The 2005 Bengals

[NKURyan]

(05-09-2019, 03:33 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: January 8, 2006... one of the worst days I’ve ever had for a variety of reasons. I won’t get into the entire day I had, but we all know what capped it off

Anyway, if the 2005 Steelers could win it all, so could the 2005 bengals. But who knows? Knowing what we do about Marvin Lewis now and his Primetime bengals, I’d say it’s doubtful they win. Though I think it’s obvious Marv didn’t have his hand in the offensive play calling back then...

Everything just fell into place for the Steelers after that game. They barely snuck by Peyton and the Colts. Jake Plummer completely fell apart. Seattle would have won if the refs called a fair game but Cincy would have had a completely different path to the Super Bowl. Would we have won it all that year? My gut says no.

I remember not even expecting to beat Pittsburgh that day, but I expected them to put up a great fight. We will never know how that game would have turned out if we had our elite QB, and I honestly hate to even think about it. Playing the what-if game here is nothing but depressing.

If Palmer never had his knee ripped to shreds, I firmly believe his Bengal career would have been very different (better). Be it mental or physical (or both), that knee injury ruined him. He was never the same for us, and didn’t regain elite status until 10 years later in Arizona. A whole lot of what-ifs that stem from that one single second on January 8, 2006.

I remember feeling completely shell shocked after that game. I remember feeling awful. I remember thinking that it was probably the worst I'd ever feel as a fan. Then January 2015 came along.

2015 will always sting more, IMO, for that small fraction of time where the Bengals had finally taken the lead and we all finally, finally, FINALLY thought that elusive postseason win was ours. When Burfict picked off that pass and ran down the tunnel, PBS was euphoric. Pure, unmatched joy. Fans were hugging each other and jumping into complete strangers' arms. Our moment had come against our most hated of rivals, but then... snatched away. Absolutely devastating.