Too much of Cincinnati's 22-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins reminded me of the team's 2008 season. Offensively, they looked terribly incompetent and the defense was forced to deal with consecutive three and outs, wearing them down to the point that the opposing team was able to impose their will late in the game with an exhausted defense.
Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati Bengals started the game off with a 15-play 86-yard touchdown drive. In the following ten drives throughout the rest of the game, Cincinnati would punt eight times and have a pass intercepted in Cincinnati's last possession. And the Bengals second touchdown was largely thanks to Chris Clemons' inability to catch a football. Aside from that, take out Cincinnati's opening possession and they were migraine-big embarrassing.
Defensively, the Bengals played well enough to contain. After back-to-back field goals by the Dolphins, the Bengals defense didn't allow a Miami drive of more than 40 yards until late in the third quarter, right in the middle of the offense's terrible display of "ball control". Eventually, the Bengals spirit and strength was sapped during Miami's 96-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that sealed Miami's win.
The Bengals fall to 2-5, including a four-game losing streak, with the Pittsburgh Steelers on tap on Monday Night Football next week.