I’m in a glass case of emotion! This is the kind of bad dream I would have days before a game like this. Star quarterback goes down with an injury at the beginning of the game and the home team loses. And it happened! WHY?! Here’s the conclusion I have come to in the aftermath of this disaster. The sports gods hate Cincinnati. Injury to star players is nothing new around here. We saw it in 2000 with Kenyon Martin when UC was expected to win the NCAA tournament, and we’ve seen it half a dozen times with Ken Griffey Jr. and the Reds. Everytime one of our hometown teams sees the light at the end of the tunnel everything goes to hell in a handbasket. This sucks and I’m mad. Get ready to hear about it.
So I am going to try and pull myself together and go over everything that happened.
The game started off so well for us. The Bengal defense stopped Pitt on its first drive. Following a punt return, Carson Palmer threw a bomb to Chris Henry. Adulation suddenly turned to despair. I don’t think I ever went from such a high to such a low so quickly. I almost threw up seeing Palmer writhing in pain on the field. I still held on to hope that he would be ok. That changed when after the commercial break we all saw Carson being wheeled to the lockerroom on that cart. Never a good sign. I have never felt so deflated in my life, as I’m sure everyone in that stadium and watching at home felt. Except the Steeler fans who I’m sure loved it. But I’ll get to them shortly.
The Steeler who hit Palmer was former Bengal Kimo von Oelhoffen. I don’t think this was a late hit or a cheap shot as some believe, or thought at first glance. Kimo appeared to get around a block and stubled into Palmer’s knee with no intention of taking him out. You could tell after the play that von Oelhoffen was visibly upset that Carson was on the ground. He’s not a cheap player so I know he didn’t want to hurt him.
Too bad I can’t say the same for some of his teammates. In the plays following Palmer’s injury, the Steeler players turned into some real assholes. Now that the big dog was knocked out of the fight, I guess they felt real big and thought they could start shoving our guys around after plays were over. What a bunch of dicks. At least one of them got called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Next, The Steelers did not impress me one bit. The way I see it, they took advantage of an emotionally deflated team that lost its leader. The Steelers didn’t play in a way that makes me think they would have beaten a Bengal team at full strength. Just after watching the first few minutes of the game before Palmer went down, I felt the Bengals would win this game. The Steelers didn’t even take control until late in the 3rd quarter. I think Jon Kitna is a great backup, but with Palmer in we probably would’ve had at least 10 more points by then. Our offense would have been more productive which means our defense would have been more rested than they were near the end. To sum it up, the Bengals would have won this game with Palmer.
I want to give a quick shout out to all the Cincinnati Bengal fans. I don’t care what anyone else says, we have the best fans in the NFL. There were very few Steeler fans present at the game and once the initial shock of Palmer’s injury wore off, the fans were still loud. You wouldn’t see that at alot of other stadiums. Bengal fans rule.
As distraught as I am over this calamity, I still hold out hope for the future. We’ll be back. Carson Palmer will come back stronger than ever. Our team will be improved on both sides of the ball. Pittsburgh’s reign of terror will come to an end. This happened for a reason people. Years of suffering will end as The Cincinnati Bengals will reach the Superbowl 4 straight times, winning at least 3 of them. Mark my words.
I can’t wait ’til next season. Get well soon Carson. WHODEY!!!
January 11th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
are you kidding me? what cheap shots? the play w/t polamolu? cause in case ya didnt see, he was pushed first. and we took advantage of an emotionally deflated team? what the hell is that supposed to mean? what should the steelers have waited until your cinncinati bungles to regain there composure? as for the pittsburgh cheaters and stealers, wtf?
January 11th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Obviously you have your head too far up the bengals ass. Steelers playing being assholes to the Bengals after Palmers injury? Did you not watch the game? The play right after palmers injury, quite a few bengals player were shouting out insults to the Steelers as they were huddling up, mostly towards kimo. Bengals, being distraughted about palmers injury, think there going to be all moping around about it? NO. They were jawing with the Steelers all thru-oiught the game, and of course, Steelers jawed back. Do you have any idea what NFL players say to each other when they jaw? Steelers have suffered Big Ben being injured enough this year, they know what it’s like, their not going to go around and laugh and be all cocky about it. Watch the game and look before you accuse such things.
