I'm Still Giddy

Ok, real quick, before someone in the party-pooping department takes it down, go on over to the official Bengals site and check out this headline. Yeah, I thought that might do something for you.

For the link-challenged, the copywriting geniuses over at Bengals.com decided that "Bengals Just So Raven" was actually a decent headline for the game wrap up. You know you're in trouble when you run a headline that even WhoDave thinks is a bit tacky. Not that I don't appreciate a reference to a Disney Channel show on the official website of the Cincinnati Bengals . . . wait . . . I don't appreciate that at all. What the hell?

The only logical comparison I can think of would be a late 1990s WWF star wrestler, say perhaps Randy Savage, working the Urkel dance into one of his matches. Wouldn't be cool, right? I mean you'd definitely get some belly laughs out of the whole thing, but wouldn't you respect the Macho Man just a little bit less? Me too.

But today, I do not care about such trivialities. For today, the Bengals are kings. What a great game all around. Without further ado, here are my game thoughts:

• The flea-flicker play was just awesome. Right out of the 2005 Steelers playbook. TJ sold it, got open, and made the wide open catch. One of the reasons I love watching the Bengals is the "jump out of my seat" factor. In a good Bengals game I'll physically jump out of my seat, screaming, then look around for the nearest high five opportunity. I had two last night. One on the flea flicker, and one on . . .
• Ethan Kilmer's fumble recovery off of special teams. Which he ran back for a touchdown, but was called back, according to Bryant Gumbel, because it was declared a "muff." Ok, stop giggling about the whole "muff" thing. I have no idea what the hell this rule is, why no one seemed to give a shit, or why Bryant and Collinsworth decided that no further explanation was necessary. Granted, I am not an expert. Would someone be good enough to explain this one to me?
• How about that offensive line? The backup center goes down in the middle of the game, but the third string guy comes through. Tip of the hat to Wilkerson and the rest of the gang. That flea flicker play never would've got off the ground without some great protection.
• But let's not forget the Cincinnati backfield. Rudi, Jeremi, and sometimes Reggie Kelly all played wonderfully on pass protection. The Ravens ate Big Ben alive last week, but out boys gave Palmer enough time to do his thing.
• Speaking of which, great game by Palmer all around, but he is still throwing off that back foot, isn't he? Kudos to the Cincy WR corps for coming down with most of those high passes, but methinks Carson is still not 100% confident in his new knee.
• But I really don't have much else negative to say about this game. We could've scored a few more points just to close it out, but our D held up their end of the bargain. Great game in almost every aspect.

WHO DEY?