This is paying my due to Zeb for accepting his “Gut Feeling”
challenge that the Cincinnati Bengals would defeat my Green Bay Packers on September
22. It’s taken me this long to actually sit down and write it because I think I
was too angry, disappointed, or shocked by that game.
As a recap, before Aaron Rodgers took the field, the Bengals
led 14-0. Then the Bengals decided to make a game of it by coughing up the ball
on four straight possessions, but the Packers only had a 16-14 lead at
half-time. The Packers scored two offensive touchdowns to begin the third
quarter to go up 30-14, and then promptly took their foot off the gas. Give
Cincy the benefit of never quit playing because they scored two TDs to close to
30-27 when the fateful fourth down fumble by Jonathan Franklin was scooped up
by Terence Newman who ran 58 yards for the winning TD. I really felt the
momentum change when Marvin Jones had that 22 yard reception and Cincy got an
additional 15 yards on the personal foul on Tramon Williams. Just plain
fricking stupid.
Heroes: There were no heroes on the Packers side. The
entire Bengals team should get the award for their never quit attitude representative
of their coach Marvin Lewis.
Goats: In no particular order with no particular
value of blame, there’s many goats on the Packers. Starting with Jeremy Ross – thank God they released
him on Monday after the game, should have made him walk back from Cincy. His
fumble (second of this short season) of a kick-off at the 2 allowed Cincy to go
up 14-0. Aaron Rodgers – looked like
a rookie. Two interceptions, leading his receivers to get walloped over the
middle (Finley), and having passes knocked down repeatedly is especially
disappointing after throwing for 480 yards against Washington.
Offensive line – you guys gave up
another 4 sacks making it 10 in only three games. The thought of having Seneca
Wallace as your backup QB ought to make you play better. Mike McCarthy
– you had only two running backs active for the game and had them both go out
with injuries. That’s a roll of the dice that came up craps. Jonathan Franklin – yeah, you were
almost THE hero of the game by coming off the bench and rushing for 103 yards;
but that fumble cost us the game.
Injuries are killing us again. Was it GB’s first possession
when Jermichael Finley went out due to a concussion? James Starks left in the second
quarter with a twisted knee and looked to be on pace to rush for over 100 yards
for a second straight week. Jonathan Franklin left after injuring his
foot/ankle but returned on the Packer’s last possession but was ineffective
trying to pass block. And Clay Matthews didn’t play in the second half after tweaking
a thigh muscle that plagued him previously. He was pretty disruptive in sacking
Andy Dalton and even forced BenJarvis Green-Ellis to fumble. His injury really
started GB’s downslide in the second half. Thank God Green
Bay has an early bye this week in hopes of getting
well.
Well, you can’t win them all; but this one hurt because it
was given away.
3 comments:
You're not the only one that was shocked. I'm still like "What?" over a number of games last weekend.
I don't think this weekend is any better, either.
A few games have gotten closer but early on it looked like "trap game" weekend. As for Rick's post, good job as always and anytime your gut tells you my Pats are going to get beat, don't hesitate.
You're too nice, Rick! I like the "brag" posts over the "eat crow" posts, like when you get to poke your "I-told-you-so" finger in the eye of the loser! ("LOSER!!") LOL Okay, you were being "PC," I'll give you credit for taking the high ground. But a nice loud "HAHAHAHA--LOSER!" sure feels good! :-)
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