TJ Troup 
Very, VERY short column today, but wanted to address a couple of issues, and set the tone for the offseason. The Eternally Stupid Putrid Network online had over 60 so-called "experts/pundits" pick the winner and the score. Rob Ninkovich had the Bengals winning 28-17, and Ms. Shelley Smith who has no clue about pro football had Cincy winning 43-21.
I wonder if Raheem Morris will invite her over for coffee? I sure as hell won't! Neither gave any kind of reasoning why the Bengals would win? The game, much like this enjoyable season had plenty of drama, and was a hard-fought close game.
Michaels & Collinsworth are top-notch (my opinion), and by having a referee who lets' the guys play. . . there was flow to the game. Did they miss some calls? Hell yes, yet that is human error, and part of the game. John Turney detailed a couple aspects to the game in his most recent column and will dovetail onto that with the stat I previously mentioned...since the Rams allowed only 85 yards a game rushing over the course of the last nine games, they would not be run on.
Though Mixon "popped" through a couple of holes for some yards, overall Cincinnati could not force Raheem Morris to adapt/adjust with man coverage as often as Joey B. would have liked to see. Final thoughts on the game; having been there as both a player and a coach. You just never know when you are going to be needed, thus America learned last night that Hopkins of the Rams just might be the best third-string tight end in pro football.
Boy oh, boy did he deliver! Going to be about a month before my next column. Be prepared for an onslaught of vintage stats, and taking some folks to task in the area of historical research. General George and myself will cross the Delaware and celebrate our birthdays, Hessians be damned.
Its always cool when obscure or little noticed players come up big in the SB. Rapp contributed after missing the postseason and Robinson and Jones were huge against the run for the Rams. Henderson hadnt played for awhile but caught some big time passes from Stafford ...
ReplyDeleteFor the Bengals, Wilson played a great game but got called for a critical penalty when the referees had been keeping the flags in their pockets. Higgins, Chase and Boyd played well but Boyd's drop on a crucial third down with only 6:30 left in the game hurt the team from scoring again. The offensive line gets alot of blame but you have to do whatever it takes to keep Donald from being a factor and once Donald got that bull-rush sack to hold the Bengals to a FG in the third quarter, it seemed like the Ram pass rush came to life the rest of the game. Yes Coach, I believe the Bengals should have ran and thrown to Mixon more.