Life under the bright lights is a common occurrence for teams that are winning. Once the victories start coming, the demands for prime time participation gets heavier. The Cincinnati Bengals are a team that has just been indoctrinated into the scheme of late night viewing. The Bengals are going to have to adjust to the perils of big time football and move ahead.
When the Bengals started the season with eight straight victories, there was a consensus that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the winning ways. There were even guarantees made on them being the first to crumble under the heat of worldwide attention. The Bengals have had their share of close calls. Fortunately, Andy Dalton engineered comeback wins to keep the unbeaten streak going. The pressure finally got to the Bengals, and they lost to the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football .
Faced with another showdown on Sunday Night Football , and a short week, the stakes were high and a statement game was a glaring reality. Rumors were afloat that the team had played a soft schedule and the Arizona Cardinals would be the ultimate test. The Bengals lost. But it was a loss mired in controversy and second guesses.
With two straight losses in prime time, the boo birds have returned to haunt the Bengals. Fairweather fans have begun the mass exodus, and analysts are calling Andy Dalton “Playoff Andy” again. To be fair, the 8-2 record is not so bad. When compared to the mediocre play of the AFC this year, the Bengals are right in the hunt with the Patriots. In fact, Cincinnati is now tied for the second seed playoff position, if the season ended today.
Keeping things in perspective, the losses haven’t been entirely the fault of Dalton and Co. Arizona benefitted from a phantom foul that had Marvin Lewis angry enough to address the situation after the game. The officials have been inconsistent with penalties this year, and the Bengals finally got caught up in the insanity.
Marvin Lewis and the Bengals scrutinized the officiating, when a fourth quarter call awarded Arizona a chip shot field goal to win the game Sunday night. Lewis was livid via ESPN . Domata Peko was flagged for simulating a snap call, causing Cardinals linemen to move. When a member of the Competition Committee is peeved, something isn’t right.
“I trust what our player did and said,” Lewis said. “He’s alerting a run and not anything to do with what they’re saying. I don’t see how they make that call at that point in the game like that. I trust our guy to be honest with me.”
Peko was even more stunned than Lewis. That type of call is rarely made.
“I don’t think I have ever seen that call, ever since I have been in the NFL. We had way too many penalties. That was the name of the game. We were fighting the refs and the Cardinals.”
As the Bengals log more playing time in front of national and worldwide audiences, they’ll have to learn how to “fight the refs,” as Peko stated. It comes with the territory, and championship caliber teams are expected to find a way out of the madness to win. Unless the Bengals expect to blowout the rest of their schedule, those types of games will be the norm.
There has also been a breakdown with the offensive game planning of Hue Jackson. The Bengals have suddenly turned into Air Coryell without the power running game. Playing in the AFC North, the Bengals have traditionally had a strong running game to compliment the passing. This season, Jeremy Hill has lost the luster of his rookie season. His performance pales in comparison to Giovanni Bernard. But Bernard is hardly used.
In the loss to Arizona, Bernard shined for the Bengals each time he touched the ball. Yet, he wasn’t used on critical downs that could have helped Cincinnati win. If there’s any hope of hurdling the two-game losing streak, the Bengals coaches need to make a decision on the running back situation.
Andy Dalton and his teammates played a great game. They had to battle stage fright, refs, and the Arizona Cardinals. But they shouldn’t have to fight coaching decisions, too. Life under the bright lights ain’t easy.
[Photo by Christian Peterson/Getty Images]
