Who cares who we beat?

[derekshank]

The vast majority of the analyists are giving the Bengals love right now, but I still hear lots of "buts" after the compliments. Other analysts are just flat out saying we are not as good as we look. All of the excuses that have been thrown at us have to do with the teams we have beaten.

Well, I for one don't care. No one is saying anything negative about the Colts defense, because they are holding teams to 5.3 points/game. Well, the Bengals are in 2nd place in that stat, holding teams to 9.3 points/game... and we have played better offenses all around.

The offenses the Colts have played are averaging an average of 13.9 points/game, whereas the offenses we've played are averaging 16.7 points/game. And of the two defenses, we are allowing 12 fewer yards per game. So the argument can be made that we are playing better offenses than the Colts.

On the offensive side of the ball, the defenses the Bengals and Colts have played have been almost identical, allowing almost exactly an average of 20 points/game each. However, the Bengals are scoring 29.3 points/game, whereas the Colts are scoring 15.7 points/game.

So the Colts offense is actually scoring less than the other teams in the NFL on those opposing defenses. The Bengals on the other hand are scoring much more.

I'm not really trying to prove here that the Bengals are better than the Colts. What I am trying to prove is that the Colts get a free pass, and are anointed the next superbowl champions, while the Bengals are viewed as an anomaly because of the teams they have played. I guess I just don't get it. It's not our fault that the scheduling has been this way.

If we have played bad teams, then we have done everything asked of us, beating them by the largest margin of victory in the entire NFL (+20 point differential). The next 3 teams we face are the Texans, Jags, and Titans. After 6 weeks, people will still be able to say we haven't faced a good team. We will have to beat the Steelers going 7-0 before people stop making excuses.

Oh well, I'll enjoy our undefeated season as long as it takes before we make believers out of the John Claytons and Shannon Sharpes of the world.

[TJJackson]

Sorry dude

When you've been a bad team for a as long as the Bengals have been, you have a lot to prove.

When you've been as good as the Colts have been the past few years, excepting performances against the Patriots, you're going to get the benefit of the doubt.

This is normal, natural, nothing to complain about. In fact - it's a good thing. It helps keep us "under the radar", ie not every player we face will take us seriously because our only wins have been "against bad teams".

Let's win a few playoff games before we expect anyone to take us seriously. The Pittsburgh game (assuming we win, which is a very very VERY big "if") might not even do it for us because in the last couple of 8-8 years, we have beaten some very good teams - the previously undefeated Chiefs two years ago (thank you, Peter Warrick) and the Ravens in Baltimore last year. Quality wins like these earn you some attention/praise for a week, but playoff victories earn you some lasting notice and acknowlegement.

So anyway....stop whining about respect. We're still in the process of earning it.

[derekshank]

I'm not whining about not getting respect... i'm just tired of double standards. We've done more than the Colts at this stage of the season. How much can you really know? For instance, people talking about the Patriots dynasty dying, after a week 2 loss? Idiotic!

We are no longer under the radar, so we can't act like it is okay that people still want to view us as a fluke. More than anything, I just think it is ignorant. I don't really care if Shannon Sharpe doesn't like the Bengals, it only shows his own ignorance. However, the more people criticize us, the more the Bengals players will feel they still have something to prove... so I'm okay with that.

If we beat the Steelers to go 7-0, we will be viewed as the best team in the NFL. No doubt. A lot of people already have us in the top 3... so you're right. We'll get the respect we deserve, we just have to do more than teams like the Colts to get it.

[Kazkal]

If i'm not mistaken a problem of the past was losing games were suppossed to win,now were winning games were suppossed...no one can take away from teams we faced anyways.look who steelers won agaist texans and titans? then lost vs the patriots... Bengals have beat browns on their turf (browns are very underrated this year IMO they held manning and colts to 13pts on their home then beat the packers @ their home when they were retiring reggies jersey....Vikings were suppossed to be back to the people eaters but we tore em apart...bears have a top 10 defense with solid running game what is the steelers and ravens? awesome defenses with a good running game.

[Benzoo]

The way I see it, they've got plenty of tough games ahead of them, and if they can win a few, no one will say anything about a weak schedule.

They still have to face Chiefs, Steelers(2X), and the Colts.

The Ravens have been sputtering, but they're a tough division rival, so I'll include those games as well.

Oh yeah, and for some reason, people see Jacksonville as an en vogue team as well.