Over the course of their franchise history, the Cincinnati Bengals have rarely been relevant in terms of the playoffs or winning seasons.

Lately though, the team has had a major turnaround making the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. This turnaround is largely credited to the offensive play of Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green and quarterback, Andy Dalton.

In the three seasons the two have been on the Bengals, they have improved their record each season going 9-7, 10-6 and finally 11-5 this past season. Despite the regular season success they’ve had, the Bengals have failed to win a playoff game. In fact, the franchise hasn’t won a postseason game in almost 25 years.

Could 2014 finally be the year Andy Dalton leads the Bengals to a playoff win?  By emeybee (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

The 2014-2015 season will mark the fourth year of the Dalton era. While the signal caller has played well during the regular season, he and the rest of his team have faltered come playoff time. The Bengals front office has shown general improvement in getting productive players onto the field. What success the Bengals have had can be attributed largely to the draft. The 2014 NFL Draft was no different as the Bengals drafted very well, yet again.

Draft Picks

The Bengals’ first pick (Round 1, 24th overall) was cornerback, Darqueze Dennard, aka “No Fly Zone,” from Michigan State who will most definitely shore-up their secondary. The defensive backfield has been the only thing keeping the Bengals from being a top-five defense.

In the second round (55th pick overall), the Black and Orange made a surprising selection by taking LSU running back Jeremy Hill. Hill’s combination of ground-and-pound style of running and speed will make for a great duo with Giovani Bernard. The Bengals’ entire draft can be seen here, but the most intriguing draft pick was the fifth-round selection of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron.

Coming into the draft it was speculated the Bengals would select a quarterback in case Dalton messed-up again in the postseason. McCarron won two titles while at Alabama and is considered one of the smartest and most accurate passers in the draft. The Bengals got a steal of a player at quarterback by selecting McCarron in the fifth round and he will play with a chip on his shoulder after dropping so low.

Outlook on the 2014-2015 season

The Bengals won the AFC North division in 2013-14, but repeating won’t be an easy task. The Ravens, Browns and Steelers all improved their teams from a season ago and the Bengals play a tough schedule. Their October could be considered the month of death for the Bengals as they play at New England, at home against Carolina, at Indianapolis and finally home against Baltimore. Despite it being early in the season, that month could determine the Bengals’ fate as it pits them against three top teams in the AFC.

Although the Bengals play a tough schedule, they are playing it for a reason and that is because they are a good team. Based on whom they play and where they play the games, my prediction for the Bengals is an 11-5 record for the second straight year. They have their bye week early-on in the season (week 4) so the end of the season will be a grind, but maybe this is the year that they finally win a playoff game for the first time since 1990.

After yet another postseason loss, the Cincinnati Bengals extended their streak of consecutive seasons without a playoff win to an NFL-leading 23 years. Coming into the 2013 NFL season, the Bengals had very high hopes for a long season after building a talented team over the last few years. Adding veteran linebacker James Harrison to an already athletic and physical defense seemed to make the Bengals one of the best defenses in all the NFL. Coming off an 10-6 record from 2012, Bengals fans like me expected them to win their division and make a run at the Super Bowl.

Andy Dalton will receive much criticism and scrutiny this coming offseason after another poor playoff performance. By Navin75 (Flickr: QB Andy Dalton), via Wikimedia Commons

They would have a home playoff game for the first time since 2009 against the San Diego Chargers who just barely snuck into the playoffs after finishing the year on a high note. Cincinnati posted an 8-0 record at home during the regular season so it seemed as if the Chargers would be no match for the Bengals at “The Jungle”, especially since the Bengals had gone into San Diego and beat the Chargers on the road just a few weeks ago. But the Chargers outscore the Bengals 20-0 at the end of the game to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs.

It was a very disappointing loss for a team with such high expectations. Many will put the blame on quarterback Andy Dalton after posting another below-average playoff performance. His stature as the Bengals quarterback is now in question and I, for one, don’t understand. While I will agree that he needs to play better in the playoffs, he has led his team to the playoffs three consecutive years for the first time in franchise history. During each of his first three seasons, he has improved his statistics and his team’s record. For some reason we expect these young quarterbacks to come into the NFL and win a Super Bowl immediately. It takes time and everyone needs to calm down about Dalton.

The loss to the Chargers wasn’t all Daltons fault either. If Giovani Bernard wouldn’t have fumbled the ball at the four yard-line and if the offensive line would have decided to show up then it might have been a much different game. Peyton Manning didn’t win a playoff game until his fifth NFL season and look at him now. Sure, Dalton will need to improve his play, but he is currently on a very talented team that will break through. Fans just needs to be patient. Nobody likes to be patient when it comes to an NFL quarterback but with Dalton we need to be. He is a very good quarterback but is still young and I expect him to prove all his doubters wrong next season.