Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati, Ohio is home for the Bengals, a professional NFL team. They are members of the American Football Conference’s North Division. They have been an established team since 1968, which was their very first season with the American Football League franchise, before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The Cincinnati Bengals currently play their home games at the Paul Brown Stadium, which is located in downtown Cincinnati, OH. They have had a long rivalry against another Ohio team, the Cleveland Browns.

Here are some interesting facts about the Cincinnati Bengals:

• They’ve won two Conference Championships with the AFC in 1981 and 1988; six Division Champion ships, five with AFC Central in 1970, 1973, 1981, 1988, and 1990, as well as one AFC North championship in 2005.
• The Bengals have had eight NFL Playoff appearances in 1970, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1990, and 2005.
• They are owned by Mike Brown, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Brown (the namesake of their stadium), and have Marvin Lewis as Head Coach.
• Their current team colors, of course are “bengal tiger stripe” colors; white, black, and orange. Their original colors when they debuted in 1968, were similar to the Cleveland Brown uniforms.
• The current quarterbacks for the Cincinnati Bengals are: #11 Ryan Fitzpatrick, #9 Carson Palmer, and #5 Jordan Palmer.
• The Bengals made it to the Super Bowl twice in the 1980’s, and lost both times to the SF 49’ers.

Despite never winning the Super Bowl, the Bengals have still contributed to the NFL legacy. In 1988, former head coach Sam Wyche and offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, made it a trend to use a No Huddle Offense regardless of the time remaining on the clock. They kept the pace of each play set-up quick, which didn’t give the defense anytime at all to prepare or change players, causing them to become increasingly tired during the game. In response to this, the NFL made a rule that defense would be allowed more time to substitute their players every time the offense did.

Former head coach and owner of the Bengals, whom their stadium is named after, Paul Brown, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Wide receiver Charlie Joiner and offensive lineman Anthony Munoz are as well. Paul Brown has also been named as Coach of the Year in both 1969 and 1970, and Forrest Gregg received that title in 1981. Two Bengals players have also been named NFL’s MVP’s, Ken Anderson in 1981 and Boomer Esiason in 1988.