Monday, December 18, 2006

Can the bad boy Bengals beat the Colts tonight?

As a measure of just how devoted this city is to its team (come hell or DUI arrest), our little homeschool co-op is holding its winter program tonight... and moved the start time from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. when the parents mutinied and said: We can't miss the Palmer v. Manning bowl on MNFL just for Christmas cheer in the form of 25 little kids singing carols.

Ah, Cincinnati.

This article on espn.com does a great job of analyzing why the Bengals may be surging while other teams are fading... maybe their team culture is a little bit different than the usual team because of the risks Marvin Lewis has taken in drafting throw-away players. Who knows? Intriguing theory anyway.

But none of that matters to this city. If TJ and Carson can hook up, if Ocho Cinco can catch a couple in the end zone, if Rudi can shred the Colt defense, if the Bengal defense can keep Peyton off the field, who knows what post-season we're looking at. That's all that matters to Cincinnati tonight.

Update: Hey Jon! Can you add an extra shot of rum to the egg nog? Toss me the Tylenol while you're at it. Anything to numb the pain...

And may I ask: why do teams recover from their disastrous play when they play us? Couldn't the Colts have saved their collapse for our trip to the Dome? Hmmmm?

6 comments:

Ampersand said...

I will most certainly be cheering your bad boys on tonight. First, in honor of you, and second I'm a total peyton-hater.

Kim

David Blakeslee said...

This is a very entertaining match-up. The Colts defense has been terrible in recent weeks and played an instrumental role in my fantasy football demise last week (I would have done even worse if my team had survived to play this week, in any case) so the Bengals need to show they can move the ball. Indy has plenty of motivation of its own though - they've quickly fallen out of favor after starting the season looking strong. Now it's the Chargers who look dominant and the Colts run the risk of another early-round exit and huge disappointment. This is the time to turn that trend around for them.

So basically, we have two hungry teams with something to prove... just the kind of game to get us in the mood for some serious playoff action in just a few more weeks.

At heart, I'm neutral on the outcome, though happy enough to cheer on Cinci for the sake of my pal!

David Blakeslee said...

Tough loss... 9-5 would have looked pretty nice, instead you're 8-6 and in the middle of the wildcard scrum. Wow, and I just checked Cinci's schedule... Denver next week (in the Mile High city) and Pittsburgh to finish the regular season! Tough sledding ahead, esp. with the Steelers looking a bit revived and once more breathing down the Bengals' necks. Shaping up for quite a dramatic finale in the AFC for those last few playoff spots!

Brian said...

The start time was originally 8 o'clock??!! I didn't know that. At least they had the decency to move it up.

Last night was tough. Indy played back up their potential and the Bengals looked like the Bengals of October. Very disappointing game. Dropped balls, fumbles, that inexplicable time out in the first quarter. Doh!

Now we've got to bite our nails the next two weeks. And, Julie, the Vineyard's Christmas Eve service is right in the middle of the Bengals/Broncos game. Guess I'm going to hell because I know which I'll choose. (I may end up in divorce court on the way to hell)

Who Dey!!! (all right, other than the Colts).

Unknown said...

Brian, I couldn't even listen to ESPN this a.m. Couldn't bear the "Peyton" is back mumbo jumbo. Worse, now I wonder if the Bengals can even do the playoffs if they make it!

I thihnk Marvin got way too conservative last night. That time out was just weird. That pass had been ruled a completion (to Chad) and then they take a time out and give Dungy a chance to think?

Hmmmm.

And why not pass like crazy? I feel like Carson gets on his game, then they put him on ice and then he has a hard time coming back. I say, let the guy throw the h-e-double toothpicks out of the ball and see what happens. Works for Peyton.... gulp.

And yes, I was happy about the changed time for the show at church.

I didn't realize Bengals were on x-mas eve. Oh no! That will be a dilemma for the whole family for us.

:) Who dey?

Brian said...

On the Bengals' boards, they're saying the time out would have been called by the refs anyway (an injury timeout for Chad) and that if that had happened Chad would have had to sit for a play (true). So, that explains that.

But, I do have to criticize Marvin. The game plan was too conservative. We lacked confidence in our defense (maybe rightfully so). But, by playing soft and leaving the middle WIDE open, we made it like shooting fish in a barrel for Manning (and he is probably the best QB ever, IMO). Also, on offense, we played right into their hands and throttled one of the best offenses in the league. We nearly beat them last year in a shoot-out. We should have shot it out with them again.

As Marvin would say though, time to put that behind us and get ready for Denver. We still have a great shot at making the playoffs. But, we have to win these last two. Pittsburgh would like nothing better than to knock us out of the playoff picture.