Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Bengals currently conduct summer training camp at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky and play home games at Paul Brown Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati.

The team was founded by Paul Brown, who has previously founded and coached the Cleveland Browns in 1946. The Bengals began as an American Football League franchise in 1968 before joining the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970. The Bengals have played their home games at Paul Brown Stadium since moving from Riverfront Stadium after the 1999 season.

The Bengals would reach the Super Bowl in 1982 and 1989, losing both times to the San Francisco 49ers. After making the playoffs in 1990, the Bengals would record 14 straight non-winning seasons. In 2003, The Bengals hired Marvin Lewis as head coach and drafted quarterback Carson Palmer in hopes of turning the team around. The Bengals won the AFC North in 2005, posting their first winning season and playoff appearance since 1990. The Bengals would lose their first round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after Carson Palmer was injured on the Bengals second offensive play.

In 2010, the Bengals opened the preseason by playing the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on NBC. The team was matched up against the Dallas Cowboys, the old team of new wide receiver Terrell Owens. Owens, who had signed with the Bengals in the summer of 2010, made two catches for 18 yards during the game. The Cowboys won by a score of 16 to 7. The contest was the most watched Hall of Fame Game in 11 years.http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports-sentinel-sports-now/2010/08/11/terrell-owens-and-chad-ochocinco-ratings-gold-for-nbc/

At the end of the team's summer practice season, Owens caught a touchdown strike from quarterback Carson Palmer. Commenting on Owens' ability to learn the new offense, Palmer praised his work ethic, saying "He's way farther ahead than I would have expected him coming in...He's extremely smart, he works hard at it. He's very frustrated with himself if he makes a mistake. I like seeing that. But he doesn't make the same mistake twice. That says a lot for the way he works."http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Thursday-update--Carson-TO-act-closes-Geathers-sidelined-Bryant-confident-Nugent-back/2a9db30b-4e2c-4eda-badf-58da4bb98dbc

In 2009 The Cincinnati Bengals went 10-6 and won the AFC North. Their losses were to the Denver Broncos in week one at home, the Houston Texans in week six at home, the Oakland Raiders in week eleven in Oakland, the Minnesota Vikings in week 14 in Minnesota, the San Diego Chargers in week 15 in San Diego, and to the New York Jets in week 17 which was the last regular season game at old Giants Stadium. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cin/2009.htm

In is that loss to the New York Jets that was the Achilles heel of the Bengals’ 2009 season. In the final week of the 2009 regular season the Bengals traveled to New York to take on the New York Jets. The Bengals had won the AFC North division crown in week 16 so they may not have put up their best effort, but they were mauled by the Jets defense.

Bengals QB Carson Palmer completed just one pass that day, and was replaced by backup JT O’Sullivan who was sacked three times and completed just three passes. The Bengals gained only 72 rushing yards and were shut out 37-0. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20100103020

The two teams would meet the next week in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs. By the second quarter that game the Jets had firmly taken control of it. Based on a fumble by Bengals WR Laveranues Coles, and an interception by QB Carson Palmer the Jets were able to end the Bengals season with a 24-14 loss.

• Ryan Fitzpatrick
• Cedric Benson
• Chris Perry
• T.J. Houshmandzadeh
• Chad Johnson
• Carson Palmer
• Anthony Munoz
• Boomer Esiason
• Tim Krumrie
• Cris Collinsworth