Good Triumphs Over Evil - Good Guys Win 28-20

What a game.

Not just the obvious, mind you. The turnovers, the money catches by TJ "Guess Who's Back" Houshmanzadeh, the incredible fumble on special teams.

But we also won despite the fact that we didn't exactly bring our "A" game. Carson threw two interceptions, and fumbled the ball THREE times. Add to that the fact that he was sacked six times, and I think that this Bengals victory was a huge statement.

The statement said "We are the best team in the league. Even when we aren't 100%, we're gonna win important games."

And win they did.

Here's the breakdown of the game:

THE GOOD

• After throwing two first quarter interceptions, Palmer caught fire. Four TDs, two to Henry, two to Housh. Even though he didn't have adequate protection for most of the game, Palmer (mostly) kept his poise.


• Speaking of which, welcome back Mr. Houshmanzadeh. Coming off a heel injury, TJ had 9 catches for 94 yards and 2 TDs. Just a great game. He is undoubtedly the best number two receiver in the league, and yesterday he showed us why. His first touchdown catch was incredible.


• Our secondary shut down the Steelers' passing game. Three interceptions and a few huge batted balls. Despite the fact that Dexter Jackson was out, the secondary came up big. I'm really impressed by the play of Jonathan Joseph. I expect big things out of this guy.


• We won the turnover battle 5-3. Three interceptions by Big Ben, two lost fumbles. Our defense still might not be able to stop the run, but we sure can get the ball back for our offense.


• We won in Pittsburgh. Since the away team has won each of the last four contests between these two teams, this isn't much of a surprise. Still, it was so gratifying to take the wind out of the Steelers' sails in front of their home crowd.


• Kenny Watson, who for a long time has been an enigma to me, came up big on several plays. He did a pretty good job returning kicks in the stead of an injured Tab Perry, too. But that play where Carson fumbled on 3rd and long, then Watson scooped up the ball and ran for a first down, was awesome. Key play from a guy that nobody really wanted on this team. Great job, Kenny.


• We now share first place in the AFC North with Baltimore, a team I think we can beat handily.

THE BAD

• The Bengals D gave up 170 yards on the ground and two rushing TDs. After shutting down Larry Johnson and Reuben Droughns, this was a tough pill to swallow. Obviously, the loss of Dexter Jackson and David Pollack had a lot to do with this, but we really need to work on the rushing D (big shocker there).


• Chad Johnson had one catch for 11 yards. You could tell he was frustrated, but at the same time, when a defense focuses on shutting down Chad, that opens up the passing game for Chris Henry and TJ. While I'm bummed that Chad didn't get the ball that much, I hope he understands that it was a key to our victory.


• We barely got any pressure on Ben from our front four. Everyone knows the Bengals' D Line isn't great, but they really looked lousy yesterday against a superior Steelers' O Line.


• Our linebackers didn't look much better. Without Odell Thurman OR David Pollack, we were missing some key players inside. Hopefully Odell's latest DUI arrest won't make him miss any more games, cause we desperately need him back.

Overall, we got what we needed: A division win against the reigning Super Bowl champs, who are now 1-2. Congrats to Marvin and the boys for winning this slugfest.

Bring on the Pats.