Monday Night Football, there’s no bigger stage for an NFL team, especially a struggling NFL team to show the rest of the world that they have something left in the tank. Last night was the Bengals’ chance to show that they weren’t the mistake riddled, sloppy 2-5 team that their record suggested. Instead, the Bengals only proved that they are who we thought they were.
The Bengals were very creative last night in finding ways to turn the football over. Blocked punts, muffed kick returns, picks, fumbles, it was all part of the Bengals repertoire as it has been all season. The only shining star for the Bengals was Terrell Owens, the guy they supposedly took a chance on in the off season. T.O is having a stellar season and he’s been the Bengals best player.
After missing a field goal to ice it, the Steelers held off a late charge by the Bengals to win the AFC North battle 27-21. But it was more than just a loss for the Bengals, it was a snapshot of their entire season of missed opportunities. The Bengals have two of the best receivers in the league, they’re defense was highly heralded LAST YEAR, and wasn’t Carson Palmer supposed to be a stud?
There’s big question marks around this team. As the record indicates, even when Carson Palmer plays well, like he did last night, plain and simple, he’s just not able to get the job done. And it’s even more puzzling because he’s losing when he has the weapons to work with, and aside from Tony Romo, there’s not many QB’s that can say that. It must be hard to concentrate when you have two of the biggest mouthpieces in the league in “T.Ocho’ in your ears everytime you make a mistake. But to be fair, Palmer is making mistakes good quarterbacks just don’t make. Granted, his O-line isn’t giving him all the time world and a hurried QB is usually a bad QB.
After the game T.O said he felt like he was playing on the best 2-6 team he’s ever played on. Well that may be true, but if this losing continues, T.O’s main man Ochocinco who has had a lackluster season and caught only one pass last night for 15 yards, probably won’t have his $6M option picked up by the team. If Batman and Robin want to stick together they better start finding ways to win games, and it might start with staying out of Carson Palmer’s ears, he’s got enough to deal with.
The Bengals play the Colts next week, could they be looking at 2-7? Or will the beat up Colts drop two games in a row? When’s the last time that ever happened? How many interceptions will Carson Palmer throw next game?
