Anyone watching Bengals v. Packers?

[paintmered]

And the bengals survive.

whew

[savafan]

I wonder if Chris Perry would make a good #1 NFL running back.

[traderumor]

I wonder if Chris Perry would make a good #1 NFL running back.

Yea, I wonder. I'm becoming a big Chris Perry fan.

I also wonder if Bratkowski could have figured out that the middle and off tackle wasn't there for Rudi in the second half. Brat is an enigma wrapped in a riddle at times with the offensive game plan. Sometimes, he looks like a genius, but then others he seems to be to slow to go away when something is not working in a given game. Or is just flat out overly conservative (Tennessee) or overly aggressive (kept going for the home run today). BTW, I think it was Bill Maas on the commentary today, and he gave some excellent analysis and kept the cheerleading either way to a minimum. A good example is when he noted that Rudi might like to run over people downhill, but might get more yardage with some cutbacks on an improv when the hole isn't there. I also liked his quick call of "heh, that looks like the Burger King guy" when the fan stole the ball from Favre. Classic.

[traderumor]

Oh, and the orange jersey with the orange helmet were very seasonal, as in the boys looked like The Great Pumpkins.

[traderumor]

And the defensive pass interference call was Reeeeeeeeeeeeediculous. That was one Maas could have saved the excuse for, the Packers receiver running through the DB is not impeding progress by the defensive player, that was a textbook example of offensive pass interference.

[WMR]

Truly amazing that a team can have 5 (!) interceptions and still have a chance to tie the game on the last play of the game.

[Sabo Fan]

Am I the only person who thought that this was another game in which Favre got a free pass? What other QB could throw five interceptions, have his team lose by a touchdown and not get blamed for a loss? Eliminate the INT's and the Packers win that game, yet no media member can spew anything but praise for Favre and how he's a "warrior" and a "leader" and a "competitor." Any other QB has five picks in a game and he's crucified, Favre does it and he's praised. Makes no sense to me.

[Blimpie]

Am I the only person who thought that this was another game in which Favre got a free pass? What other QB could throw five interceptions, have his team lose by a touchdown and not get blamed for a loss? Eliminate the INT's and the Packers win that game, yet no media member can spew anything but praise for Favre and how he's a "warrior" and a "leader" and a "competitor." Any other QB has five picks in a game and he's crucified, Favre does it and he's praised. Makes no sense to me.

Sabo: I was thinking the same exact thing yesterday when I watched the game. When I read the local paper this morning, it seemed to even be worse than yesterday...I usually like John Clay's columns, but this one made me want to

Only Favre can fall flat so spectacularly

By John Clay
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST

CINCINNATI - No one else could throw five interceptions, take ridiculous risks, mess up his own trick play, inspire criminal fan behavior, help his team to its sixth loss in seven games and still be worth every penny's worth of admission.

Even the tax.

That's why he's a Legend.

"That's the only way I know how to play," said Brett Favre.

The Legend was dressed in a gray polo shirt, tail out over a white undershirt, with blue jeans, sneakers and a three-day beard. His Green Bay Packers had just lost 21-14 yesterday to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Legend was drained.

He wasn't alone.

"I'm trying to make plays and I know I'm not going to make 'em all," he said. "And that p----- me off. I apologize."

No need. The Legend is 36. The final days of his Hall of Fame career are closing in. Take a long look while you can, America. We may never see his kind again.

A sellout crowd took a long last look yesterday at Paul Brown Stadium, all the spills and thrills and chills, the famous No. 4 in his 212th consecutive start.

These days, the Pack is more likely to get smacked. The last of the gunslingers is almost a one-man team. The Legend is a high-wire act.

"Early in my career I'd do things that didn't really need to be done," he said, his experience never including a losing season as a starter. "Now I feel like I can't afford to waste a play."

So he runs around like a 20-year-old. He fires bullets into slivers of daylight. He draws an 18 and says "hit me."

"I can point to any number of plays I made that cost us," he would say yesterday. "But I can point out any number of plays that kept us in it."

The bad yesterday included a personal high of five picks for a regular-season game. The brilliance was that the five interceptions didn't cause the Legend to change a thing.

