It’s difficult to decide where to start in writing about the Bengals’ dreadful 18-16 playoff loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday night.
There were just so many stupid and embarrassing moments for the Bengals, who have now gone a quarter of a century without a playoff victory.
After quarterback AJ McCarron gallantly led Cincinnati back from a 15-0 second-half deficit to a 16-15 lead with just under two minutes to play, everything imploded.
Running back Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball back to the Steelers when he never should have been fighting for extra yards.
All he needed to do was go down to the ground on three straight plays to make the Steelers use up their timeouts.
Then, the Bengals allowed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers to move the ball down the field in the final moments even though his shoulder was injured and he couldn’t throw the ball with any accuracy farther than five yards.
With time running out, Cincy’s Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones were both flagged for ridiculous personal foul penalties because both players too often play out of control, and Pittsburgh was able to prevail with a short field goal.
A gift-wrapped win, courtesy of the undisciplined Bengals.
No other team in the league wants either Burfict or Jones because it is well known that each is a head case, although both are talented players.
In spite of an 0-7 playoff record – the worst to start a coaching career in NFL history – Marvin Lewis gets to keep his job even though his team humiliated itself (and the league) on national television.
I can’t think of any other NFL team that would keep a head coach with no playoff victories after what transpired Saturday night.
Of course, this is just business as usual for the Bengals’ organization, which keeps making the same mistakes over and over again.
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Trivia Time – Jim Brosnan relieved Reds’ starting pitcher Jim O’Toole in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1961 World Series.
This week’s question – Where did Vontaze Burfict play – and collect numerous personal foul penalties – college football?
