Bengals Player Pick 'Em Wk 12 vs Cleveland

We've all griped a lot about Jermaine's stolen touchdown. So has just about every fan of the NFL whose team was robbed by the atrocious rule now colloquially known as the "Calvin Johnson Rule". (Although the rule itself actually significantly predates his "dropped" game-winning TD catch.) The NFL so far has refused to listen. And they probably wont until and unless their arrogance and stupidity starts costing them real money... which isn't going to happen. Ever. We'll gripe and complain and then turn on the TV again anyway. So I guess we are just going to have to live with it's effects in the game.

We do not, however, have to live with it in this game if we don't want to. Under almost every other circumstance the official game log at NFL.com is a great way to make sure there is no question on whether an act occurred or not and we don't have to worry about potential disputes. But since the rule itself is the problem here, I'm willing to consider allowing the rule to be ignored on a case-by-case basis, if most of the rest of you agree with me here.

In the mean time, we now face the Browns for the second time this year. Last time we faced them nobody knew what the season would play out like. Nobody knew Hillis would get the worst-ever case of the Madden Curse. Nobody knew that the Browns would lose to the "0-16 Cincinnati Bengals" on opening weekend... or that another team that previously had been a perrennial contender would actually be in danger of being that 0-16 team instead of us. Nobody knew we'd actually still be in playoff contention despite a 1-2 division record.

Now we know all of that, and if we want to get to the playoffs we need this game. And Cleveland has looked putrid for most of the season so far, while our guys continue to show signs they want to play hard and win. So I think we have a good chance. But it's still a division game, anything can happen.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

Oy vey, I’m still a bit steamed about this game, which is why I’m so late doing the write up. Granted, I did not truly expect a win. I think we could have. And I was very impressed with our team for continuing to fight back from adversity yet again. But I’m still annoyed with several calls that turned this game into a bout of 11-on-17 (us vs. them + refs) and I really am just SICK of the fact that things like missed penalties cannot be challenged. It’s about four years too late already, but maybe… maybe with the increase in player safety emphasis this will finally happen eventually. Just not soon enough to save us from the refs’ mistakes last weekend.

Oh well, on to the scoring. We had 37 legitimate entries this week, and multiple people who picked too late. Gotta get those picks in 30 minutes ahead of time. The reason for the deadline being so late is that the official inactives come out an hour before the game. So if you aren’t sure if your guy will be active, check back in that 30 minute window. We also had QUITE a few people who were robbed by what I think was a misapplication (accurate interpretation, by the way, just should not have been applied at all) of the "Calvin Johnson Rule". Somebody asked if I was going to give them points anyway. I joked back "don’t tempt me". But even if I wanted to change the rules — and I am tempted in that regard — I can’t change them retroactively. So I and all his other fans got screwed this week. I’ll post a poll in next week’s thread about this as a potential rule change.

As for people scoring in this game, the unfortunate answer is "not many". What with Benson getting all the goal-line carries, Scott had no shot, and though Simpson tried very hard to come through for us, I guess our guys too polite to trample the ref while going for the loose ball. You’d think nearly getting one of their number beaten into a pulp by half the Ravens defense would be more likely to bias them against THEM instead of against US… oh well. This means only Benson, Caldwell, and Clements scored any points for people this week.

Here are the weekly points scored:

WHYUS!! – 36 pts (Nate Clements)
70sav – 33 pts (Andre Caldwell)
The Dealio – 33 pts (Andre Caldwell)
ephram – 33 pts (Cedric Benson)
Mr. X – 33 pts (Andre Caldwell)
BoomerEsiason’sLoveChild – 33 pts (Andre Caldwell)
diehard bengals fan 20 – 33 pts (Cedric Benson)
Pardon_My_French – 33 pts (Cedric Benson)
Boomer Lion – 33 pts (Cedric Benson)

Added to previous standings, this gives us a week 11 leaderboard of:

