Did they have you believing? Were you thinking that maybe the last three weeks were some sort of strange aberration? That the ship had finally been righted?
That’s what the Bengals do. They play well enough to get you thinking they might be one of the AFC’s, if not the NFL’s, best teams — that they might be a contender.
Then they cut your heart out.
They just about had me sold yesterday. Leading 20-14 with about seven minutes left in the game, the Bengals were in field goal position and driving. They were about to knock out the Ravens and demonstrate that, whatever they had done in the last three weeks, they were still the kings of the AFC North.
Then Andy Dalton lost his mind. When Haloti Ngata blew through the line, instead of covering up and taking a sack, Dalton tried to throw the ball, fumbled it, and the Ravens picked it up and ran it to the Cincinnati eight. One play later, Lorenzo Taliaferro ran it in untouched to give Baltimore its first lead of the day, 21-20.
It wasn’t a total disaster, though. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the kickoff back to the 20-yard-line, Adam Jones returned the kick to the Cincinnati 40, setting Dalton and company up with good field position with six-and-a-half minutes and three timeouts.
But Dalton threw his first pass into heavy traffic, the ball was ripped away from Mohamed Sanu, and the Ravens had a second turnover on a second consecutive Dalton mistake. The defense held Baltimore to a field goal, but the Bengals went from having the Ravens on the ropes to being down 24-20.
A few minutes later, Dalton engineered a spectacular come-from-behind victory, but that hardly matters in terms of establishing identity.
The Bengals remain chokers. They don’t put teams away. They don’t dominate consistently. They screw around and keep teams in it. This week it didn’t burn them. Against the Panthers, it did.
They don’t do this on purpose, of course. These are professional athletes. They have pride, talent, and a hyper-competitive streak. That’s how they got to this most-elite stage.
But year-in, year-out under Marvin Lewis, the Bengals cannot finish. They start well and then fade away. Or they come out flat and then have to scramble back into the game/season. Complete games are rare, and we’re still waiting on a complete season.
Unless you want to count the 4-11-1 campaign in 2008 or the 4-12 season in 2010.
Yesterday’s game was this 12-year-old formula encapsulated in a single game. Start strong, fade away, battle back, and hope the clock doesn’t run out on you first.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy they won. I’m pleased they’re back in first place, that they have their first sweep of the Ravens since 2009, and that the season may still end in a playoffs berth.
But it’s really hard being a fan of this team, and it would be nice if they could stop treating me (and the rest of Bengaldom) like this.
Play a complete game. Show up to the tough ones. Put teams away when you have them on the ropes.
And stop carving out my heart. Save those claws for the other team, not your fans.
The Bengals won. They are on top of the AFC North.
But nothing has changed.
Who Dey Herald 