Cincinnati Bengals tickets are on sale to watch live as the football team enters the 2012 playoffs thanks to a stellar defense that has a Top 10 passing, rushing, and scoring defense. It is up to the offense to make something work, either with Andy Dalton and A.J. Green and the passing game and Cedric Benson and the running game. This is the first time in two seasons the Bengals have managed to survive the stiff AFC North competition and play in the postseason and the first without former golden boy quarterback Carson Palmer.

Cincinnati Bengals Tickets for Sale

Andy Dalton has taken the place of Carson Palmer at Paul Brown Stadium, and he has played just as well. That is to say he has played passably, well below Pro Bowl levels. Cedric Benson has another 1,000-yard season under his belt, his third in four seasons with the Bengals. Cincinnati needs to hope he is able to rush for more than four yards a carry if the team is going to go from 9-7 to 10-7 and a date in the second round of the NFL playoffs.

Of course, the biggest reason for the Bengals success is the defense. This truly an elite unit and they play an elite offensive unit, even with a backup quarterback at the helm. The Cincinnati Bengals struggled coming down the stretch, dropping three of the last five games. Those losses came against three playoff teams and the two wins came against bottom feeders.

Cincinnati Bengals History

The AFC North is an interesting division in that two of its teams have been created out of spite. The Ravens out of Modell’s spite for the thought of having to pay for a new stadium and the Cincinnati Bengals out of Paul Brown’s spite for Art Modell. Brown had been a legendary coach for the Browns, but he and Modell’s relationship became so fractured that Brown helped form a rival football franchise in Cincinnati for the AFL. Bengal tickets have been available ever since.

As a franchise, the Cincinnati Bengals have never been able to build a football team that could sustain success in the NFL. Instead, the team has been prone to flashes of brilliance and promise. In 1981, the Bengals delighted fans with a 12-4 record thanks to the play of NFL MVP, quarterback Ken Anderson. Anderson found a target in rookie wide receiver Cris Collinsworth and balance with running back Pete Johnson. The defense proved more than capable, but the Bengals could not beat the San Francisco 49ers, losing 26-21 in Super Bowl XVI.

Seven seasons later, Cincinnati Bengals tickets were once again good for a trip to the Super Bowl. Once again the team went 12-4 in the regular season. This time quarterback Boomer Esiason won the NFL MVP, Eddie Brown was his favorite target, and fullback Ickey Woods led the ground game. The defensive line was perhaps the best in the NFL, but once again the San Francisco 49ers stood in their way, beating the Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII.

The Cincinnati Bengals have tried to recreate the success under Paul Brown’s son, Mike, but the team has been unable to return to the playoffs very often and have not been able to advance beyond the Wild Card round. Still, there is always hope Bengals tickets to Paul Brown Stadium will be season tickets for the season the team finally wins the Super Bowl.