It hit me last Sunday in the third quarter. Andy Dalton dropped back, shuffled right and looked to see if anyone was free in the left flat. There was a collective gasp from 57,000 fans because there was some huge guy down there WIDE open. "Who is that guy?" we wondered as we scrambled for our flip cards.
Welcome to the NFL Jake Fisher. A 306 pound tackle who was drafted to mash people we thought,. That's what he thought too. But there he was Sunday lumbering for a 31-yard gain.
It was the longest pass completion on a "tackle eligible" play in the NFL in 27 years.
That's probably why Fisher looked like the very large cat who ate the canary as he talked about his pass catching prowess in the locker room.
It was an audacious play for sure but it wasn't gimmicky in the sense that the Bengals need some slight of hand to produce offense. It was showing off another weapon, a secret weapon, in an offense that appears to be loaded.
The last time I remember thinking that was 1988. The names have changed. The effect remains the same.
Jake Fisher was Anthony Munoz. Andy Dalton was Boomer Esiason. A.J Green was Eddie Brown. Tyler Eifert was Rodney Holman. Jones and Sanu have become the dependables. You'd have a hard time finding two more dependable guys than Tim McGee and Cris Collinsworth.
And that's just the start. Giovani Bernard was James Brooks. Jeremy Hill was Ickey Woods. No, I haven't found anyone who wants to be Stanley Wilson.
And look up front. Whitworth, Boling, Bodine, Zeitler and Smith used to be Munoz, Montoya, Kozerski, Reimers and Walter.
Direct comparisons are a little dangerous of course. Boomer Esiason said more quotable things in two sentences than Andy Dalton has said in his career. Yet both were doubted as college quarterbacks so much that both weren't drafted until the second round. I think it always motivated Boomer, same for Dalton.
Then of course there's methodical Marvin Lewis versus "The Mad Scientist" Sam Wyche. Different in personality for sure. But both are strong survivors. Marvin has in a dozen years as head coach. That rarely happens in the NFL. Sam survived a miserable strike-shortened 1987 season to get a chance for redemption.
Each had a clever guy running the offense. Hue Jackson who has already been a head coach and Bruce Coslet who would become one.
1988 was a blast, a 12 and 4 celebration in Cincinnati. The Bengals offense averaged 28 points a game, the best in the NFL.
The 2015 Bengals have the same kind of weaponry.
To quote the late great Yogi Berra, is this "deja vu all over again?"
Only if this team makes it to the Super Bowl like that 1988 team did.
I think it has that same kind of chance because it has that same kind of look.
