Don't Look Now Bengals Fans, But This Feels Different

They've won the AFC North before, but this feels different with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase leading the charge.

Author:
James Rapien
Updated:
Jan 4, 2022 10:36 AM EST
Original:
Jan 4, 2022

CINCINNATI — These Bengals are different.

Not because they won the AFC North for the first time since 2015.

It isn't as simple as having a potential star quarterback or a gamebreaker at wide receiver. The Bengals have had those things in the past.

Carson Palmer was being mentioned with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady during the 2005 season. Chad Johnson led the AFC in receiving yards four-straight years and made six Pro Bowls.

That era was fun, but they didn't win more than 11 games in a season and it never truly felt like they were legitimate Super Bowl contenders outside of the 2005 campaign.

Andy Dalton and A.J. Green also had successful tenures in the Queen City. Both guys made the Pro Bowl as rookies. They led the Bengals to five-straight playoff berths.

That era was a different kind of fun, but it was certainly enjoyable.

These new striped Bengals feel different.

Let's start with Burrow. Or should I say "Joey Franchise" or "Jackpot Joey?" What about "Joe Shiesty? "Joe Brrr?"

The 25-year-old has about 12 different nicknames, depending on who you ask. Burrow seems to be universally liked, even by fans of rival teams.

Relatability is huge in an NFL locker room and the man seems to be able to get along with everyone.

When he's not throwing touchdown passes, he's playing chess with teammates or getting fitted for SpongeBob Squarepants gear. He won't hesitate to "Get the Gat" with his teammates or celebrate an AFC North title with a victory cigar.

Burrow isn't a boring drone like Palmer was during his time in Cincinnati. He doesn't have Dalton's Ned Flanders-like persona.

Burrow is a killer on the field, but always maintains his cool demeanor. He isn't overly talkative, but has a sense of humor. He's unapologetically himself.

Meanwhile, Chase is the perfect combination of flash and dedication. He works as hard as anyone on the team, but you aren't going to hear about it. He's a quiet guy, but like Burrow, has a killer instinct on the field.

When he does score or make a big play, he doesn't hesitate to break out his "Griddy" dance that is quickly becoming more and more popular.

Chase is quiet like Green, dances like Ocho and works as hard as anyone.

The biggest difference between him and past Bengals' star wide-outs is his age. Johnson had 28 receptions for 329 yards and one touchdown as a 23-year-old rookie.

Green was much more productive in his first season: 65 receptions for 1,057 yards, but he was also 23-years-old.

Chase, 21, already has more receiving yards than Green had in any of his nine seasons with the Bengals. He's just 12 yards away from breaking Johnson's franchise record for receiving yards (1,440) and already has more touchdown receptions (13) this season than either guy had at any point in their career.

That's the best part about this combination.

If Mike Brown went into a lab and took the best parts of past Bengals greats, he'd probably end up with Burrow and Chase.

Burrow has Ken Anderson's calm demeanor on the field with Boomer Esiason's swag. He might be better than any quarterback in the history of the franchise at reading and diagnosing the defense pre-snap.

Burrow and Chase work hard, but they have a swaggy confidence and a killer's mentality on the field.

The Bengals are fun again, but we've said that before.

This feels different. This may be the start of something Cincinnati has never seen before.

It was one thing to have a man named "Ochocinco" on the team, and that was a fun time in Cincinnati football history, but this new-look Bengals team has a chance to hit a different level.

From Burrow and Chase to Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins—the Bengals are officially cool again.

Football fans across the country might not like the Bengals, but they're going to pay attention to them because of No. 9, No. 1 and the rest of the swaggy cats on this roster.

No one knows if this iteration of the Bengals is going to make a Super Bowl run. Heck, there's no guarantee that they win a playoff game. But this team feels a lot different with a kid from Athens and the man they call "uno" leading the charge.

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