Bass: Bengals ‘blindsided’ us into ‘pain,’ ‘panicking’ ... for now

A longtime friend and lifetime Bengals fan texted me Monday morning.

“Happy Birthday, Mike!” he wrote. “Bengals didn’t give you much of a present yesterday.”

He was right. Losing to Dallas was a bummer.

I made Monday better. I spent it virtually with you.

We all have to deal with 0-2 in The Season of High Expectations. I did by tweeting Monday morning and asking how you as Bengals fans are handling 0-2. I want us to deal with this together, just as we experienced the Super Bowl season. This was my birthday wish.

The players can turn to each other and their coach to help them get through 0-2. So can you. Some of the players might have a hard time handling this. Why not you, too?

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@SchieferMike: “👎.”

@TonyaWh44925206: “Not.”

@Alikhaleesi_: “Not good Mike, not good.”

@TMILANO44: “Not well!”

@SpudsMck: “Uh, not well at all I’d say.”

@IvanMakesGames: “Poorly.”

@Goody217: “Terribly.”

@Rezurrect94: “(Bleep)ing horribly.”

@Dad3Boyz: “Makes for a (bleep)y week.”

@JamesWr10921879: “Panicking.”

@Pearl_Ann_: “I’m not great, Mike. A little blindsided tbh.”

This might feel like Groundhog Week. We are 2-0 in blindsided. Last week was tough. This week is worse.

So what do you do?

It starts with what a lot of you tweeted back to me. Acknowledge what you are feeling. It might sound a lot like last week, only the emotions are more intense now.

@Rlplate: “Crappy.”

@Elquechi: “Angry.”

@TheJShield: “Livid.”

@Cincymetaldrums: “Beyond livid.”

@JamesWi11047973: “Pissed to be honest. Too much talent for 0-2 record.”

@TheronS1971: “🤬.”

@Djburke5: “How do you (bleep)ing think, mike? We’re all pissed off!”

@DBoechler: “In a word salty! 😧”

@Brendan_Hornish: “Pain.”

@JTTHOMPSON68: “Embarrassed.”

@Simonr75: “Frustrated.”

@Chris_Hall01: “Depressed.”

@Wegemorot: “I’m sad. we look awful.”

@JPGeigs: “Very sad.”

You have every right to feel any or all of this. Again, Joe Burrow and the Bengals trailed early. Again, they rallied. Again, a lesser quarterback led a game-winning drive.

You are stronger by sharing your anguish about this, this way. Letting it out in a safe space can keep you from lashing out at others or from holding in your emotions and torturing yourself. You used your words. Or your emojis. Or your gifs and memes. Oh, the gifs and memes were flowing. Chris Tucker facepalming. SpongeBob crying. Jim Carrey losing it. Will Ferrell drinking and crying. Tyrese Gibson pacing. Emma Stone eating ice cream and crying.

Great expectations can breed great disappointment for a team you care about so deeply, and those emotions can affect how you are handling going from Super Bowl to 0-2.

@ChristineComb19: “I’m not. It’s awful with all of the build up. Is this reds 2.0?”

@Knucklepuck11: “Unfortunately it’s over. Losing those two games is the equivalent to the Reds losing twenty in a row to start the season against the Pirates and Nationals. Lose (to) the easiest teams on the schedule with the toughest schedule remaining. (Zac) Taylor needs to go.”

@Footballcookies: “Pretty disappointed to say the least. Last year raised our hope to an all time high. To say I've seen some bad teams would be an understatement so if I really think about it, it's not very surprising. 0-2 is a deeper hole to crawl out of than most think.”

@HxppyThoughtz: “Not well, I'm overreacting immensely.”

@Thatnavyguy23: “When I look at their roster, I see a team that could’ve gone 17-0. But when I look at the on-field performance, I wonder if they’ll become the first 0-17 team. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤔”

@Rezarf_nyrac: “It absolutely sucks & takes the wind out our sails from the success of last year. I feel like both of these losses were less about the superior abilities of the other teams & more about our lack of cohesion. We are sitting on a goldmine of talent & it's being wasted. Frustrating!”

Venting is healthy if it helps you release your stress, but not if keeps you reliving the anguish. Living in anger or frustration or sadness can tear you down, keep you down and prevent you from seeing any alternatives.

And there are alternatives.

Take the Bengals’ penchant for trailing this season. They have fallen behind 17-3 in each game. Ugh. Do you look at this and say you expect more from a Super Bowl team?

@Willko33: “The slow starts are killing this team. Same issue as last year for periods.”

True. This was what you saw from the Bengals last season, too. They rallied from double-digit deficits in every AFC playoff game. Same with the Super Bowl, although we know how that one ended. Just like some of the regular-season losses. What if this is just the Bengals being . . . them?

The Bengals lost two in a row last season. Twice. Just not to start the season. What if this is another temporary blip?

History says 0-2 teams rarely reach the playoffs. But three won the Super Bowl. And what if the expanded schedule in today’s NFL allows more time to rebound?

Look at it all that way, and how would you handle this?

@Charles5Collier: “Fine since it’s a 17 game season. Last year we could’ve started 0-2 as well but were 1-1. No need to worry yet. A lot of ball left to be played.”

@Antoinebrown95: “I look at it as, since everyone in our ... division took an L, I'll take it like we're just a game behind. We'll get the Dub-ya against the jets next week to turn it around.”

@Whodeynorth: “I feel like we just officially completed our preseason. Offense finally got some reps together. And we’re now a ‘disappointment’ in the eyes of some commentators. So, thanks for the chip back on our shoulders. Wasn’t planning on going 17-0 this year. We kick in this week 🐅🐅🐅.”

@J_storie: “15-2 baby.”

Hope and faith can influence you, too. If you can’t fully tap into those, you can “fake it until you make it.” If that isn’t you, what approach suits you?

This isn’t about lying to yourself or ignoring reality. This is about reframing your perspective in credible ways. You can’t turn 0-2 into half-full or half-empty, but you can choose to see it as 2-of-17 – albeit an ugly 2-for-17.

It still hurts. The Bengals were supposed to look better than last season, not broken. You can’t control whether the Bengals can fix this, but you can control what you do. This can mean resetting your expectations. Or hoping for the best. Or preparing for the worst. Or letting yourself feel what you feel and then letting it go. I am here to help.

@Bengaljims_BTR: “Upset.... disappointed....a little shocked. But I do believe our guys get back on track this week vs Jets. Staying positive.”

@KenS61316565: “Yep we’ll get it together. I predict a win against the Jets and a spectacular Thursday night white out game win.”

@Samalam83620909: “I’m not even going to watch.”

Your choice. The Bengals can take this one game at a time, and so can you. You both can feel empowered by last season to find hope for Sunday, to seize the moment, and have faith you will handle whatever happens next.

@Mattj1229_v2: “Absolute worst case scenario we just gotta put up with a bad season but we’ve all been through that before I genuinely think they’re gonna get their (bleep) together though.”

I do, too.

Either way, we will handle this together.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals 0-2 start to season difficult for fans