After the Cincinnati Bengals won only four games during the 2008 season, many people assumed skepticism at the start of the 2009 season. And they became even more skeptical when the Bengals lost their first game to the Denver Broncos on a tipped ball for a last-second touchdown. However, as they began to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, the two teams in the AFC Championship game last year, people started to believe in this team. They won games even when faced with the death of Mike Zimmer’s wife and the tragic demise of teammate Chris Henry.
They went 6-0 in the AFC North division, beating the Steelers, Ravens, and Cleveland Browns each twice. Regardless of their fast start, however, they progressively got worse as the season came to a close, losing three of their last four games. This ultimately hurt them in the playoffs, when they lost at home to the New York Jets.
One of the reasons the Bengals improved vastly from last year was that the defense, led by the new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, drastically improved. This year’s defense was fourth in the league, only giving up 301.4 yards a game, and only allowing 18.2 points a game.
They also improved their running game, as Cedric Benson rushed for over 1200 yards and was in the top 10 of NFL rushing leaders this season. Despite these improvements, their offense suffered. It was 24th in the NFL, only producing 309.1 yards a game and 19.1 points a game. In the end, that was not enough to consistently defeat the top teams in the league and win games in the playoffs.
Two of the team’s members were given postseason honors. Originally the Bengals did not have any pro-bowl players on their team, but because of injuries to other NFL players, Chad Ochocinco was named to the ProBowl in Miami, Florida. Marvin Lewis also won the 2009 NFL Coach of the Year award for continuing to win games and leading this team to the playoffs in spite of the tragedy surrounding them.
Next season, the Bengals have a brutal schedule, as they must play all four division winners from the 2009 season plus the teams in their own division. However, if they work hard to fix the offense and do some minor things to strengthen the defense, they just might have another shot at the playoffs.