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I don't know about you, but I can't stop thinking about Bengals-Chiefs.
I have 40 leftover thoughts. Here ya go:
Things we are talking too much about: Officiating.
Things we are not talking enough about: The Bengals didn’t look ready for what hit them in the first quarter.
The big brother, shoulder to shoulder support that BJ Hill offered Joseph Ossai after the game in front of the media is one of the coolest things I’ve seen.
If we are going to applaud the Bengals for playing with a chip on their shoulder and looking for every shred of motivation they can find….real and imagined……we should not be surprised by or doubt the fact that the Chiefs found motivation in ‘Burrowhead’ and comments by the mayor.
I thought the Bengals were going to win it when they got the ball back with 2:30 left. I would have bet big money they were going to win it when Joe Burrow completed the 3rd and 16 to Hayden Hurst to the 33-yard line with :50 left.
From cocky last week to conspiracy theorists this week……too many Bengals fans have been acting just like the fans they don’t like. It’s not a good look.
That was a really poor punt when the Bengals needed a really good one.
Ted Karras just looks and sounds like a leader.
Truth be told, the Bengals didn’t play all that well on Sunday…..and yet they had the ball twice in the final 9-minutes of a tie game with a chance to win. That’s frustrating on both counts.
The Bengals defense held KC six points below its season average…..and did it at Arrowhead.
The Bengals last two postseason losses have been sealed by dominant defensive players owning the Bengals OL. Aaron Donald in the SB and Chris Jones on Sunday.
What a gamble, what a throw and what a catch on the Burrow to Chase 35-yard completion on 4th and 6. It would have/could have gone down as one of the greatest plays in Cincinnati sports history.
The Ossai play was one of 129 snaps in the game.
One officiating play caught my eye in real time….the do-over 3rd down. That was dumb. But I’m not breaking down game tape like the zapruder film, frame by frame to find more plays.
I love how Mike Hilton plays football. I’d think he would admit Sunday was one of his poorest games of the season.
Name a Bengal that had a great game on Sunday in the biggest game of the season. Name a Bengal that had a good game.
The Bengals offense became much, much easier to defend when Tyler Boyd went out with his thigh injury. He played just 15 of 66 snaps.
I’m reminded of the line by Stinger in Top Gun: “Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."
How many fans complaining about officiating are the ones that laughed about Ravens fans and the rest of the country thinking the Bengals got away with a block in the back on the Fumble in the Jungle?
Trey Hendrickson’s broken wrist on December 11 had a big impact down the stretch. He had four tackles and 0 sacks over his final 5 games…going from playing 71% of snaps before the injury, to just 43% after.
The Bengals faced the 31st ranked red zone defense Sunday and scored 1 TD on 3 red zone trips.
Cam Taylor-Britt is a baller….that dude is going to be really, really good.
I have no issue with what Travis Kelce said. The mayor earned that. But Kelce needs some new and current material.
Didn’t we discuss last week that just because the OL was good vs the Bills, it didn’t mean they’d automatically be good for the Chiefs?
The Chiefs had three WR’s suffer injuries in Sunday’s game, Kadarius Toney, Mecole Harman and JuJu Smith-Schuter. Mahomes still threw for 326 yards.
Joe Burrow is awesome. And there is no QB I’d rather have. But he wasn't great Sunday. I'm not sure anyone could say he was good. No doubt the OL played a role in that. But he threw two picks, it should have been three, and his intentional grounding was a killer.
Lap says Alex Cappa would have played in the Super Bowl.
This Bengals offense gained zero yards in the 1st quarter and produced no TD's in the 1st half of their biggest game of the year.
Think of all the time people spent talking about a coin flip that never happened and a neutral site AFC Championship game that never took place.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling last week vs Jacksonville: 1 catch, 6 yards…His six games prior to Sunday: 107 yards. Sunday vs Bengals 6-116-TD.
Burrow led the Bengals in rushing with 30 yards Sunday.
The Chiefs had seven rookies make plays Sunday, including two rookies that picked off Burrow and one that tipped one of the interceptions, another with a sack and another with the 29-yard punt return.
Last night, Lap called it another quality performance by Jackson Carman. I feel pretty good about him being a part of the starting OL next season.
I get that ball security is a major component of winning in the NFL. I can’t believe the Bengals can’t find a punt returner that secures the ball AND can be a game-changing threat with the ball.
The 3rd down do-over resulted in three more plays being run and 1:03 coming off the clock. And the Chiefs punted.
A Week 1 home loss to the….Steelers cost the Bengals home field advantage.
The Bengals had the ball with a chance to win the Super Bowl on their final drive last year and a chance to win the AFC Championship on their final drive this year. How many more chances like that come their way?
This team was so easy to root for. I’m going to miss it.