Evil Triumphs; Good Guys Lose 14-13

Well, that sucked.

The Bengals lost in devastating fashion to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, making it two losses in a row for a banged up Cincinnati team.

As promised, I watched this game at a sports bar in Santa Barbara, where I was surprised to find at least seven other Bengals fans. Alas, all our screaming and drunken revelry was for naught.

What happened?

The Scary Truth

• The Bengals offensive line looked shakey as hell in the first half. The result was that Rudi couldn't get it going, Palmer never seemed comfortable, and the Bengals struggled to get points on the board.


• With the loss of Brian Simmons, the Bengals defensive looked positively brutal against Cadillac Williams and even rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski. Our linebacker corps was already hurting, and the loss of Simmons is just too much. Every time Cadillac got the ball, he ran for a huge gain. Despite all this, we forced two early punts, but we weren't able to capitalize.


• With our crippled defense, the games aren't going to get any easier.


• Late in the fourth quarter, with the Bengals holding onto a six point lead, Justin Smith sacked Gradkowski for a definite loss and a possible fumble . . . only to see a roughing the passer call. On a sack. Yes, I'm serious. It was one of the top five worst calls I've seen in a long time, but I guess that's football. This call was the final straw, and Cincinnati couldn't rebound from it. Once this call was made, I knew the game was probably over. And, in fact, it was.


• MORE FUCKING INJURIES. Levi Jones. Tori James. Brian Simmons. This is starting to get really, really ugly.

The Silver Lining

• Chad and TJ combined for over 200 receiving yards. Granted, it was during a loss, but it's still a step in the right direction.


• Rudi was moving and shaking - in the second half. I believe that Marvin switched the O line around for the second half (putting Ghiachic back at center) and it seemed to work. Rudi ripped off a few good runs there to start the 3rd. Too bad it couldn't have been more effective.


• TJ Houshmanzadeh is incredible. He may have some of the best hands in the league, and I can't think of anyone who catches a pass in traffic better that #84. Congrats on him for a great game.


• This wasn't a division game, and it wasn't a conference game. It sucks that we lost, but if you have to lose one, blah blah blah.

I'm still in shock over this loss, and it's gonna take me a few days to digest it all. Let's look ahead to Carolina and put this ugly loss behind us, ok?

Who Dey.