Bengals Stock Report: The season is merry and bright after Buccaneers game
Many families have their own unique holiday traditions.
The Costanza family, for example, pulls out an aluminum pole, airs their family grievances and concludes their Festivus holiday with the feats of strength. One of our family’s traditions is watching the Christmas movie classic, Die Hard. It’s the age-old holiday tale of a man doing whatever is necessary to get home to his family in time for Christmas.
Like the film’s hero, John McClane, who battles hard despite the almost insurmountable circumstances, these 2022 Bengals are Die Hard. This past Sunday, the Bengals found themselves in McClane’s shoes. Away from home. In an unfamiliar building. Backs against the wall. Wounded. Short on ammunition. The bad guys with the upper hand. The odds stacked against them. They trailed 17-0 to the Greatest of All Time, Tom Brady, at his place. Brady had a record of 89-0 when leading by 17 or more points at home.
Channeling McClane’s spirit, the men in orange and black remained resilient and fought back. Like “a fly in the ointment,” the Bengals became an irritant, chiseling away at the Buccaneers’ lead and eventually spoiling their success. The Bengals scored 34 unanswered points to emerge with a Die Hard equivalent comeback victory.
Now, Brady is 89-1 in those circumstances. In the process, the GOAT seemed to bear witness to his second coming. That evening in Tampa felt, in some ways, like the passing of the torch from the greatest player of all time to the one who may become the greatest of his generation. But this Bengals team is about much more than Joe Burrow. This is a complete team.
Stock Up:
Zac Taylor. It’s time to give Taylor his due. He’s created the culture that has allowed this young team to develop and flourish. Players are stepping up at all levels of this roster and making plays when called upon. That’s a credit to the head coach, who ensures he and his coaching staff prepare the players appropriately and put them in a position to succeed.
Taylor has given Burrow the autonomy to make calls, try things and maximize his potential. This team is selfless, seemingly unbothered by who gets the credit as long as the team wins. That’s hard to do in a locker room of professional athletes whose paychecks are greatly dependent on their individual success. That attitude is a reflection of Taylor.
When the team started 0-2, Taylor didn’t flinch. He projected confidence in his team, inspiring them to right the ship. Look at them now. Taylor had six wins in his first two years combined. Now, he has 10 wins in back-to-back seasons. Coach of the Year conversations should include Taylor’s name.
Lou Anarumo. I’m going to say it: Anarumo is the best defensive coordinator in the league. The case study of how his defense has consistently confused Patrick Mahomes is well documented and noteworthy.
But his unit’s second half performance against Tampa Bay may be his masterpiece. Consider that the Bengals were down both starting edge rushers, Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard; down two starting cornerbacks, Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton; starting three rookies including two who were seeing their first significant action of the season; and they were matched up against the greatest quarterback in the history of this league while trialing 17 points on the road. Brady was almost flawless in the first half, primarily because he had little pressure in his face.
That’s when Anarumo resorted to his superpower: making adjustments at half time. In the second half, Anarumo either showed or brought the pressure on each series, resulting in four straight Tampa possessions ending in a turnover for Cincinnati. Ball game. Anarumo’s defense staged a historic comeback against Brady with a group of second and third stringers playing significant roles. Other defensive coordinators get more national attention, but there is no one better in the league at adapting in-game and no one in this league that gets more out of his players than Anarumo.
Who-Dey Nation. I was there in Tampa Bay for the Bucs game. I wouldn’t classify that as an away game. The Bengals denizens descended upon Tampa in big numbers and nearly turned Raymond James Stadium into Paycor South. As the comeback momentum built in the second half, the chants of “Who-Dey?!” were loud and plentiful to the point that Bengals players were motioning to the crowd to quiet down when the team was on offense.
The celebration in the bowels of Raymond James post-game was large and jubilant. A fan base that had toiled for decades in failure and, at best, mediocrity has become drunk in the joy of relevance and possibility. The Who-Dey loyalists who stayed with this team through thick and thin appreciate wins and seasons like this so much more.
And the bandwagon is growing. I sat by two young kids who became fans of the Bengals by themselves, maybe even against the best wishes of their fathers who were fans of other teams. But these Bengals are cool and these kids want to be part of something cool. The more, the merrier in my opinion. Welcome to Who-Dey Nation!
Stock Down:
The Baltimore Ravens winning the North. In early November, the Ravens were alone in first place in the division and had the NFL’s easiest remaining schedule based on strength of schedule. The Bengals? They had the league’s second toughest remaining schedule. The Ravens were clearly in the driver’s seat to a division title and home playoff game.
After the Cleveland Browns defeated the Ravens on Saturday and the Bengals followed that up with a victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Bengals now lead the AFC North by one game with three games remaining. The season finale will see the Ravens come to Cincinnati for what is likely setting up to be a Division Championship game.
Your plans in January. Keep your January weekends open. FiveThirtyEight modeling now has the Bengals’ chances of making the playoffs at greater than 99%. In college football playoff terms, these Bengals have a lot of “quality wins.” Seven of the Bengals’ 10 wins have come over possible playoff teams, which demonstrates their ability to compete against the league’s best. They have now won six straight football games. This is a team that’s showing a lot of signs of sticking around in the post season for multiple weeks. So keep early February open too while you’re at it.
Back to Tampa. On his podcast this week, Tom Brady had described the Bengals defense as “fairly tough.” That phrase did not go unnoticed by Bengals defenders. Like John McClane at the end of Die Hard, the Bengals defense limped off the field, banged up and hurting from multiple injuries but with a sarcastic smirk on their faces. Multiple Bengals defenders reiterated in the post-game interviews some variation of “We are a ‘fairly tough’ defense.” Through their comments, you could almost feel the spirit of McClane telling Hans Gruber “Yippee Ki-Yay (you know the rest)!” Who-Dey?!
Jon Bunch is an avid life-long Bengals fanatic. Raised in the 740. West Pointer, Army and Iraq War veteran. Passionate evangelist of the Who-Dey spirit. @WhoDeyBunch
