The Cincinnati Bengals are 5-0 for the first time since 1988, a season that ended with the team in the Super Bowl. The 2015 Bengals reached the mark by defeating the back-to-back NFC-champion Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, 27-4, in overtime.
The last time the Bengals were 5-0, they went to the Super Bowl
The Bengals are off to the best start in nearly 30 years and haven’t been 5-0 since the 1988 season that ended with a game in the Super Bowl.
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In 1988, the Bengals, led by Boomer Esiason, improved that mark to 6-0 before the New England Patriots finally dealt them a loss in Week 7. After up-and-down results for the remainder of the season, the Bengals finished atop the AFC Central with a 12-4 record. With two wins in the postseason, including a 21-10 win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship, the Bengals advanced to Super Bowl XXIII against the San Francisco 49ers.
Joe Montana led the 49ers to a victory with 357 yards and two touchdowns, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor in the final minute of the game that gave the team a 20-16 lead.
For the Andy Dalton-led Bengals, the narrative that the team will fizzle in the playoffs likely won’t be shaken until the team finds a victory in January. After four consecutive losses in the wild card round of the postseason, Dalton has been labeled as a player who chokes in the clutch, and no matter how strong his 2015 season has started, his 0-4 record in the playoffs leaves doubters.
His play has unquestionably been different through the first five weeks of 2015, though. In each of Dalton’s first four seasons, he finished with 3,300-4,300 yards and a passer rating between 80-89. Dalton currently leads the NFL in yards per attempt in 2015.
The 5-0 start is only the third in franchise history, with the 1988 Super Bowl run and a 1975 season that ended in the divisional round against the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals also made it to the Super Bowl after a 3-2 start to the 1981 season, but that run also ended on the biggest stage with a loss to Montana and the 49ers.
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