Bengals: Good, Bad and the Ugly

     The Cincinnati Bengals are 4-2 after Week 6 of the NFL season and in sole possession of First Place in the AFC North. This team has been the prime example of non-consistency, they comeback to beat the Packers then don't score a TD against the Browns. Then they hold Tom Brady without a TD pass for the first time in 52 games followed by  blowing a 14 point 4th quarter lead with a practice squad QB at the helm.
Yet this team finds itself at 4-2? It is because of the immense talent on this team, top to bottom, offensively and defensively this is a top 3 team in the NFL. A secondary wide receiver has emerged in Marvin Jones, Giovani Bernard has been everything he was hyped up to be.

        Geno Atkins continues his interior domination while Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap have had great years. Maulauluga seems to have improved from his terrible 2012, Vontaze Burfict leads the NFL in tackles. Terrence Newman has been playing out of his shoes. Aj Green is just being Aj Green. 

        However the one weak link is Andy Dalton, now I don't harp on him as much as others but he needs to find a much more consistent form. In the last two weeks he has thrown interceptions that make you want to throw rocks at the television. But then he will make a great play in the pocket get first downs, make beautiful throws. He is too inconsistent to run anything other than a west coast offense. Short quick passes is the road to success with this team, yet could you imagine if the Bengals had a Kenny Anderson or a Boomer Esiason throwing the ball with the talent around him. Cincinnati would easily be the #1 contender to the Broncos if not better than them. However Andy Dalton will have to suffice, he can win a Super Bowl, he is the winningest QB in bengals history with at least 16 starts. Joe Flacco is not that special yet he pushed his team to the Super Bowl. 

      The Bengals have the talent to win it all, now they just need to find the consistency, they have an extremely favorable schedule ahead. Which includes the Jets,Browns,Vikings, Steelers, Chargers, Dolphins and the Lions. The closest thing to an elite team they face is the Colts and the Ravens. Both of which are beatable teams. I see the Bengals finishing 12-4 with a division championship and a first round bye. However if the inconsistent ways continue they will be a 10-6 wildcard team, and if they want to win a playoff game another away bout in the Wildcard round isn't the way to go.