Secondly, do you really think that the Bengals could have won if Palmer stayed in the game? Sure that 1 pass he did was nice, 1 on 1 coverage, but Steelers don’t let that happen again. As you saw from the colts vs steelers earlier in the season, that first pass to marvin, Steelers don’t let that happen again. Also, have you not watched the 2 season games of the Steelers?
Seriously, Bengals are HIGHLY overrated, they are not a good team. There is a reason they havn’t been playoff bound for 15 years. Sure, there a better team now, but not good enough. Did you watch their season? Notice how they were winning against teams under .500 and losing to teams with winning records? Notice how the steelers completly owned the bengals the first game? Yes, I know, Steelers lost in the 2nd game, let’s look at the facts though: 1. Steelers were playing at home, in which they been struggling with all year, Steelers are number 1 in the nfl in road game wins, that’s their key this year. 2. Bengals didn’t beat the steelers, the Steelers fucked up. causing FOUR turnovers, youch. Yet..STILL Steelers were able to manage it to a 1 touchdown game.
Admit it and quit riding their crotch, the defense is horrid, Chad Johnson has yet to get a touchdown against steelers, ESPN agrees he’s becoming another TO, CJ even says he’s still better than steelers! How about getting a touchdown first eh??
Oh and..If I remember…on the playoff game, I’m pretty sure Carson Palmer doesn’t play on the defense. Palmer = good? Yes, he is. But against Steelers defense, the only way he can score over 28 points is if he gets 4 steelers turnovers.
Have a good day.
January 11th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
I don’t even know where to begin with you Faeron. You clearly don’t have much idea what you’re talking about. My reaction to this deserves a post all its own….
January 12th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
I think the Steelers struggled at home all year because their Stadium was filled with idiots like Faeron.
Faeron: “thru-oiught”
That is my new favorite word!
Fearon: “But against Steelers defense, the only way he can score over 28 points is if he gets 4 steelers turnovers”
Does that make sense to anyone? Is Carson somehow creating turnovers from the sideline? Or is he taking the ball from the defense somehow?
January 12th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Real quick, Steelers players were dicks, constantly standing over our guys after every play like they were trying to feel big or something. The Bengals WERE “distraughted” after the injury as any team would be after losing its pro bowl QB 4 minutes into the game. I’s be pissed at the other team too.
Yes I do think the Bengals would have won with Palmer. As I recall, The Colts stomped the Steelers in the first game. THey may have taken away the deep ball, but they did’nt so much else. Bengals beat the Steelers in the second game. Unless I imagined that, but I don’t think I did.
If anything, the Bengals are underrated. And “not good” teams do not finish 11-5, win their division, and make the playoffs. If the Bengals are not a good team, what does that make the Steelers who finished with an identical record, did’nt win the division, and lost 3 straight games to teams that included the lowly Baltimore Ravens? The rest of your third paragraph is such complete idiocy that it isn’t even worth a response. Yeah, turning the ball over 4 times is called fucking up, but it takes a little effort on the D to force those turnovers idiot. And losing by 1 touchdown is still losing. Steelers beat Bengals in game 1, Bengals beat Steelers in game 2. You can’t carry over points from one game to another.
Yeah, our defense sucks. I’ve admitted that several times. That will improve next year. As far as Chad Johnson becoming the next TO, you gotta be fucking kidding me. And if you believe everything ESPN tells you than you’re just plain ignorant. TO is all about me,me,me. Chad cares about winning for his team, and doing it in Cincinnati. These two guys are worlds apart. TO is completely selfish, while Chad is a team player. Yes he is outspoken, but the guy works his ass off to better the team. No he hasn’t scored a TD against the Steelers officially, even though that catch in the first game clearly should have stood as a TD.
Not to worry though, The Bengals will reach and win the Superbowl well before the Steelers do again. Mark my words.
January 17th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
i used to live in ohio,SHITHOLE you are a fucking idiot,pull your head out of your ass and take a look at reality,the bengals are YEARS away from being super bowl champions.i thought i could be real asshole,but i’m light years behind you,fucking asshole.
January 18th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Apparently you are light years behind in grammar school too. There’s a button on your keyboard called caps lock that you might want to check out. And a comma is NOT an appropriate substitute for a period.
To call an entire state a shithole seems pretty harsh. And did you ever think that the reason it was a shithole might be because you lived there? Things are probably alot better here now that you are out.
You’re absolutely right about one thing though. The Bengals are years away from being Superbowl champions. About 2 to 4 years if I were to hazard a guess. But that sounds pretty good to me.
……Ass.