Battle For Ohio

I still almost throw up when I see this image.

I still feel sick from the last 30 seconds of that game.  Did anyone else feel like when the Bengals scored that there was enough time for the Bengals to blow this game still?  Maybe it is the many years of watching the Bengal re-invent the loss, I just knew something had to happen.  But that?!  Of course it would have to be that!  A tipped pass that goes 84 yards to end the game, unreal.  For a split second it was like I was having an out of body experience, I had spent the whole game yelling at the TV but now it was like there was nothing more to yell.  I just sat there and watched in horror.

So, lets break this disaster down and see if I can salvage anything positive to say about a team that can manage to lose to a rookie head coach and a porous defense.

The Good:

• Well this should be short!  What good can be said about a 12-7 loss to a poor team?

• Cedric Benson.  Cedric looked good not only carrying the ball for 75 yards on 21 carries but he looked pretty good catching the ball too.  I think he had about 21 yards receiving to boot.  He really is trying to prove that he is the back that got drafted 4th over all a couple years ago.

• Chad Ochocinco.  Palmer went to him early and often, and I can honestly say that the old Chad is back.  He is finding ways to get open and looks like he is ready to play.

• The defense.  Despite being handed a short field several times the defense did a great job all game.  With the one exception being at the end of the first half when, for reasons beyond me, they dropped into a prevent defense and suddenly Kyle Orton and company started to move the ball.

• I am not sure if this is good or bad, but the Bengals won just about every single statistical category and still lost.

• Rey Maualuga.  They guy was silent in the first half but he played like an animal in the second half.  It seemed like he was all over the place.

• Antwan Odom.  He had two sacks yesterday, that is almost more than his entire output last year.  He would have probably had more but they were calling the “choke hold” holding that was going on, on him.

The Bad:

• The pass rush.  Still not near what it should be.  There were only three sacks in the game but with an injured quarterback, a rookie running back, and a rookie head coach, we should have been throwing the kitchen sink at them.  And when there was an adequate pass rush the players did not finish.  Hell, Orton looked like the next Michael Vick the way he was scrambling away.

• Good to see we didn’t change the “if it’s 3rd and long, we are going to throw it short and hope for a miracle,” play.  I always LOVE that play.  What, it’s 3rd and 9?  Lets run a draw!  UGH, nothing will make me want to punch someone than when they do this, and it happens on average about three times a game!

• Chris Henry.  WTF?!  One catch for 18 yards and then never to be heard from again?  I though he and the team finally realized what a weapon this guy can be!  And it’s not like Champ Bailey was covering this guy when he was out there.

• Denver got called for a chop block.  Good to know that some things never change.  Shanahan may be gone but his dirty tricks that injure players sometimes for their career live on forever.

• Red zone offense.  This offense plays great from one 20 yard line to the other, but from that 20 to the end zone, they just forget how to play football.  If the Bengals were Superman, the end zone is apparently their Kryptonite.  This has been going on for years and I blame Bratkowski for his horrible play calling.  Penalties have a hand in it too but they really turn into a bunch of special ed kids down my the goal line.

• Anthony Collins.  Two of the three sacks were his fault.  I take back everything nice I ever said about him.  It was apparent that in the third and fourth quarter he was just tired.  The smaller faster end or linebacker was wearing him out.  Can you imagine if that would have been Andre Smith in there?  His fat ass would have gotten owned!  Feeling even better about that pick!

The Ugly:

I know, I was surprised to find out that he CAN catch.

• The drops.  When did Terrell Owens and Braylon Edwards join this team?  Guys were dropping passes like the ball was on fire.  Coles dropped like three passes, Jermi Johnson dropped one, Chad dropped a couple.  There were like ten drops, and one went for an interception.  It was horrible, because Palmer was getting the ball there.

• Brad St. Louis.  Again with the bad snap.  Was it catchable, maybe, but it was a very bad snap.  This is not the first time he has done this, hell it’s not the first time he has done this against Denver.  Remember 2006 with a playoff spot on the line.  Yup, bad snap!

• Robert Gathers.  When is this guy going to show up?  he has been in the league for a while now, he got a big extension a couple years ago and he has yet to earn any of it.  At this point I would like to see rotating  Michael Johnson over on that side, just to mix it up a little.

• Chris Crocker’s big mistake.  Why was Brandon Stokley able to go 87 yards on a tipped pass?  Because the safety, Crocker, was busy trying to make a play on the ball with two other Bengals, instead of staying home and covering Stokley like he was supposed to.  Hell, he might have even been in position to pick that ball off.  What does Marvin always say?  DO YOUR JOB.  Had he done his job there is no way Stokley goes all the way, or possibly even catches the tipped ball.

• This is yet again a undisciplined team.  Marvin had better reign these guys in before he loses yet another team and loses yet another season in Palmer’s prime.

A very poor performance to open the season.  Thanks to Kroger for buying up all the 3,000 extra tickets to make this a sell out.  It would appear that you wasted your money!  I bet Kroger doesn’t do that again.  And if you think that there will be another sell out, except for the Steelers game you are crazy.  I think Cincinnati fans are starting to show that 20 years of losing is too much for any fan base to take!

The good news is that it would appear that the Hard Knocks curse is in full effect.  The only way it could have gone worse is to have Chad or Carson appear on the cover of Madden.  If that would have happened it could have gone one of two ways I think.  1. The Bengals could have rivaled the ’08 Lions as one of the worst teams in football.  Or 2.  There could have been so much bad karma flying at the Bengals that it would have worked the opposite way, like two negatives = a positive.  I am sure it would apply the same if it was 100 negatives right?

Who-Dey?