The Cincinnati Bengals have reached the playoffs in two of the past three seasons with a 4-12 mixed between that allowed Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis to draft A.J. Green.

RealGM has been using a statistic called the Trench Counter to rank NFL teams since the 2007 season.

The Trench Counter accounts for average yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards, first downs and turnovers to determine how well teams control the game in the most meaningful ways.

The Bengals rank 20th in Trench Counter from the 2007 season through 2011.

Below are their season-by-season rankings, Trench Counter totals and actual record in parentheses.

2007: 13th, +1.6 (7-9)
2008: 27th, -4.8 (4-11)
2009: 17th, +0.6 (10-6)
2010: 22nd, -2.3 (4-12)
2011: 17th, -0.3 (9-7)