"I don't worry about his confidence," said his coach, Mike Sherman.

So, Green Bay down 21-7 midway through the fourth, the Legend hit nine of 12 passes on an 88-yard touchdown drive that tightened matters into a one-possession game.

Then the Pack got the ball back. Fifty-six ticks left. Ball at the Green Bay 10. No timeouts. No. 4 under center. The real fun began.

First play, his 50-yard frozen rope resulted in the Bengals being called for pass interference, spotting the football at the Bengal 47.

Second play, he hit Antonio Chatman for a 19-yard pass that was first deflected off teammate Donald Driver.

Next play, well, right after the snap of the next play, civil disorder broke loose as unbeknownst to the Green Bay quarterback a fan in an orange sweater jumped out of the stands onto a cart and down onto the field where he raced in from the Legend's blind side, and as whistles blew, swiped the ball and took off sprinting 60 yards in the opposite direction.

A pair of guards crashed into each other in a missed tackle before the intruder was submerged by security.

(Wow, defenders really were coming out of nowhere to take the ball from the Packers.)

Did it hurt the Packers' momentum? "It didn't help," said the Legend.

"I won't blame the game on that fan," said his coach.

Still, once order was restored, the Bengals did sack the Legend for a 2-yard loss, and, better still, kept him pinned to the ground as the clock went tick-tick-tick.

When the Bengals finally relented, the clock closing in on 10 seconds, surely everyone in PBS expected the quarterback to spike the ball, stop the clock.

Instead, he rolled left. Though the mind was willing -- "I got what I wanted," he said -- the body was not.

"My leg gave out," he said. "I'm sure it looked bad."

It didn't just look like the Legend crossed the line of scrimmage before a panic flip of the ball forward. He did cross the line. Flags flew. The clock struck zero.

The Legend lay flat on his back at the 15-yard line. It seemed like everyone in the entire stadium wanted to rush down and pick him up.

"I'm lining up against him, but I'm amazed," said the Bengals' Deltha O'Neal. "He's a great player, a great competitor, one of the best to ever play this game."

Giving it everything he's got. "That's the only way I know how to play," said the Legend.

[Unassisted]

Am I the only person who thought that this was another game in which Favre got a free pass? What other QB could throw five interceptions, have his team lose by a touchdown and not get blamed for a loss? Eliminate the INT's and the Packers win that game, yet no media member can spew anything but praise for Favre and how he's a "warrior" and a "leader" and a "competitor." Any other QB has five picks in a game and he's crucified, Favre does it and he's praised. Makes no sense to me.

The record-breaking sack he gave Michael Strahan at season's end a few years ago is a great illustration of something. By cultivating relationships with opposing defenders, he has assured himself of not getting cheap shot injuries in pileups. That in turn enabled him to build that long streak of starting games.

Favre has always been savvy about which side his bread is buttered on. He's always been open and friendly with reporters. They love him because he's quotable and he answers tough questions in a very self-effacing way. All of that relationship-building is really paying big dividends now that he's not playing at the elite level, in exactly the ways that you mentioned above. It also paid off a couple of years back when he came out publicly about his addiction to painkillers. Instead of being a negative, it just added to his aura as a guy who overcomes adversity.

If he comes back next year at this level of play, IMO, that would be overplaying his hand and I think you'll finally see noticeable grumbling in the media.

[smith288]

The record-breaking sack he gave Michael Strahan at season's end a few years ago is a great illustration of something. By cultivating relationships with opposing defenders, he has assured himself of not getting cheap shot injuries in pileups. That in turn enabled him to build that long streak of starting games.

I disagree. That happened 3 yrs ago... I highly doubt his longevity is attributed to that.

[traderumor]

The only difference between Brett Favre's performance yesterday and one that any number of former Bengals QBs like Akili Smith or David Klingler could have had was the the Packers D was incredible, well and Brat beating Rudi's head against the wall off tackle after TOs, and Palmer not letting TJ catch 15 balls yesterday underneath. If the outcome had been like the Vikings game earlier, I don't think the "amazement" would have been quite so evident. In other words, the consequences of the TOs had nothing to do with Favre, yet he is somehow credited with the outcome.