+ When you watched the 87-yard touchdown, and after your body goes through a total system shock, you note two things. Leon Hall leapt to deflect the pass. His entire body is outstretched and he batted the football, just as most defensive backs do. Two defensive backs take out Brandon Marshall while Hall falls to the ground. When Brandon Stokley caught the pass, he returned it for touchdown. Could things be done differently?
“I thought the guys at the point did exactly what they want to do on that play,” Lewis said. “Leon goes up to try and intercept the ball, and unfortunately it bounces off his hands. Guys come over to take the receiver out just like they are supposed to do, and the other guys have to do a better job of finishing it. There were some things that can be done differently, but it’s a play that happened.”
So I got to thinking. Should we call the play something? Maybe we could call it The Fluke. Or the Lucky-as-Hell reception. Maybe the defensive call next time in the same situation should be called, "Don't let a wide receiver get behind you" play to "avoid 87-yard touchdowns, which many are starting to nominated the potential play of the year.
+ Dave believes that the struggling offense is because the team lacked preparation in the preseason. I couldn't agree more. Through the first three preseason games, the Bengals scored seven points in the first quarter combined. We purposely left out the 10 points scored against the Colts because a majority of the starting offense was off the field by the second possession.
Has ESPN's AFC North blog jumped the shark?
However, the Bengals weren't the only team this week to lose a game late. The Buffalo Bills were leading 24-13 with 5:32 left in the game against the New England Patriots. Tom Brady threw two touchdowns to win the game, thanks to a fumbled kickoff return by Buffalo's Leodis McKelvin. The Raiders were up on the Chargers 20-17 with 2:34 left in the game. With 21 seconds left Darren Sproles took a draw up the gut for a game winning touchdown. Even though Cutler threw a bunch of interceptions, The Bears were leading the Packers 15-13 with 2:35 left in the game when Aaron Rodgers hit Greg Jennings on a 50-yard touchdown with just over a minute remaining. Heart breaks are nothing new in the NFL. It happens every week and it happened to the Bengals.