An Ode to the Bengals

BengalGirl5150 rumbles,
Cincinnati was stinking up the joint;
But, but, but… “Tyler Boyd did not fumble.”
Ugh, you are completely missing the point.

Big Ben missed on four possible touchdowns;
Those errors are what kept your team alive.
Or else, you would have been run out of town,
By an additional twenty plus five.

Ben missed one to Rogers, missed one to Brown;
And, another two missed touchdowns to Coates.
Keep focusing on Boyd’s knee on the ground,
While DeAngelo rams it down your throats.

Simply, keep whining and blaming the refs,
Because, truly, it is what you do best.

***

For those of you who are not as well versed in iambic pentameter, Ben Roethlisberger missed three touchdowns in the first half, and one more at the beginning of the second half, which would have put the Steelers well ahead (twenty-five additional points) of the Bengals. Here are the four miscues:

1Q 6:30 fourth-and-five
Cincinnati rushed eight, and miraculously, Pittsburgh’s offensive line was able to pick up the blitz… leaving Antonio Brown single covered. Brown had beaten his man (obviously) and had a direct route to the end-zone, but a wet football caused Ben Roethlisberger to throw the ball to the wrong side of Brown.

2Q 5:05 first-and-ten
Eli Rogers had a step on his man, right up the middle with nothing but green (and end-zone) ahead of him. Alas, Roethlisberger underthrew the pass… something which quickly became a theme. The Steelers had to settle for a field goal, thus missing out on four points (instead of seven).

2Q 1:30 second-and-two
Sammie Coates had a step on his man along the sideline with nothing but green (and end-zone) ahead of him. Alas, Roethlisberger once again underthrew the pass. Ben shrugged it off, and tried the same pass a second time on the same drive; this time… the underthrown ball was intercepted.

3Q 11:57 third-and-four
For a third time, Sammie Coates had a step on his man along the sideline with nothing but green (and end-zone) ahead of him. And, yet once again, Roethlisberger underthrew the pass.

SUMMATION:
The rumor is that Big Ben visited with the trainers on the sidelines regarding his stomach issues. I guess that that would explain his “crappy” performance (pun intended). Regardless of the how and/or why, the fact is that if Roethlisberger had connected on those four aforementioned passes, Pittsburgh would have put up forty-nine points on Cincinnati. Yet, all that the Bengals want to focus on is “Boyd’s fumble”, when what they should be focusing on is how Ben was four errant throws from shredding their secondary for seven touchdowns. Honestly, as a Steelers fan, I hope that the Bengals keep bellyaching (as opposed to fixing the “actual” problems on their team).