch heavyweight who fights at 250.  

Also trivia of some note: the Tank Davis exhibition fight was originally set to be in Atlanta, but the Georgia boxing commissioner refused to sanction it, calling it, “the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”  
 

The whole card got moved to a Florida, where they not only sanctioned the AJ fight, it’s not an exhibition, it’s an actual boxing match, though in a nod to Jake Paul’s status the fight is not the 12 rounds Joshua (two time world heavyweight champion, and Olympic gold medalist at super heavyweight) normally would fight. It is 8 rounds.

More trivia: Anthony Joshua is 36.  In 2017, he was in a great fight (fight of the year) with Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian world champ.  Joshua beat him.  Klitschko has been serving in the Ukrainian army since the war started, and his brother who was also a world champion heavyweight, Vitali Klitschko, is mayor of the capital city Kiev.

[HoosierCat]

@%&$ Yeah! Bring da Bears to my backyard!

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47340940/bears-again-expand-stadium-search-including-illinois

Hell, let's go all out. Be the next LA or NJ and get both an AFC and NFC team and keep that sports palace full every weekend from August through January. Yes, I'm saying it: Bring the Bears AND the Bengals to Northwest Indiana! 

[ArmyBengal]

Watched the Rams and Seahawks play last night and that was a fun game to watch.
Sam Darnold bitches...

Looking forward to the Alabama vs. Oklahoma game tonight and the Miami vs. Texas A&M game tomorrow.
Tulane and James Madison?  Seriously?  I know the NCAA is trying to make this bigger, but I'm not interested.
If I tune in, it will be hoping to see a monster upset that will likely not come to pass.

The Bengals vs Dolphins?  Probably won't tune in for that and just catch a recap later.
I'd rather untangle Christmas lights that got jacked up in all the high winds last night.

[COB]

30 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

@%&$ Yeah! Bring da Bears to my backyard!

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47340940/bears-again-expand-stadium-search-including-illinois

Hell, let's go all out. Be the next LA or NJ and get both an AFC and NFC team and keep that sports palace full every weekend from August through January. Yes, I'm saying it: Bring the Bears AND the Bengals to Northwest Indiana! 

Why do you want to inflict this franchise on the good people of Chicago?  They’d have to learn a lesson, they don’t know how hard it is to run an nfl franchise (when you try to do it with half the workforce other franchises employ).

[AMPHAR]

On 12/17/2025 at 9:30 AM, HoosierCat said:

Brutal but true: the Bengals don't give a shit what we or anyone else thinks.

 

Did this guy come up the idea the NFL is just trying to sell us food?   

Bitching about the sales tax?  Sure.  What about the increased sales tax revenue the events provide?  OMG, Bengals make money and lots of it.  Cry, Cry, Cry.

 

 

[AMPHAR]

11 minutes ago, COB said:

Why do you want to inflict this franchise on the good people of Chicago?  They’d have to learn a lesson, they don’t know how hard it is to run an nfl franchise (when you try to do it with half the workforce other franchises employ).

Enjoy NFL football how you like.  Its like your mad because 100% of NFL fans don't all cry on a message board.  

[HoosierCat]

24 minutes ago, COB said:

Why do you want to inflict this franchise on the good people of Chicago?  They’d have to learn a lesson, they don’t know how hard it is to run an nfl franchise (when you try to do it with half the workforce other franchises employ).

Oh, they already know. Bears fans hate the McCaskey's as much as Bengals fans hate the Browns. Cheap, incompetent, mom 'n' pop operators, the whole deal. You could take whole threads from a Bears forum, change the team and ownership names, post it on a Bengals board and no one would bat an eye. Double the misery would be twice the fun!