(Photo: Getty Images)

I'll take it.

What other choice do I have?  Behind door number one was an 0-4 start, more discussion about removing the head coach and/or benching the starting quarterback.

Behind door number two was wondering if what we saw was a result of the Bengals playing against a wretched opponent or if it portended better results in the season's second quarter.

We'll know what the correct answer is in due time, but for now, the Bengals at least avoided both a disastrous loss against Hue Belichick's Jackson's Browns and and 0-4 start that would've essentially ended the 2017 season even with three months left in it.

The Bengals did play well today. Despite an early turnover that made me want to do something harmful with the sharpest part of a broken beer bottle I could possibly find, Andy Dalton played well. So too did Tyler Kroft, a guy that was better known as the second-best Bengals tight end named "Tyler" until today.  The Bengals spread the ball around on offense, and on defense, they shut down whatever hopes Browns fans had of pulling off the upset by making Deshone Kizer look like the rookie he is, with Nick Vigil being the latest young Bengals defender to get his star turn in a season that's yielded more good than bad on that side of the ball. 

It is hard to be overly excited about a victory over a dreadful team that improves the Bengals' record to a mere 1-3, but winning today beats a loss that would not only have sent the Bengals to a winless September, but would've understandably sent an already impatient and exasperated fan base into full-on 2018 mode.

Which maybe we'll be in come 4pm next Sunday, but for now the 2017 Bengals at least have a pulse. The season is still on. And even if this year ends up being as bad as a 1-3 record suggests, they at least avoided losing to the Cleveland Browns.

Beats the alternative.