When I was home from work early this week, I spent time listening to national sports talk radio and checking out ESPN from time to time. I was amazed how often they were talking about the Cincinnati Bengals.
The conversation recapped their win over Baltimore, their perch atop the AFC North and the upcoming game with the Steelers. Of course, there were also remarks about Chad Ocho Cinco and his latest antics.
It demonstrated the power of winning. Even if you're the Cincinnati Bengals, you get national attention when you win.
There were a lot of guys talking about the Bengals, but hardly anyone is picking the Bengals. I took a look yesterday at the various on-line services that deal in sports. I could find exactly one guy, Eric Allen with ESPN that likes the Bengals to beat the Steelers.
ESPN features ten analysts and nine of those ten picked Pittsburgh. Allen was the exception. At Fox Sports, they feature six experts. They picked the Steelers across the board.
Pete Prisco does weekly picks for CBSSportsline.com. He took the Steelers by a point 24-23. But CBS also includes a fans poll, and 85% of the fans picked the Steelers to win.
It shows me that the world still needs to be convinced. At first, they said those Bengals wins were too close. The last two Bengals wins were too easy. What do they want?
Perhaps they're also swayed by the Steelers punishing victory over the Broncos Monday night. The Steelers have improved since they lost to Cincinnati. They have Troy Polamalu back in the defensive backfield.
Colin Cowherd on ESPN does a terrific show and he often quotes the Las Vegas oddsmakers and their opinion of NFL teams. Their power ratings show the Bengals only 16th best in the NFL. In fact they fall behind the Baltimore Ravens, who the Bengals have beaten twice.
The sports world hasn't been convinced that the Bengals are a viable contender. A victory on Sunday in Pittsburgh could change all that.
