Bengals Are Back
The Cincinnati Bengals are back as an AFC contender.
Just a few weeks ago, the Bengals seemed to be regressing for the first time during Coach Marvin Lewis's tenure. They'd lost three straight and five of six games to drop their record to 4-5, and a season that began with high hopes was slipping away.
All of that is a fading memory now. They beat the Baltimore Ravens, 13-7, Thursday night in Cincinnati for their third consecutive triumph. They kept the Ravens, who fell to 9-3, from clinching the AFC North, and they stayed in the thick of the wild card chase.
A Bengals defense that had looked oh-so-vulnerable during the 1-5 slide nearly pitched its second shutout in a row. The Ravens crossed midfield only once in the first three quarters and didn't score until just over a minute remained in the game. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was solid again; his passer rating of "only" 97.7 ended a streak of three straight games in which it had been above 120. He threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on a third-quarter flea-flicker.
"We're rolling now," Palmer told reporters after the game. "Hopefully we'll wind up getting a spot in the playoffs."
By Mark Maske |
December 1, 2006; 10:26 AM ET
| Category:
Bengals
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Posted by: Jack | December 1, 2006 12:31 PM
I think both Gumbel and Collinsworth are poor announcers, they both belong in the broadcast booth.
Posted by: steelerFanWithBagOverHead | December 1, 2006 1:09 PM
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You see it time and time again in the NFL--a team has a huge win, as the Ravens did over the Steelers on Sunday and then comes out flat and uninspired in the next game. The Ravens still have such an edge in the AFC North that the title is all but locked up. However, by coming out flat they squandered any chance they had of forcing the Colts to play in Baltimore. That would have been an amazing and historic game.
And is it just me, or is the NFL Network nuts for having Bryant Gumbel do play by play? He's terrible! Better that they should put Collinsworth in the booth by himself.