Editing Cincinnati Bengals (section)

==Contributions to NFL culture==

===No-huddle offense===
A [[no-huddle offense]] was commonly used by all teams when time in the game was running low. However, [[Sam Wyche]], the head coach of the Bengals in 1988, along with offensive coordinator [[Bruce Coslet]], made the high-paced offense the standard modality for the ball club regardless of time remaining. By quickly substituting and setting up for the next play—often within 5–10 seconds after the last play despite being afforded 45 seconds—the Bengals hindered the other team's defense from substituting situational players, regrouping for tactics, and resting. In response, the NFL instituted rules allowing the defense ample time for substitutions when offensive substitutions were made.
The hurry-up tactic was used by the franchise during the late 1980s while Sam Wyche was the coach. A rival for AFC supremacy during this time was the [[Buffalo Bills]], coached by [[Marv Levy]], who also used a version of the no-huddle offense starting with the 1989 season. The Bengals had beaten the Bills three times in 1988 (pre-season, regular season, and the AFC Championship Game). Marv Levy threatened to fake injuries if the Bengals used the "no-huddle" in the AFC Championship. Wyche was notified that the commissioner had ordered the "no-huddle" illegal for the game. The official notified Wyche and the Bengals' team just two hours before the game kickoff.<ref name="p583">{{cite web | last=Breech | first=John | title=NFL changed rules on Bengals just hours before their last AFC Championship game appearance in January 1989 | website=CBSSports.com | date=2022-01-28 | url=https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-changed-rules-on-bengals-just-hours-before-their-last-afc-championship-game-appearance-in-january-1989/ | access-date=2024-08-15}}</ref> Wyche asked to talk directly to the commissioner and word immediately came back that the "no-huddle" would not be penalized. Levy did not have his players' fake injuries in the game but installed his version the next year, 1989. The Bengals first used the "no-huddle" in 1984.<ref name="g026">{{cite magazine | last=Vrentas | first=Jenny | title=Understanding the NFL's Code Talkers | magazine=Sports Illustrated | date=2015-01-16 | url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/16/sam-wyche-no-huddle-offense-nfl-cincinnati-bengals | access-date=2024-08-30}}</ref> Most of the high-profile games (the various games for AFC titles and regular-season games) between the two led to these changes in NFL rules. Wyche also first used the timeout periods as an opportunity to bring his entire team to the sideline to talk to all eleven players, plus substitutes, at one time. This allowed trainers time to treat a cut or bruise and equipment managers time to repair an equipment defect.

===West Coast offense===
The [[West Coast offense]] is the popular name for the high-percentage passing scheme designed by former Bengals assistant [[Bill Walsh (American football coach)|Bill Walsh]].<ref name="m626">{{Cite web |last=Pasquarelli |first=Len  |date=July 16, 2003 |title=All roads lead to Walsh ... sort of |url=http://www.espn.com/nfl/s/westcoast/history.html |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> Walsh formulated what has become popularly known as the West Coast offense during his tenure as assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 to 1975, while working under the tutelage of Brown (and before embarking on his legendary coaching tenure with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s). Bengals quarterback [[Virgil Carter]] was the first player to successfully implement Walsh's system, leading the NFL in pass completion percentage in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1971 NFL Passing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1971/passing.htm |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Ken Anderson (quarterback)|Ken Anderson]] replaced Carter as Cincinnati's starting quarterback in 1972 and was even more successful. In 1975 he would bring widespread recognition to the West Coast offense as well as to the Cincinnati team and its quarterback in a nationally televised Monday night contest between the Bengals and a Buffalo Bills team built around the running game of star player [[O. J. Simpson]]. Anderson's 447 passing yards were enough to overcome Simpson's 197 yards on the ground in a game that proved a milestone, providing a striking contrast between the "old" game of defense-minded football and the new game of higher scores and more action through a sophisticated aerial attack.<ref name="t055">{{cite web | title=First Monday: duel on the river | website=Bengals.com | date=2015-11-11 | url=https://www.bengals.com/news/first-monday-duel-on-the-river-16273439 | access-date=2024-08-30}}</ref> The game, in effect, offered its viewers a glimpse of the future of professional football. Anderson, who was drafted by Paul Brown in 1971 and installed as starting quarterback in 1972, made four trips to the Pro Bowl, won four passing titles, was named NFL MVP in 1981, and set the record for completion percentage in a single season in 1982 with 70.66%. Defeated frequently during the 1970s by the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that won four Super Bowls with 9 future Hall of Fame players, the Bengals under Anderson and head coach Forrest Gregg would finally break through the [[Steel Curtain]], defeating the Steelers during both of their meetings in 1980 and again in 1981. Anderson, who had been named the "team franchise" by Bengal tight end [[Bob Trumpy]], would ultimately prove his worth with a career record of 91 wins and 81 losses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ken Anderson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AndeKe00.htm |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>

===Zone blitz===
The defense created to combat the West Coast offense also came from Cincinnati. Then-Bengals [[defensive coordinator]] [[Dick LeBeau]] (who later served as the team's head coach from 2000 to 2002) created the [[zone blitz]] in the 1980s in response to the West Coast offense.<ref name="j376">{{cite web | last=Owczarski | first=Jim | title=Bengals 50: Dick LeBeau has 'always been really a Bengal and Brown guy at heart' | website=Cincinnati Enquirer | date=2017-07-03 | url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2017/07/03/cincinnati-bengals-50-dick-lebeau/366651001/ | access-date=2024-08-04}}</ref>