I made a deal with myself going into this past Sunday’s Bengals-Colts game. If Cincinnati defeated Indianapolis, especially if they looked good doing it, I was going to accept that things may actually be changing at Paul Brown Stadium. I would offer — for the first time in two seasons — the benefit of the doubt that a culture of talented chokers was changing for the better.
Sunday’s game was the type Marvin Lewis’s Bengals have blown in the past. It was effectively a playoffs game. The 8-4 Colts came to town to battle the 8-4 Bengals with the third seed in the playoffs on the line. It was a game Cincinnati had to have if they were hoping to steal a first-round bye from the Patriots down the stretch.
Moreover, the 6-6 Ravens, just two games behind the Bengals in the AFC North, were hosting the hapless Minnesota Vikings. Assuming the Ravens won — and they did — a loss by the Bengals would throw the AFC North into doubt, putting Baltimore in position to steal the division away in the season’s final match.
This is the kind of game a Marvin Lewis team of the past has found a way to lose.
There were echoes of those past chokes throughout the game. Leading 7-0 late in the first half, Lewis had the guts to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the one. Rather than plowing straight ahead with a beefy blast up the middle, the Bengals attempted an off-tackle run. Like so many plays like this in recent Cincinnati history, a Colts defender shot the gap, tripped up BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and caused him to fall a half-yard shy of the goal. But a replay review inextricably reversed the ruling on the field and awarded BJGE the touchdown.
Leading 21-0 in the third quarter, the stout Bengals defense suddenly forgot how to tackle, surrendering two stunning touchdowns — one a 69-yarder — in 3:37.
But then the offense coolly drove down the field for two more touchdowns to make it 35-14. When the Colts added a third touchdown of their own, Cincinnati responded by jacking the score to 42-21 on an Andy Dalton eight-yard scramble.
Colts QB Andrew Luck made it 42-28 with 1:10 to go, but Mohammed Sanu calmly caught the onside kick to secure the win.
It was a big game, and the Bengals responded with an outstanding performance. There were several gaffes that could have caused it all to unravel, but the Bengals never blinked.
This was a good, solid, important win.
So, okay, Bengals. I will put aside my well earned skepticism. I will accept it is possible there has indeed been a culture change in the locker room. I will consider that Santa Claus has visited Paul Brown Stadium a little early this year and brought you the poise in big games you have long lacked.
Just don’t forget you haven’t won anything yet. You haven’t clinched a playoffs berth. You haven’t secured the AFC North crown. The Patriots still hold the AFC’s #2 seed. And even if you had won a playoffs game since 1990 (which you haven’t), it wouldn’t mean anything for this season.
So keep this up. You’ve got a nasty rivalry game in Pittsburgh this coming Sunday night. Followed by a doughnut game at home against the Vikings before the final confrontation with the Ravens — whom you might even be able to knock out of the playoffs if things go right.
Don’t let the opportunity escape. Every game from this point forward is big.
Who Dey Herald 