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#Post#: 75255-------------------------------------------------- |
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Bengals |
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By: Clay Death Date: October 28, 2021, 10:58 pm |
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/sports/football/jamarr-chase-cincinnati-beng… |
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Before receiver Ja�Marr Chase�s arrival, the Cincinnati Bengals |
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may have been the N.F.L.�s most inconsequential franchise. |
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The Bengals have a reputation as the football equivalent of a |
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mom-and-pop corner hardware store operating on a shoestring |
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budget. Their state-of-the-mid-20th-century fitness facility |
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features five military surplus weight benches and a garden hose |
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for hydration. Their practice field yields alfalfa in the |
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off-season. Their scouting department consists of unpaid interns |
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and a box of VHS tapes of Ohio State games. Trade requests go |
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straight to their answering machine. |
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These are exaggerations, but you get the idea. |
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The pinnacle of the Bengals� success over the last 30 years was |
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a string of five consecutive wild-card-round losses under Coach |
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Marvin Lewis and quarterback Andy Dalton from 2011 to 2015. Yet |
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the Bengals also typically avoid the hilarious catastrophes that |
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make the Jets and the Cleveland Browns so fascinating. |
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In most years, the Bengals exist simply to balance out the |
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schedule, generate fantasy statistics and provide the Pittsburgh |
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Steelers with an opponent they can beat on the road and still be |
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home in time for a late supper. |
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Chase�s arrival is changing all of that. The fifth overall pick |
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in the 2021 draft, he has the second-most receiving yards in the |
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league (754) on 35 receptions. He has caught six touchdown |
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passes, four of them for 30-plus yards. He is on a pace to |
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shatter the N.F.L. rookie record of 1,400 receiving yards set by |
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Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings last season. (Bill |
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Groman holds the pro football record for receiving yards as a |
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rookie � 1,473 yards in 1960 for the Houston Oilers in the |
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American Football League.) |
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On Sunday, Chase caught eight passes for 201 yards, including |
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one on a quick slant route that he turned into an 82-yard |
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touchdown, to fuel a 41-17 Bengals rout of the Baltimore Ravens. |
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The victory, which improved the Bengals� record to 5-2, was the |
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franchise�s most significant win since its playoff years, if not |
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longer. |
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