The Bengals won a game that they probably should have lost. And when you're on the road to a good season (and I think they are), you have to win games like the one they played Sunday.
Rush for just 57 and let your quarterback get sacked seven times, rare is the time you win those games. But the Bengals won because the Jets kicker was horrid (he left four points on the field) and the Jets are still trying to cover AJ Green.
By the way, why would any team think one defensive back has the skill to cover Green. You must double-team this man and say "we'll let the other guys beat us." But I digress.
Andy Dalton had big numbers Sunday. But his total passing yards are a bit deceiving; 157 of his 386 yards were on three passes. More impressive was Dalton completing 23 of his 30 throws. For a guy who was on his back looking up at the sun seven times, that's not bad.
The Bengals got away with one Sunday. If they play it the same way this coming Sunday against the Steelers, they'll get beat.
Random thoughts from week #1 in the 2016 NFL season ...
I love the way Jack Del Rioplayed it in New Orleans. But if his Raiders had lost because they couldn't convert a two-point play at the end of regulation, what do you think the howling would be like from Raiders fans today? Or the Davis family? Or from Al Davis? You know he'd figure out a way to let his thoughts be known....
The fall-off the Atlanta Falcons have had in recent years is amazing. Meantime, those pesky Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 1-0, with a road win....
It was staggering to see the lack of game awareness by the Dallas Cowboys on their final play of Sunday's game against the Giants. No clock awareness at all....
I get the feeling the Browns will be an easy target this season, for opposing teams,fans and the media.....
Meantime, it looks like the Ravens are a little bit better on offense from last season. Or maybe the Bills defense is just that good. On second thought....my first thought is what I'm going with.
I like the Steelers and 49ers tonight, BTW ...
The University of Cincinnati had a big win at Purdue Saturday. I know, Purdue is a Big 10 bottom feeder. But a road win against a Big 10 team can't be understated. In their quest to join the Big 12 conference, UC needs wins like it had in West Lafayette Saturday. It could stand another win this Thursday night against Houston, another Big 12 wannabe. And if you need any other reason to hope UC gets out of the football purgatory known as the American Athletic Conference, here's one:
Do you think any of the Power 5 conference schools would allow one of their marquee games moved to a Thursday night to accommodate TV? Can you imagine Nick Saban OK-ing a Thursday night game for his Crimson Tide against LSU or Florida or Georgia?
By the way, for all of you UC fans yapping about howyour school belongs in the Big 12, how about buying some tickets for Thursday night's game? As of Sunday night 7,000 tickets remained. Empty seats on national TV is never a good selling point ...
Can you imagine the absolute delirium that would surround the Ohio University football team if it beats Tennessee this Saturday? It must be already near fever pitch afterthose mighty Bobcats defeated Kansas on the road this past Saturday. Of course, this is the same team that lost at home two weeks ago in triple overtime to Texas State ...
Looking forward to Ohio State at Oklahoma already. The Sooners need this game to get back into the playoff conversation. And it would appear that anumber of Ohio State fans plan on heading to Oklahoma for this game ...
Meanwhile at Kentucky, where fans are already wondering how they can dump the Oklahoma head coach's brother (psst...it'll cost you $12 million to buy him out AFTER next season), the Wildcats managed just 149 yards of offense against Florida ...
One of rock's great guitarists, Joe Perry, celebrated his 66th birthday Saturday. Perry co-wrote this song with his Aerosmith band mate, Steven Tyler ...
The idea for the song began with Perry playing the opening riff at a sound check before a concert. Tyler loved it, jumped behind the drums and continued the jam. When the band got into the studio a few months later to cut the album "Toys In The Attic," Tyler brought up the riff again. But the song had no lyrics and worse, no title. With writer's block, the band took a break and walked down the street to catch a movie. Watching the Mel Brooks classic "Young Frankenstein", the Marty Feldman character (Igor) turned to Dr. Frankenstein (played by the late Gene Wilder) and uttered the phrase "walk this way" and proceeded to walk with his hunched back into the Frankenstein castle. The band decided that would be a great title for their riff. And Tyler quickly went back to the studio and wrote the lyrics for what became one of Aerosmith's signature songs.
Anthony Joseph Pereira and the rest of the group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2001.
