Maybe it was all the buzz I kept hearing on sports radio 660am (WFAN). Maybe it was the animated shouting of Mike Francesa, informing Jets fans that their victory over the Colts was a gift. Or maybe it was the rallying cries of Craig Carton, who all week long was coordinating a Jets prep rally, while planning to cross the Brooklyn Bridge in a Speedo. Carton was already proclaiming victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in wild card weekend. Maybe it was Chad Johnson informing the media his knee was fine, after he worked it out over a recent evening of sexual activity. (The story was featured in the New York Post). Or maybe it was just all the playoff hype and excitement that can be found in late January when the NLF’s playoff season kicks offs.
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Whatever the reason, I decided to take a look on Stub Hub to see what playoff tickets were going for in Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium for the Jets/Bengals wildcard game. NFL tickets are always ridiculously expensive. Even prices for a regular season game tend to be out of control. So when I fired up my computer I was expecting to see the same outrageous prices I was accustomed to. To my immediate shock, decent seats in the upper deck and end zone were available in Cincinnati for as low as $40.00. I was stunned! Surely this was not what I was prepared for! I could never see an Eagles or Giants game for $40.00 bucks even in the preseason, let alone the playoffs. About the same time that my eyes were discovering these ticket prices on Stub Hub, my fingers began texting my Misses. On a complete whim, I wrote: “do you want to go to Cincinnati?” Well I should have known better. One of the things she loves most about me is my spontaneity. Actually it’s a love hate thing, but in the case of an NFL cross-country road trip, it was all love this time.
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I began thinking about the long strange season for both these NFL teams I was about to see.
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The 2009/2010 Cincinnati Bengals were well documented on the HBO series “Hard Knocks” (a multi piece documentary commemorating their preseason and August practice schedule) to kick off the season. The stern leadership from owner Mike Brown, the dominating personality of head coach Marvin Lewis, and the usual antics of Chad Johnson, were all captured very intimately. The Cincinnati Bengals overcame tremendous adversity over the long football season. They overcame injuries, tragic deaths within the organization, a shaky second half, and a losing reputation throughout the league. (The Bengals have not won a playoff game since 1990, and have only made the playoffs once between then and now.)
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Then there are the New York Jets. They technically started their 2009/2010 season by losing Brett Farve and Eric Mangini. NFL coaching heir and defensive guru, Rex Ryan; and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez quickly replaced them. Ryan, who New Yorkers rapidly learned, doesn’t do any thing small. His media comments are as large and outrageous as is his stomach. Ryan, wrote the Jets off after their week 16 loss to Atlanta, saying that his team had been “eliminated from the playoffs”. Then he came back a day later only to apologize for not knowing his team was still alive and in the playoff hunt. Then before his week 17 match up against the Colts, Rex made a Christmas wish list of players he wanted Indianapolis to bench.
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It was safe to say when we began our 630-mile drive to Cincinnati that this was arguably the most exciting match up of wild card weekend. It took us about eight hours to make the drive from central New Jersey. We did three plus hours on Friday night, and another five on Saturday morning.
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We arrived at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati right at game time. An insane amount of Bengals fans, wearing a sea of orange and black were slowly pouring into the gates around the stadium. There were some Jets fans to be seen, but they were certainly in the vast minority. The noise level was off the charts; the weather was freezing cold.
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Then with 67,000 NFL fans screaming at the top of their lungs, Jets kicker Jay Feely booted the football to the Cincinnati offense to open the game. Bernard Scott caught Feely’s kick at the 8-yard line and returned it 56 yards to start the NFL post season. The Bengals offense went to work on the Jets 36 yard line, and the roar of the crowd was as loud as it would be all day.
Just when it looked as though Cincinnati would have at least a field goal on their opening drive, a fumble recovery by the Jet’s Shaun Ellis led to the first turnover of the day. The Jets would run just six plays on offense before punting the ball right back to the Bengals.
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The Battle of two of the AFC’s top defenses was well underway.
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The first touch down of the game finally occurred with 7:13 left in quarter number one. Carson Palmer dropped a short pass to his left. Laveranues Coles caught the pass, and ran the ball from the 11 yard line, down to the front left pylon and scored the first Bengal points of the post season.
