Everybody likes to believe they know a lot about the things they’re passionate about. If you’re here, you’re passionate about the Cincinnati Bengals. I don’t know—and don’t pretend to know—everything about everyone on the Bengals’ roster, but I’ve followed this team for a long, long time, and I’ve been writing about them here since 2011.
Having said that, there are plenty of “hot takes” I’ve had that were absolutely dead wrong. I’ve had a few I’m pretty proud of, too.
Let’s start with a bad one.
When
the Bengals allowed Carl Lawson to leave in free agency, opting instead to replace him with Trey Hendrickson, who was coming off a 13.5-sack season with the Saints, I thought it was a terrible move. I saw Lawson as the superior pass rusher, and I hated that the Bengals paid Hendrickson more than the Jets paid Lawson.
What a bonehead take that was, huh? I’ll own it.
Want a take I had back that took a few years to prove true?
DJ Reader was a huge reason Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt developed into one of the league’s best linebacker duos. Letting Reader walk hurt the defense almost as much as losing Jessie Bates.
Hopefully, we’ll see that same effect in reverse after the Dexter Lawrence trade.
What about you?
What’s a Bengals take you’re still proud of? The one where you sat back and thought, “I told you so.”
Now balance it out.
What’s a take you look back on and think, “What on earth was I thinking?”
God, I hate the summer.
And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held, oh, so tight
Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then
