Week 10/11 recap

Cardinals 35, Bengals 27
Bengals 35, Titans 6


Heading into the gooey quagmire of Heinz Field Sunday, the Bengals have demonstrated some calming improvements recently. First, the hemophiliac-like defense has momentarily stopped the bleeding. It had an episode in the first half to Arizona, but it surged with the momentum of Dorsey’s blocked punt the rest of the way. Last week the defense made Young look...well, young. They’ve stuffed the run as if they might be growing tired of always being criticized. Apparently they have feelings too. I’m proud of them.

All, but Dexter Jackson, that is. He’s beginning to smell like Ohalete, and that smells like moth balls and diapers. Two long completions to Anquan Boldin and Justin Cage can be directly traced to Dex’s heavy feet. When he’s sent on a safety blitz, he makes contact with a quarterback and then tries his hardest to pull the guy down to the ground. There’s no impact to his hits. His equipment is made of old couch cushions.

On a brighter side, the linebackers have elevated their status to serviceable. Dahani Jones and Schlegel also lack speed but they’re pretty good tacklers. Rashad Jeanty somehow makes a difference. Since he’s returned the unit has found some cohesiveness. Geathers is no longer needed to do anything but pass rush and that’s what he’s paid to do. We no longer mourn the loss of the fallen linebackers of yore. We’ll see if they can stop the Steeler steamroller in the soup Sunday (a little Suess action for ya), but they’ve certainly given us some much-needed optimism against the run. I’m so glad Ricky Williams is hurt for the year. I had visions of him racking up 200 yards or so and getting their only win of the year against the Bengals in the finale. I wish him the best next year though.

Hall and Joseph have held up nicely against the deep ball in the recent stretch too. Hall gets better every week and I feel pretty good about that pick. Joseph struggled mightily in the early games this year but must be healthier because he’s playing at around the same level he showed us last year. Deltha continues to make excuses for his mistakes and seems to be talking his way off of this team. He shouldn’t feel betrayed that the organization wants to start it’s two first-round corners. He still has good ball skills when it’s in the air and he occasionally still makes plays, but that’s the biz. Suck it up, Deltha. You’re a professional.

Who doesn’t love DeDe Dorsey? He’s what old-timers like to call “a football player”. Of course they’re all football players, but they say it as if that kind of a guy represents what a football player should be. A do-anything-you-ask kinda guy. A grunt who’s just glad to be playing at all. A Ryan Freel type of football player. DeDe plays with the youthful exuberance of his college days at...Lindenwood? Where in the hell is Lindenwood? Doesn’t matter. He is a different type of weapon for Carson and Brat that they haven’t really seen here before. He’s similar to the Irons/Perry/Watson kind of back, but is still unique in his punt return style of running the ball. He’s a hell of a find off of the scrap heap. One thing Marvin is pretty good at is finding nice buys at the dent and scratch sales of NFL free agency. He picks up a linebacker, examines it closely, wipes off a little dust and dirt, spits on it, polishes it, pats it on it’s head, and tell it to ‘go get em’. Schlegel, Dahani, Jeanty, Marshall, Dorsey, Glen Holt. Marv’s thrifty.

This Sunday night serves as the last hurrah for Bengal fans. Not for any playoff chances, we’re pretty much over that, aren’t we? The odds of a meteor strike seem safer than the playoffs right now. But it’s important because our genetically predisposed venom as Bengal fans surface when we think of the Steelers. Beating them would make a 7-9 season easier to digest. The sweetness from a beaten Steeler team is like no other. We take pleasure in their suffering. It’s sick, really.
But we know all too well that sting we feel from a loss to the Dark Side. We listen to Steeler fans talk their garbage around the office and at the bar. They’re smug little towels waving in our angry faces. We can’t have this happen.
With field conditions similar to those of trench fighting in WWI, our grit is going to be tested. This could be Willie’s last stand if he gives it a go. The aged battle hero slugging his way through the muck and mire may not have enough in the tank to come out of a game like that. Of course I want Willie to be the right tackle for the next 100 years, but the guy is a purple-hearted veteran with some ligament damage. You have to wonder what the last straw would be for a trooper like him.


Mojokong - releasing the inner-ape