This was originally published in The Athletic.

For all of their regional civic significance, and for as much as many of us invest in them emotionally, the Cincinnati Bengals are, at their core, an entertainment option. A diversion. An escape. A break. I prefer they win, of course, but at the very minimum, I ask that they hold my interest. Maybe at least give me something to think about. The worst thing that an entertainment entity can do is cause boredom.

I’m bored right now.

The Bengals lost Sunday, this time to a Browns team that hadn’t won a road game since the Obama Administration still had more than a year remaining. Not only that, they spent the day embarrassing the lame opposition, all but mocking Hue Jackson as he and Marvin Lewis stood looking flummoxed and tired on the sideline.

Cleveland scored on its first five drives, with Baker Mayfield abusing Lewis’ clown show defense on it way to a 35-20 statement win at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals may have been favored, but this was no upset. Gregg Williams has the better team, and even if he isn’t the head man in Cleveland next fall, the Browns’ trajectory is pointed at least slightly upward, having settled on a quarterback for the first time since the franchise was reintroduced into the league.

The Bengals have also settled – on something that maxes out at being merely pretty good and hits rock bottom at whatever ways you choose to describe the look and feel of Sunday’s fiasco. Some call it perpetual mediocrity. I’ll simply go with boring.

To read more, go to The Athletic.

(Photo: Getty Images)