On Friday, football fans and players alike found out which players had earned first and second-team All-Pro honors. Between the two teams, there were 56 players named. Most of the NFL had some representation on the list. None of the 56 players named, however, play for the Cincinnati Bengals. One player took notice.
Defensive back Chidobe Awuzie sent out a pair of tweets on Friday, shortly after the All-Pro teams were revealed. The first asked, “how a 12-4 team not have one All-Pro….”
A second tweet said “pay attention to the Bengals… stop skipping over us like we ain’t here.”
https://twitter.com/ChidobeAwuzie/status/1614048027412512779
It’s easy to understand Awuzie’s frustration. The Bengals were one of only eight teams to not have a single player on either All-Pro squad. Among the others were the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts, the NFL’s four worst teams. Two other playoff teams — the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks — didn’t have anyone named. But those were both 9-8 teams, well behind the 12-4 Bengals.
That said, looking a little deeper into it, it is easy to see why the Bengals aren’t represented. Quarterback Joe Burrow had a great season. But only two quarterbacks are named. If Burrow is first or second-team All-Pro, that means that either Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts would not be.
Receiver Ja’Marr Chase is an All-Pro contender, but missed four games. Defensive tackle DJ Reader would have been an option but missed five games. Awuzie himself was on his way to a potential All-Pro season but suffered a season-ending injury in October.
Additionally, the Damar Hamlin situation did nothing to help Cincinnati in this regard. It gave the Bengals one fewer game to accumulate stats than the rest of the league (excluding the Buffalo Bills) had. It was also a huge game and had the Bengals played and won, a big game from a standout player might have gone a long way toward earning All-Pro honors.
But while we can understand how it happened, it’s easy to understand why the Bengals are frustrated by the lack of All-Pro representation. That said, if Cincinnati is looking for bulletin board material as it gets ready for the playoffs, this should suffice.
[Chidobe Awuzie on Twitter, NFL.com]
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