Cincinnati Bengals

 

The Cincinnati Bengals were first established as an American Football League team in 1968, but joined the NFL in 1970. They currently play in the North Division, part of the AFC. The team is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they also play all of their home games; they use the Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals team colors are Black, Orange, and White, all three colors represent their team name pretty well. Their mascot, as obvious as it is, is a Bengal tiger. The Bengals have an interesting history, as they have had many ups and downs during their football career.

 

Bengals Brief Team History

The Bengals franchise name is from a previous team with the same name, which played from 1937 to 1941. The team was first owned by Art Modell, who purchased it in 1961. The head coach of the Bengals previous to Modell’s takeover was Pal Brown. There was a lot of controversy since Modell fired Brown in 1963, naming his then assistant coach to become head coach. Modell continued to own and manage the Cleveland Browns, with a few problems along the way like player contract battles and unsatisfactory stadium quality. Once Modell left the Bengals for the Browns, former head coach Paul Brown decided to start his own AFL team, and he established the now Cincinnati Bengals in 1967. Many people believe he named this new team just like the old one to spite Modell. This spurred a highly competitive rivalry between Modell and Brown.

The Bengals first started playing in the Nippert Stadium until 1969 when they started sharing their home game stadium with the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium. In 2000, the Bengals finally got their own stadium, the Paul Brown Stadium in memory of the founder and owner. They haven’t had much success, other than winning seven Division titles, two Conference titles, and appearing multiple times in the playoffs.

 

Notable Bengals Figures

With so much controversy surrounding their past, they were able to acquire several great members, and even today there are a few that have a big impact on the overall performance of the team.

 

Past Bengals Figures

 

Sam Wyche was the Bengals head coach from 1984 until 1991. His greatest achievement was not only leading the Bengals to their second Super Bowl, but also setting a standard for other NFL teams. He, along with offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, were responsible for creating the now commonly-used No-Huddle Offense. They used this tactic in order to catch their opponent’s defense off guard and take advantage of the surprise.

 

Bill Walsh was the assistant coach, under Paul Brown, that was able to come up with an amazing offensive strategy that is now known as the West Coast Offense. He came up with the high-percentage passing strategy that would make some of the Bengals QB’s much more efficient at their passing.

 

Ken Anderson was the starting Quarterback for the Bengals from 1971 until he retired in 1986 and became a coach. He was an impressive quarterback that took the West Coast Offense strategy seriously and along with it won various awards including NFL MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1981. He went on to lead the NFL in passing yards in 1974 and 1975.

 

Present Bengals Figures

 

BenJarvus Green-Ellis is a Running Back for the Bengals, but he used to play for the Patriots. In his short career with the Bengals, as he just started during the 2012 season, he has been showing impressive results. He has more than triple the rushing yards that his fellow RB’s do, which shows that they depend a lot on BenJarvus.

 

A.J. Green has been a Bengal Wide Receiver since they drafted him in 2011. During his rookie year he managed to catch for more than 1,000 yards, and during the 2012 season he is already posting incredible numbers. He is definitely one member of the Bengal offense that cannot be overlooked. Imagine what he will accomplish with a few more years of experience.

 

Geno Atkins defensive tackle and Michael Johnson defensive end for the Bengals defense are also important if they want to start winning games. These two players do an excellent job of complimenting each other on the field. They have incredible insight on the offensive plays and are able to counter anything that is thrown at them; including taking down the quarterback quite regularly.

 

Present Team Personnel

The current owner and president of the Cincinnati Bengals is a great man by the name of Mike Brown. He is the son of Paul Brown, who had initially co-founded the Bengals in the first place. Mike Brown practically does everything, since he is also the general manager of the team. The head coach of the Bengals is Marvin Lewis, and he started with the team in 2003. He has had a lot of experience being a linebacker coach and defensive coordinator; these two aspects should greatly help the Bengals in their future games.