Bengals: Well, what do you think?

You’ve been living this for over five weeks. Feeling this. Absorbing it like a blindside hit. 

A Bengals season that started with hopes, dreams and excitement, took a sad and gutting turn with Joe Burrow’s injury. 

Then, things turned dark, ominous, and hopeless as Jake Browning melted down before our eyes. 

The last three weeks have felt like we were thrust at warp speed back to the 90’s. Visions of Akili Smith, David Shula, Bruce Coslet, David Klingler dancing in our heads….

I’ll admit that I walked into Paycor Stadium for Bengals Line this week cringing at the thought of 12 more games.   

The volume of cries for tanking and draft talk was already being raised. Fans were flipping the calendar to count days til pitchers and catchers reported. 

It felt desperate.  Well, desperate times called for desperate measures.

On Tuesday, in perhaps the biggest and boldest in-season move in franchise history, the organization dropped back to pass and threw a Hail Mary.

A trade. But not just any trade. An intra-division trade….with….the Browns. For Joe Flacco.

Wait, what……..on…..earth? A trade so surprising, I feared being duped by the social media report.  

A 40-year old, 18 year veteran QB, jumped in a car with his wife and was driven five hours to Cincinnati. All the while, he was absorbing a crash course in Zac Taylor’s offense…over the phone. 

It’s stuff movies are made of. But will this screenplay produce a horror flick, a fairy tale story of a comeback and redemption….or a slapstick comedy?

Tuesday night on Sports Talk, words like ‘hope’ and ‘revival’ were used by callers. 

The trade played to a 72% approval rating for my Twitter poll.

The dissenters declared a fear for Flacco’s well being…and/or longed for Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston. 

My lunch conversation with friends this week boiled down to this cornucopia of feelings: 

1. “I’m in on the Bengals”. Just a game out in the AFC North and one game out of a playoff spot. Veteran QB. Gun for an arm. 12 games left. 7-5, 8-4 seems doable. 

1. “I’m ‘out’ on the Bengals”. No chance. They are cooked. 

1. “I have no idea what to expect, but I’m here for it”. Can’t wait to see how this looks come Sunday at Lambeau.

Well, what do you think?

Let’s discuss tonight on Sports Talk