Bengals or Bungles? Who Really Knows?

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We're four weeks into the Bengals season. This season had some of us lifelong Bengals feeling, once again, as if we actually might have a chance to contend. After the heartbreaking loss to a Denver team we were supposed to beat; on a fluke tipped ball, many of us thought "Here we go again." No team in the history of the NFL can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the Cincinnati Bengals. But, the next week we beat a team we're not supposed to beat. And, the next week, we go toe-to-toe with the world champion Steelers and take them down.

Yesterday, it was the lowly Cleveland Clowns. They've been kicked around by everybody lately. Bengals fans were saying the right things. "Gotta watch out for them. They're a dangerous team." All that stuff. But, in our heart of hearts, we just knew we'd get the victory. We came out of the gate looking great. Up 14-0 and on the way to cruising to an easy win. But, wait, of that 14 points, 7 were scored by the defense. The offense started off dominant. But, then they decided to take of 2-1/2 quarters of the game doing nothing from the end of the first quarter until the end of the fourth. A missed extra point, a missed chip shot field goal and we're in overtime with the Browns.

Once again though, the new Cardiac Kids managed to pull out a win. So, we sit on top of the division after four weeks, one fluke play from being 4-0. But, as a Bengals fan even though "they" say it doesn't matter how you win, we all know we're literally three plays (one play in each victory) from being 0-4. We know we can play up to the level of a Green Bay or a Pittsburgh. But, we can play down to the level of a Cleveland. Four games into the season and I can't decide if this team is really good, really bad or mediocre. But, for a Bengals fan, that is a good thing. 3-1 is a good feeling, no matter how we got there.