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The first quarter ended with the score 7-0 Cincinnati.
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I had yet to actually sit in my seat through a quarter of football. As it turned out, it didn’t sit more then five minutes during the entire game.
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The Jets and Mark Sanchez had a real hard time moving the ball on the Bengals. In the Jets first 19 plays on offense, they had just 2 first downs. They were looking more and more like the team that struggled down the stretch, before winning their last two games of the regular season. The Jets were trying desperately to break out of their funk by running the ball.
Finally at 12:41 in the second quarter, the Jets running game broke through. It was the run of Jets back, Shonn Green who tied the game. From 39 yards out Green entered the left end of the end zone once again scoring a touch down in the same magic corner of the field that Laveranues Coles had just scored in. Only now the Jets had tied the game at 7-7.
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On the very next Cincinnati possession, the Bengals would turn the ball over to the Jets yet again. A Carson Palmer interception put the New York offense back on the field. Then the play of the game unfolded right before my eyes. I watched as Mark Sanchez rolled out of the pocket, and to his right, while on the Bengals 45 yard line. He began running toward the Jets side line, while looking to pitch a short pass. When he saw that every eligible receiver within 10 yards of him was covered, Sanchez saw an open Dustin Keller near the 20 yard line. Sanchez threw a pass that met Keller down field, and the Jets tight-end took it from there. Keller reached the end zone, breaking the plain with the ball, good for a Jets 14-7 lead.
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The half-time score was, 14-7 the New York Jets over the Cincinnati Bengals.
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I am still having tremendous difficulty describing, in written word, just how cold it was Saturday night in Cincinnati. The Misses lost feeling in her toes, and had to shove a hand warmer down each of her sneakers at half time. I could feel my eyes getting cold, as they were exposed to the frigid air, and they began to water. I was shivering and shaking, and I had cracked open every hand warmer I had with me. As the sun went down the temperature fell well below 23 degrees. The Bengal crowd grew cold and quite, and the momentum was now with the Jets. At 2:23 of the third quarter Thomas Jones scored the Jets third touch down from 9-yards out. The score was 21-7 and the game felt all but over.
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Then Bengals star running back Cedric Benson gave the Cincinnati fans a glimmer of hope. Benson ran a 47-yard touchdown route, to make the score 21-14. The Cincinnati crowd came out of their slump and tried to rally around their team for a very brief moment. But then, on the very next possession the Jets Jay Feely kicked a 20-yard field goal, and the Jets were up by two scores with only 5:17 left in the game.
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The Bengals fate was sealed when Carson Palmer was sacked on his own 43-yard line. Jets defensive lineman, Shaun Ellis, engulfed Palmer’s body, and dropped him to the turf. It was 4th and 22 for Cincinnati, when Palmer hit the ground. The sack ended the game and the season for the Bengals. Mark Sanchez kneeled three times after the two minute warning, and the game was over.
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The final score to game one of wild card weekend was 24-14 the New York Jets over the Cincinnati Bengals.
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At the end of the day, the Cincinnati Bengals can only blame themselves. The turnovers, failed video challenges, and two missed field goals were the reason they lost on Saturday. The New York Jets did not beat the Bengals, the Bengals beat the Bengals.
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Watching Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan exit the stadium from the tunnel just below me (slightly to the right of my section) was an experience like no other. They were so pumped up, grinning from ear to ear. They acknowledged all the die-hard/extreme Jet fans, which made the road trip, and were still hanging out, and cheering them on in the 90% empty stadium.
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For the Bengals the waiting game begins today. Its now 364 days of hard work and dedication, just to get back to where they were yesterday. The Bengals road to the 2010-2011 post season starts right now. It's the kind of grueling exercise that caused coaching legend Bill Parcells to retire from the sidelines. The waiting is truly the hardest part. Luckily coach Marvin Lewis is young and his sprit looks to still be strong.
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For the Jets, it’s on to San Diego. Another week of hype and excitement on WFAN. Another week of outrageous comments from Rex Ryan. Another sudden death playoff game on the path to the Super Bowl. But this time I will not be checking Stub Hub for San Diego Charger tickets. At least I don’t think I will
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