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Best NFL Worst-To-First Teams By Decade: 1981 Cincinnati Bengals

Cinderella Story, rags-to-riches, poorhouse-to-penthouse, and as the late great Dusty Rhodes put it, wined and dined with kings and queens – slept in alleys and dined on pork ‘n’ beans. All these sayings have something in common, describing a situation the National Football League has seen plenty of over the past 50-plus years. In six decades, many teams have gone from pauper to prince (there’s another one) in a league that sports the most parity on the planet. So let’s jump into the Me-First Decade with this franchise’s most significant team turnaround at the time and perhaps the best quarterback bounce-back season ever.