In 1966 the American Football League agreed to a merger with the National Football League that would take place in 1970. There was only one hang-up. The AFL needed one more team so there would be an equal number of teams in both conferences. Luckily, a solution was not hard to find. Paul Brown was looking to start a professional franchise in Cincinnati, Oh. In 1967 the Bengals were born and began play in the AFL in 1968.
Although the first season ended with a dismal 3-11 record, they did have the rookie of the year in Paul Robinson. With the 1970 merger came a new stadium for the Bengals; Riverfront Stadium which they shared with the city’s baseball franchise. The Bengals would do fairly well throughout the 70’s reaching the playoffs three times, but, unfortunately, would not win any of those contests.
The 1980s would be even better for the team. In 1981 they went to the Super Bowl but lost to the San Fransisco 49ers. Later in the decade, 1987, Quarterback Boomer Esiason and head coach Sam Wyche began a very public feud, which had a massive negative impact on the team leading to a 4-11 record. So no one expected what would happen the very next season after the two patched things up. 1988 would see the Bengals go on an absolute tear. With offensive weapons like Esiason, Tim McGee, and Ickey Woods, the Bengals appeared unstoppable.
Many fans will remember this as the year the Ickey Shuffle became popular. The Bengals could be stopped, however. In a Super Bowl rematch with the 49ers, they would once again come up short. The Bengals went back to the playoffs in 1990, but in the off-season, owner Paul Brown, who managed much of the teams day to day operations, passed away. This rocked the Bengals like nothing else could and they went into a 14-year dive.
In 2003 Marvin Lewis was named the new head coach of the team. In 2005 with his young star quarterback Carson Palmer, the Bengals were back in the playoffs. They would repeat that success in 2009, but following a well below .500 year in 2010, Palmer demanded to be traded. There was quite a bit of fighting over the issue, but the Bengals eventually granted him his wish.
In hindsight, they are probably happy they did. With the new combination of A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, the team went to the playoffs five years in a row. During the 2015 campaign, Dalton had been injured and the Bengals only made it to the wild card. It seems the injury bug would not stop biting in the years that followed.
2016, ’17, and ’18 were all losing efforts with multiple injuries to key players. The Bengals decided a new coach could right the ship and brought in Zac Taylor. The first two years under Taylor were rocky, but in 2021 the Bengals were back in form and back in the Super Bowl. In 2022 they made it to their second straight AFC championship game.
The Cincinnati Bengals look to capitalize on their recent success, and the best place to see them do just that is NFL Webcast! Here you will receive four HD streams for every game of the season for free. You can watch on any device, anywhere in the world. No blackouts or expensive sports packages to buy.
Bengals fans have much to be proud of with 16 playoff appearances, 11 division championships, and three conference championships. Join us in the chat and show your Bengal Pride! Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals? NOBODY!!