1. Paul Cannon – 234 pts
2. Cry – 228 pts
3. The Dealio – 220 pts
4. BoomerEsiason’sLoveChild – 219 pts
5. Boomer Lion – 218 pts
6. Mr. X – 215 pts
7. diehard bengals fan 20 – 214 pts
8. duffmane – 202 pts
9. rudebengal18 – 197 pts
10. ephram – 192 pts
11. JerseyBengal – 185 pts
12. MCSubtext – 184 pts
13t. Rockhound-11 – 183 pts
13t. BonnieBengal – 183 pts
14. James Schmid the great – 175 pts
15. Jordan G – 171 pts
16. ItsAlwaysSunnyInDayton – 169 pts
17. bill schwab – 166 pts
18. Throw the ball – 159 pts
19. Pardon_My_French – 155 pts
20. Cedric Benson Boat Party – 148 pts
21. Aether – 144 pts
22. featherman – 131 pts
23. TruWhoDey – 125 pts
24. Luke – 119 pts
25t. jim0ijk – 113 pts
25t. LookingDeep – 113 pts
26. WHYUS!! – 111 pts
27t. Grizzlyfox – 107 pts
27t. KyleStyle11 – 107 pts
28t. biggie22 – 106 pts
28t. 70sav – 106 pts
29. these3words – 90 pts
30. jimbasa – 88 pts
31. DiabeticBengal – 83 pts
32. Alexneyer – 82 pts
33t. Striped_To_Impress – 81 pts
33t. CBJKing – 81 pts
34. cincyplayoffwin2012 – 79 pts
35. bengalsfanforlife – 72 pts
36t. i am will – 70 pts
36t. JADefense – 70 pts
36t. K312 – 70 pts
36t. Joe Goodberry – 70 pts
36t. BradDwayne – 70 pts
36t. CincyMike56 – 70 pts
36t. emeybee – 70 pts
37t. Richard L – 52 pts
37t. FriarBob – 52 pts
38. occams_tiger_teeth – 45 pts
39. casapennec – 44 pts
40. Rocket_Man_G – 41 pts
41. Purple City Middie – 33 pts
42. ThreeofSpades – 28 pts
43. boynamedsue – 22 pts

Here is a quick recap of the rules.

1. Pick one player (Make it easy on me, make him the title of your post. Both first and last name please, and please try to avoid nicknames or blatant misspellings.) who is NOT officially listed as a QB, P, or PK on the roster.
2. An offensive score is worth one point per participant who did not pick your player.
3. A defensive player is worth 2/1/0.5 point(s) per participant who did not pick your player based on if he 2) actually scored, 1) gained possession of the ball for the team but didn't actually score, or 0.5) allowed the Bengals to gain possession by causing a fumble (or blocking a kick) that another Bengals player recovered. Sacks or tackles behind the line of and by themselves are not worth anything unless they are a strip-sack (0.5 points if we recover) or they are also a safety (2 points). All half-points will be rounded down. A blocked FG is always 0.5 for the blocker, a blocked punt is the same unless the blocker is the only person (on either team) to touch the ball before it becomes a safety (in which case it becomes 2 points).
   
4. You score the maximum possible points for your player but only one time. So a defensive player who forces an opponent's fumble that Cincinnati recovers and recovers another opponent's fumble at a different point in the game is worth 1x points (not 1.5x cumulative).
5. Keep commentary to the bare minimum please.
6. Predictions on how they will score are not required, and if you provide one they don't net you any bonus if you are right nor do they detract if you are wrong (so long as they do actually score by game rules).
7. Try to be original yet still pick somebody you think has a realistic chance to score or cause a turnover.
8. Only ONE (1) player entry per contestant, per week is allowed. Unless your first player was on the roster at the start of the week and is put on IR/cut/traded before the next week, your first comment is your player, so pick carefully.
9. Deadline for player entries each week is THIRTY (30) minutes prior to kickoff.