Anybody noticing a trend here?
Or is it just me?
I could have swore the Bengals on Sunday pulled out a third straight win in the final seconds and beat Cleveland, 23-20, by the hairs of their chinny-chin-chins.
The Bengals haven't started this fast in three years, so excuse my double-take. Or do the Bengals now require a triple-take?
If we all wake up on Monday and this actually occurred. And the Bengals really did move into a tie with Baltimore atop the AFC North with a 3-1 record, then it looks like it's taking head coach Marvin Lewis at least 100 games to finally get this thing right in Cincinnati.
Sure, the Bengals made the postseason in 2005. And yeah, who knows how far they might have advanced in the AFC playoffs that season had Carson Palmer not suffered against Pittsburgh that devastating knee injury on the Bengals' first offensive possession of their first playoff appearance in 15 years.
And, you bet, the Bengals have had just two losing seasons during the first six years of the Marvin Lewis era.
They occurred each of the last two seasons.
That's the rub.
After showing signs of a breakthrough four years ago and starting the 2006 "Road to the Super Bowl" with a hot 5-2 start, the Bengals seemingly regressed with just 15 wins over the next 42 games.
More accurately, the injury-riddled Bengals seemingly regressed.
And that's why Lewis' coaching record is a mediocre 49-50-1 after his first 100 regular-season games.
It's hard enough to win in the NFL without having to attempt it with 15-20 players a year landing on Injured Reserve. But that's exactly what the Bengals were trying to do the last four years, and they failed miserably. Matters were made worse last season when injured franchise quarterback Carson Palmer was lost for the final three months with a bad wing.
The Bengals haven't been able to turn things completely around under Lewis in large part because every time they turned around, a key Bengal was going down with an injury, or was getting arrested, or was going down with the rest of the sinking ship, and the sick bay!
But Skipper Lewis has been running a tighter ship these days and the better-behaved Bengals are back on course after they had their sea legs knocked out from under them over the last few years.
While dealing with rashes of injuries under Lewis to several first- and second-round draft picks - including ill-fated Georgia linebackers David Pollack and Odell Thurman from the draft of 2005, tailbacks Chris Perry (2004 draft) and Kenny Irons (2007), and linebacker Keith Rivers (2008) for the final nine games last season - the Bengals have, and still are trapped in a state of suspended progress. They won't be together in their projected 2009 form at least until this year's injured first-rounder Andre Smith completely recovers from a preseason broken foot that derailed his NFL career just as it was getting started, following a lengthy contract holdout.
Yet, the Bengals are 3-1 today for the first time since 2006 and for just the third time in 19 years.
The trend in Cincinnati has gone from losing to winning - the Bengals have won six of their last seven games - and winning at the last moment, to boot. And like a good fireworks display, these winning Bengals save their best for last.
The Bengals beat the Browns Sunday in the twice-annual renewal of the Battle of Ohio on the last play of the game, in overtime, after beating the Steelers the previous week in the final seconds and holding off the Packers in Green Bay with a late fourth-quarter score.
“I guess we stayed as advertised," said coach Lewis, whose Bengals would be 4-0 if not for the fluke loss to Denver.
In overtime Sunday, Shayne Graham put aside earlier distractions in the form of a blocked field goal and a blocked extra-point kick, both by opportunistic nose tackle Shaun Rogers - after off-the-mark long snaps by the suddenly erratic Brad St. Louis - to nail a 31-yard field goal with 7 seconds to play.
That put the final nail in Cleveland's coffin, after the Browns very nearly pulled off their first win of the season and the first win of the Eric Mangini Era thanks to Rogers, recently re-installed starting quarterback Derek Anderson, injury-replacement tailback Jerome Harrison, rookie receiver Mohamed Masaquoi and returner extraordinaire Josh Cribbs.
Anderson, in his first start since taking over for Brady Quinn last week, looked nearly like his former All-Pro self with 26-for-48 passing for 269 yards, a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Steve Heiden in the second quarter and just one interception. Anderson threw three picks the previous Sunday.
Harrison, subbing for injured Bengals killer Jamal Lewis (hamstring), ran a very Jamal Lewis-like 29 times for 121 yards for his first 100-yard rushing game as a pro. Masaquoi had his first 100-yard receiving game, with eight catches for 148 yards. Cribbs tried to break the Bengals' backs over and over again by amassing 223 return yards and constantly giving the Browns' offense good field position.
