Unbelievable. Down 4 with 2 minutes left I was thinking to myself "There is no way they do it again". I was waiting for the Ed Reed pick or the fumble recovered by Ray Lewis to put a dagger in the heart of the Bengals. Yet, in what has become common for the Bengals this season, it never came and the Bengals made the plays when it mattered.
What I didn't like
Turnovers. They say you can't win on the road in the NFL with turnovers. Well, the Bengals did, but I would still like to see that part of the game cleaned up. Why does Carson have such a hard time with the play clock. Every week there are multiple times where the clock burns them. Brad St Louis. The guy just doesn't have it anymore. I will be surprised if he has a job this week.
What I did like
Ray Lewis takes a cheap shot on Chad Ochocinco and Chad pops up and goes after him. This is the kind of fire that the Bengals have been playing with and it shows in their record. Chris Henry continues to make plays when he is in the game. His 74 yd catch with one hand was awesome, he should have continued running though. The Bengals defense has to be one of the better units in the league. They shut down the opposing teams number 1 receivers and have kept the Bengals in the game when the offense has been less than stellar. Cedric Benson is also an outstanding running back. Why are people knocking him still? All he did today was go out and put up 120+ yds on a team that has not given up a 100 yd rusher in almost 40 games straight.
Speaking of knocks, I would like to point out an article I read on Friday that I was saving for just this occasion. Adam Duerson of Sports Illustrated does a weekly article on the game of the week. This week was the Bengals Ravens and like most of the other media he chose the Ravens to beat the Bengals. The Ravens were the favorite everywhere so that is not what I have issue with. Adam decided to rip the Bengals in every aspect when making his prediction. Some of the finer points are below:
- "Mental toughness:One of these teams has it. And it ain't the one from the Queen City."
It takes a tough team to play from behind on the road as an underdog to a divisional opponent. Maybe the Bengals are tougher than everyone thinks.
- "Cincinnati's opposite corner, Johnathan Joseph, and a pair of retread safeties, Roy Williams and Chris Crocker, are having a harder go of it."
Well, JJ had the biggest interception of the day for the Bengals when it looked like sure points for the Ravens. The Bengals secondary also did an incredible job on media wonder boy Joe Flacco who was held to a pedestrian 186 yds with two interceptions.
- "Cedric Benson: Loads of potential but never really flashes it when you most expect him to. (For example: 74 yards against Cleveland.) Probably going to break down soon. (Yeah, he's on this week's injury report -- again.) And mentally, well... He leaves something to be desired. That's pretty much your 2009 Bengals right there, no?"
Describing the Bengals as broken down and not flashy. Tons of potential that doesn't deliver. The Bengals are the only team in the NFL at this point that had defeated all of their division rivals. Two were on the road. Again, maybe you don't know what you are talking about?
- "Angry team at home versus somewhat lackadaisical rival on the road. Reminds me too much of Pittsburgh-San Diego last week, and that game was a blowout at the half. If Cincinnati musters a late comeback, per usual, Baltimore has the clock-churning runners to finish it off. Ravens in a smackdown, 38-20."
If by smack down you mean a defense that has lost its swagger and is not as feared as the media makes them out to be, then yeah. Does this mean the media will finally come around that maybe this Bengals team that is a fluke pass away from being 5 and 0 for real? No, I doubt it. There are late game penalties to whine about and close games that shouldn't have been close to compare to. Do you think I or the team care one bit about where we will be in Peter Kings fine fifteen or Don Banks power rankings? Nope. We only care about the actual rankings, and right now the Bengals are 3 and 0 in their division and in first place.
WhoDey.
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