Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl contenders

OK, we’ve been down this road with the Cincinnati Bengals before. Brandon Scherff JerseyThey look good, the roster looks fantastic, but we all know they will disappoint in January. I don't think that will happen this season. The Bengals are very good, and they need to be stamped as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Dismiss the Bengals if http://www.redskinsshopnfl.com/Authentic-Brandon-Scherff-Jerseyyou wish, but they’re for real. If anyone is going to stop the New England Patriots train in the AFC, it’s the Bengals, unless the Denver Broncos somehow get their offense to play near the same level as their fine defense. Who is the second-best team in the AFC? The Baltimore Ravens are 0-3. The Buffalo Bills look fine, but if you’re eliminating the Bengals because they haven’t won in January, then Buffalo’s not your team either. The Indianapolis Colts really exciting you? Is it really the Broncos, who came into Week 3 with the least efficient offense in the NFL? The Bengals went on the road in Week 1 and beat the Oakland Raiders. Oakland is 2-0 since. The past two weeks http://www.redskinsshopnfl.com/Authentic-Brandon-Scherff-JerseyCincinnati beat the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens, two teams that posted winning records last season. Their résumé after three weeks is strong. And with the Pittsburgh Steelers missing Ben Roethlisberger for at least four-to-five, or maybe six weeks (that’s “at least” … I think the Steelers would happily sign up for five or six weeks right now), the Bengals have a great shot to build a big lead in the AFC North. There’s no reason, if you look at the roster and don’t dwell on what has happened in postseasons past, that the Bengals can’t win big. A.J. Green is on a rare level of truly elite receivers. Tight end Tyler Eifert has become a viable weapon. Few teams have two backs as good as Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard. The defense is very talented. And now we get to the elephant in the room. Yes, it’s hard to buy into Andy Dalton as a Super Bowl quarterback. But Dalton has had moments of success, and he is Amari Cooper Jerseyoff to a blazing start in 2015. He has eight touchdowns and one interception, and a 121 rating. He has a better rating at this moment than Tom Brady. When the Bengals were down twice in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Ravens, he threw two touchdown passes (albeit with a lot of help from Green) to lead Cincinnati to the win. The Bengals don’t need Dalton to be a 121 rating quarterback, which is good because there’s no chance he continues this pace. But Dalton doesn’t need to be great. He just needs to be good, and obviously better in the playoffs than he has been in Cincinnati’s four straight playoff losses. Narratives can be true, at least http://www.raidersnflprostore.com/Authentic-Amari-Cooper-Jerseyuntil they change. At one point Michael Jordan was the guy who couldn’t win the big one, and back in the day folks used to believe you absolutely needed a great running game to win a Super Bowl. Things change. Just because the Bengals have lost four playoff games in a row doesn’t mean they’re precluded from changing that this season. Time to face it: Unless you want to see the Patriots back in the Super Bowl, you better hope that this Bengals start is for real. They might be the AFC’s best hope at knocking off the champs.