Until they reverse the trend, the start to any Cincinnati Bengals season will always be accompanied by a spooky atmosphere, a haunting musical score, and footage of demons from the past yet to be exorcised.
At least that's how it plays in my head. Year after year, I've sat glued to my chair or couch cushion, flummoxed by the corpse-like efforts from this team in Weeks 1 and 2 or thereabouts. Only around Halloween do the Bengals seem to hit their stride. It's been too late by then in the past couple seasons.
What sort of incantation or sacrifice can head coach Zac Taylor and metaphysically-gifted quarterback Joe Burrow summon to liberate this franchise from such stringent early-season curses?