Billy Cundiff's second field goal in the fourth quarter gave Cleveland a 20-14 lead with 6:34 to play in the game. And the Browns, after being on the field just 1 minute and 27 seconds in the first quarter, were on the verge of clawing to victory No. 1 in 2009, in comeback style despite torrents of team turbulence.
But that ole' Bengals bad luck continued to be beaten back following the Immaculate Deflection loss in the opener against unbeaten Denver, and a passel of bad snaps by St. Louis.
The Bengals squandered a 14-0 second-quarter lead. They built it on the first of two Chad Ochocinco touchdowns in the opening quarter and Robert Geathers' 72-yard run in the first minute of the second quarter following a fumble recovery, set up when Leon Hall forced the ball loose. But the Bengals wound up beating the Browns with more amazing late-game studliness from Palmer, for the third Sunday in a row.
And yes, that is a trend, folks. And, by golly, on Monday, the Bengals will be tied for first in the division with a chance to take sole possession next Sunday with a road win over the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens.
Cleveland was set up as a possible loss for the Bengals after they gave their all against Pittsburgh, with the Ravens coming up Week 5.
But the Bengals did not get caught looking ahead because they kept hammering the run with Cedric Benson despite lost momentum in the run game early. Then they turned loose Palmer, who turned himself loose on the Bengals' final overtime drive. Palmer, on fourth-and-11 from the Browns' 41, couldn't find an open receiver and tucked the ball and ran for a drive-sustaining 15-yard keeper.
Said coach Lewis about Palmer's daring run for the critical first down, "I told the offense, 'Let's not give the ball back to them.' You don't want to punt it there. I think our guys were pretty confident in getting something going and making the play. [The Browns] didn’t have any timeouts left, so if we did give the ball over to them there, it isn’t necessarily that they had a big advantage."
At first, Lewis wanted to punt the ball on the fateful fourth-down play.
“Marvin was saying we were going to punt, but I told him I think we can get this, let’s go for the win instead of going for the tie," said Palmer, who on the play took advantage of running room underneath the Browns' cover-2 defense. "That’s why Marvin is great. Some guys, once they make up their mind, they make up their mind. He listened to what I had to say. He takes coaches opinions and players’ input and waits to make a decision."
The Bengals went 67 yards on 13 plays for the winning field goal. Key plays on the drive were a Palmer 20-yard pass to Chris Henry on third-and-10 from the Cincinnati 20, and a 20-yard completion two plays later to Laveranues Coles despite two Browns penalties on the play. And back-to-back gainers by Brian Leonard, on a 9-yard completion then a 4-yard run to the Cleveland 13, which set up Graham for his last-play herocis.
The Bengals tied it 20-20 with 1:55 left in regulation on a Palmer-to-Ochocinco TD hook-up that capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive in which the Bengals' offense suddenly came alive after failing to produce a first down on seven consecutive possessions. The Bengals drove against a Cleveland defense that was forced to play No. 3 receiver Mike Furrey at safety in the depleted secondary's nickel package.
Palmer continued his bid for comeback player of the year honors with 23-for-44 passing for 230 yards and one interception. Ochocinco was held to three catches and 24 yards. But two of those catches were huge, especially the first TD, a leaping grab in the end zone just before action carried him out of bounds. Leonard led the team with six catches. Reserve tight J.P. Foschi led with 44 receiving yards on three grabs. Benson had more running lanes as the game wore on, as the Bengals stayed committed to the run until it paid off, and rushed 18 times for 74 yards. Change-of-pace rookie tailback Bernard Scott had six carries for 41 yards incuding a big 16-yard fourth-quarter run.
On defense, end Antwan Odom recorded his league-leading eighth sack, linebacker Brandon Johnson led with nine tackles and Johnathan Joseph had his second interception in two weeks. The defense held Cleveland receiver Braylon Edwards without a catch for the first time in his career.
As for the Browns, who dropped to 0-4 and lost their 10th straight game, winless first-year coach Mangini said, "I couldn’t be prouder of how they played and competed through five quarters. I thought that there were some great individual efforts, as well as some great collective efforts. Shaun Rogers blocking a field goal, blocking the PAT there late. (Mohamed) Massaquoi, the things he was able to do offensively. Jerome Harrison, guys like Mike Furrey, playing some on defense. There were just a lot of really good individual efforts."