Today, 08:22 AM
(Yesterday, 03:49 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: HAHA. That PI still stings.
Glad they didn't cut this rookie for his mistake.....
https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-great-eric-thomas-re-lives-history-with-some-advice-a-game-is-never-decided-by-one-snap
Quote:As he always does Sundays, Eric Thomas watched.
But on this Sunday, Thomas caught a glimpse of himself in a not-so funhouse mirror. Long before he was named one of the 50 greatest players in Bengals history.
"That was me," says Thomas of Bengals rookie safety Daijahn Anthony and the pass interference call against him with 38 seconds left that led to the Chiefs walking off a loss into a win. "I will tell the young man, you didn't lose the game for them. A game is never decided by one snap. Trust me. Just get back to work and put your head down and don't worry about what people are going to say. Don't worry about one play. In one game. It's not worth it."
The similarities of last Sunday in Arrowhead Stadium and Sept. 20, 1987, at Cincinnati's old Riverfront Stadium are downright eerie but illuminating. Thomas rebounded to go to the Pro Bowl the next season while putting himself on the iconic S.W.A.T team poster that celebrated the Bengals' Super Bowl secondary.
Both Thomas and Anthony were in the second game of their careers on the second Sunday of the season. Both were in the secondary protecting slim leads in the final minute while staring at the most decorated quarterbacks of their eras.
Thomas, a second-rounder coming off the bench as he did during the game as an extra cornerback, saw the 49ers' Joe Montana drop back with two seconds left from the Bengals 25 in a game the Bengals led, 26-20.
Future Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice ran at Thomas, already in the end zone tucked in a deep zone.
Anthony, the seventh-rounder who has been playing in the Bengals' dime package since his stunning training camp, dealt with the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes dancing at his 35 on fourth-and-16 while trailing, 25-23.
Anthony dropped into a zone. Wide receiver Rashee Rice isn't Jerry Rice, but he already had a 44-yard touchdown catch Sunday. When he cut in front of Anthony, he drew the flag as Anthony hit him early from behind while both leaped for the 29-yard pass.
Thomas was supposed to be in a zone, too, but it didn't look like it.
Corey Dillon and Tim Krumrie: Guts and Glory
"We were lined up incorrectly," Thomas says. "There were supposed to be two other players on my side. We didn't know it until we watched film the next day."
It left the rookie all alone with the league's best receiver on the right side of the end zone. Somehow, Rice got position and separation in front of Thomas. Montana, with no pressure, flicked his wrist to produce a loft, and it was over.
"I just screwed it up. It's an easy play to make. The ball is coming right to me. I just froze," Thomas says. "I don't think it had anything to with it was Jerry Rice. It was me not being aware of the situation and not reacting the way I should have reacted."
The veteran Thomas, who would go on to play eight more seasons in the league while amassing 17 interceptions, says there's no question he would have batted it away.
"It was a very easy play to make," Thomas says. "You have to understand I was back all the way. I was in the end zone when the ball got snapped. If I was up on the line of scrimmage, I might have had a better chance at breaking the pass up. I'm just watching him running toward me."
Thomas admits since his gaffe didn't get the spotlight for very long, it probably helped him rebound quickly.
