Consistently this year, the Bengals have played to the level of the competition. That's great when you're playing teams that are good every week (such as the Steelers and Packers), but terrible when you play teams that you should easily handle (the Browns or the Broncos who, even though they're 4-0, are a very beatable team). More often than not, this has produced wins for Carson's Cardiac Cats.
Major storylines yesterday:
-
Carson Palmer sucks! Also, he convinced Marvin Lewis to go for it on 4th and 10.
- Carson Palmer has stepped up when it counts, and has led 3 (should be 4) game winning drives this season. I understand your cynicism, but we're 3-1 and leading the AFCN!
- The defense has scored touchdowns in consecutive weeks. Also, Brad St. Louis has cost the Bengals points in consecutive weeks.
- The Bengals played down to the Browns. The offense stunk it up for 60-70% of the game, and the Bengals lost time of possession after the Browns possessed the ball for just over a minute in the first quarter.
- Josh Cribbs gashed the Bengals. If we kick it to him ONCE when the Browns visit PBS, I'll be irate.
- The UC Bearcats are #8 in the AP poll. The Cincinnati Reds finished the season 78-84, a 4-game improvement over last year. It was a pretty good weekend for Cincinnati sports.
Anyway, my job is not to recap the game. Here's what professional recappers around the professional media are saying:
- Cincinnati.com was active following the Bengals' dramatic win. John Eradi #1: "Hardly a snap for St. Louis." A piece highlighting Brad St. Louis, currently an object of CincyJungle animosity. John Eradi #2: "Geathers gathers a touchdown." Leon Hall and Robert Geathers break down how the fumble was forced, and how it turned into a TD. Bengals Notebook: "Cribbs does number on Bengals." Without looking, I think he accounted for almost as many yards as the rest of the Browns offense. Joe Reedy's Recap: "Bengals beat Browns in OT." Strong recap with a local edge. I don't even know how one would go about covering this team's ups and downs (all in a single game) right now. Props to the local journalists for figuring it out!
- If you like flair, read Paul Daugherty's recap. "Regardless, winning is the only thing in the NFL. And we want style points? From this franchise? Next thing you know, you’re going to expect them to make the playoffs or something." Look at that flair.
- From Bengals.com: Geoff "Brainwash" Hobson's recap and post-game quotes.
- AFCN Blogger James Walker is busy in Pittsburgh with the Steelers-Charges game. He still manages to write a blurb about the Bengals-Browns game (although I doubt he watched any of it until overtime, or if Baltimore was on a commercial). Walker kindly includes the Countdown Daily video recap of the game.
- Doug Farrar at Yahoo's shutdown corner thinks the Bengals are for real. This is probably the most unique reaction to the squeeky victory in Cleveland today. Then again, the Bengals did find a way to win the game, and they were on the road, and Cleveland is an "NFL" team that came out playing hard. A win is a win.
Not much going on regarding this game. Bengals should beat Browns. Bengals beat browns. There we have it.