That was fun.’’
-- Joseph Lee Burrow, 4:45 p.m. Sunday.
You don’t know the half of it, bubba.
Joe Burrow was born on Dec. 10, 1996. Two days earlier, the Bengals had beaten the Ravens, 21-14, to kick off a three-game winning streak at the end of the season. The streak allowed them to finish 8-8. It was their 6th consecutive non-winning season, on their way to 14 non-winning years in a row.
Here’s a line I wrote some 10 days ago, in advance of UC’s appearance in the college football Final 4 – “you can’t appreciate pleasure without first knowing pain.’’ That explains what occurred Sunday at PBS, where 64K-plus went appropriately insane.
That one yesterday offered tangible reward for the wilderness walk Bengals fans have made for most of their adult lives. It was fun for Saint Joe, one of its architects. It was more than that for you guys.
It was quirky, it was almost catastrophic. It was everything the ’21 Bengals have hoped to be. At once, it thrust them into the center of the AFC title photo, while also causing Bengals futures to soar. Who’s buying stock in this team now? Everyone should be.
I don’t like the term “it feels different’’ mainly because what does that mean? Different to you is, well, different to someone else. Games aren’t won or lost on feelings. How would you “feel’’ today had Pringle’s 89-yard return TD not been invalidated by a holding penalty?
The play on the field has been foreign to Bengals fans, in a good way. The comebacks (yet another yesterday) the young attitudes with zero bad memories. Everything has been fresh. And that is different.
And yet. . .
The Bengals needed every ounce of good fortune to pull it off, and every bit of Burrow’s talent. (And Ja’Marr Chase’s, most definitely.) Name another team that went 0-for-6 at its opponent’s 1-yard line, in one drive, and won the game. I’ll wait.
That doesn’t dim Sunday Fun Day. It does suggest the Men needed some divine providence to pull it off.
That matters little in the moment, which is where everyone around here should be living. It has been an amazing football season here. It’s not done yet.
Without further ado. . .
TEN THINGS FROM 34-31.
1. Feel free to question Zac Taylor’s decisions at the 1-yard line. He said he didn’t want to give the ball back to Patrick Mahomes with just a 3-point lead and any time on the clock. I’m thinking there was some hubris at work there, too. Whatever, at some point during those 6 plays for 0 yards, Taylor crossed the line of rationality.
2. Refs bailed him out on 4th down, two plays in a row. The second call, hands to the face, was borderline. Quite possibly, some refs don’t throw that flag in that situation. “I’d like to comment, but I don’t want to be fined,’’ was KC coach Andy Reid’s reaction.
3. Chase was superhuman. Burrow was right there with him.
4. Chase said Burrow was “10 times smarter than what he used to be’’ when it comes to blitz recognition. If you can’t blitz Burrow and your secondary can’t handle Chase, Higgins and Boyd straight up, where do you go from there?
5. Which is why, to me, the dream 1st-round playoff matchup would have the Belichicks in here two Sundays from now. How might the master draw things up?
6. Burrow left the game with a tweaked knee. He got pounded again yesterday. He’ll start at Cleveland next Sunday, assuming he’s able. The Bengals are still pursuing the top seed. Good thing is, KC plays Saturday, and can the No. 2 seed with a W. If the Chiefs do that, resting Burrow should be the choice.
7. For at least half the stadium (the half I could see) Ravens score updates were not shown, not all game. I guess Taylor didn’t want his guys being distracted. That’s kind of little league, but OK.
8. Anybody pay homage to the owl after the game? Maybe you don’t know what I’m talking about. Lookitup.
9. Third-and-27 could go down as one of the most important plays in franchise history.
10. Getting the holding call that nullified the kickoff-return TD was the play that turned the game. That 89-yard return with 41 seconds left in the half would have made it 35-17. Do the Bengals make that up in the 2nd half? Not likely.
Now, then. . .
AS FOR FRIDAY IN DALLAS. . .
1. Interesting that UC offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock will leave for LSU, where he will take the same job for Brian (Ragin’ Cajun) Kelly. Denbrock called a bad game in the Cotton Bowl. He didn’t do much to get Desmond Ridder in space and out of the pocket, nothing to try to create some rhythm and tempo for his QB, ignored TE Josh Whyle etc. etc.
2. You knew from ‘Bama’s 1st possession how Nick Saban wanted the game to go. Pound the ball between the tackles, avoid UC’s stellar pass defenders. The Tide overwhelmed the Bearcats on both sides of the line.
3. The talent gap was huge. Not sure how UC ever closes it.
4. Not that the ‘Cats didn’t have chances. A muffed punt by Alabama, an interception at the UC 49. They deserved to play in the game. But they were never going to win it.
5. Regardless, the program is in a very good place. A good QB to replace Ridder (Prater), recruiting was very successful before the Cotton exposure, looming move to the Big 12 will bring a desperately needed cash infusion.
6. And Fickell’s still here.
7. Wes Miller should be grateful the weekend lens was squarely on UC football. Blown out at home by Tulane?
TRIP REPORT. . . I fully expected the travel to be a cluster. Long security lines, canceled flights, delayed flights. I truly thought I’d be spending last Thursday night somewhere other than Dallas.
Haha.
There was NO ONE at CVG for my outbound leg. The connection to DFW from Chicago was silk. On the return, DFW was a library. Checking the Departures monitor, I counted 3 CANCELED flights, out of maybe 300 listed.
Does make one grateful. And wonder about the national news we get.
Sure, there was no bad weather anywhere along my routes. But weren’t we told that COVID would make travel miserable, as well? And don’t delays and cancellations in one city cause pain elsewhere?
Did the news people simply aim cameras at lines in one or two cities (Seattle, say) and decide the situation was disastrous?
Makes you say Hmmmm.
JFK. . . I worked in Dallas in the mid-80s, for a now-dead newspaper, the Dallas Times Herald. I never went to Dealey Plaza, the area where the Kennedy assassination occurred. I’m not sure why. I drove past it a few times.
After the game Friday night, I made the 10-minute walk from the hotel, torched an AJ Fernandez maduro and sat on the marble wall at the Grassy Knoll. Dallas has done a nice job telling the sad story of Nov. 22, 1963. Plain and plainly worded, informative plaques put you back in that horrible moment. An X painted on the road marks where the president was shot while riding in a convertible in the middle of his motorcade.
I stayed for more than an hour, almost to midnight, until the maduro was nothing but ash. I was transfixed. I couldn’t tell you why. I was 5 the day of the assassination. I remember seeing complete strangers crying in the street.
I’m not the biggest JFK fan. His hubris during the Cuban Missile Crisis put our country on the nuclear brink. He was the first president to send troops to Vietnam. But Kennedy had an undeniable charisma and faith in this country’s goodness. We don’t have that now. We no longer live in that America.
As I walked back to the hotel, the city sky was lighting up with explosions. Fireworks marked Dallas’ new year. They sounded like gunshots.
RIP, JOHN MADDEN. . . Your mere presence made life a little more fun. Madden was what can happen when we take our jobs seriously, but not ourselves. Bravo.
YOU, TOO, BETTY WHITE. . . who knew how fun life can be, if we have the right attitude about it. Golden girl, indeed.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Love me some Hall and Oates. Frequent Perusers know that. This is Top 5 for me.
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