The 2005 Bengals

[BengalFanInNJ]

(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.

The day AFTER the Bengals meltdown against the Steelers will probably go as the worst day of my life. I was feeling pretty crappy after not sleeping after the game, I woke my son up the next morning and told him the news and he started to cry a little. I didn't notice he was crying until I heard his 20th sniffle and I asked him what's wrong? He said, "They always lose". I was shocked he was so upset since he was very young (7 years old). I laughed and said you haven't lived through the '90s. While I was talking to him my father had left me a voicemail and expressed his "condolences". He also said to call him back the next day after I feel better because he had news for me. I called him later that day and spoke about the game for about 15 minutes. I told him it was his fault that I was a Bengals fan since I was 3 years old. It was after that he told me he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. After about 10 seconds of silence all I can say was "Why are you telling me this now after the shit that went on last night?" He reminded me that he told me to call him the next day and not that night so I had a little time to recover from the game. He passed away 14 months later.