NFL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: THE FUCKING BENGALS
I can’t believe the Bengals did it. I thought the Bengals were going to get annihilated. I thought they’d lose to the Raiders but I knew they had a chance. I thought they’d lose to the Titans but knew they also had a chance there. I did not think they stood a chance against the red-hot Chiefs. For most of two quarters, that feeling was exactly on point. When the Chiefs went up 21-3 it just felt over. But it wasn’t. The quick Bengals score and then terrible Chiefs play before halftime to go down 11 was huge. That play appeared to break something in Kansas City. The Chiefs were garbage after that stop. They came out looking horrible and the Bengals wormed their way back into it. When the coin flip once more went in KC’s favor, I lost hope again. Surely now we have to deal with another one of these. But no. The Bengals did it. They did it. The Bengals hadn’t won a playoff game in 30 years just a few weeks ago and now they are in the fucking Super Bowl. Holy Shit.
I never had much faith in the Bengals all year. They weren’t supposed to do this. I was happy to see them succeed, don’t get me wrong, but this far? They don’t have an o-line! They needed a few more years in the over before this was possible! If you told me in august an AFCN team would go to the super bowl, the Bengals literally would have been my 4th choice. I am astounded by this team and incredibly happy for them. Plus, they are chaos as fuck. My bois.
The Rams/49ers game was about as tight as I expected it to be, just with the opposite team winning than the one I expected. The Rams felt like they were trying to lose that game. They were probably the more talented team and the 49ers were on the ropes the whole time, but the Rams just kept kicking themselves in the dick. The missed field goal. The redzone pick. The two stupid challenges by McVay leaving the team with zero timeouts halfway through the 4th quarter. The Rams wanted to lose but didn’t. Jimmy G was a big discussion topic this week as the lightning rod between the “QB WINS” crowd and the “people with eyes” crowd. Wins are not a QB stat. Anyone with eyes could tell you that the 49ers were not here because of Jimmy. He wasn’t a bad QB, but he wasn’t the reason they were winning. I felt bad for the poor guy on that final play. He’s not a bad dude and he can manage a game, but he’s not turning into Tom Brady. He will make the Colts or Steelers very happy next year until they get knocked out of the wildcard.
So here we have it. Bengals/Rams. As a neutral fan…I’m thrilled. I like both teams. I am perfectly happy with either outcome. Either Joe Burrow and the Bengals give the city of Cincinnati a cathartic win or Matthew Stafford gets one. I’m going to root for the Bengals no question, but if the Rams win, I’ll be happy for them. Donald needs a ring. Stafford needs a ring. Kupp is amazing. Hell I’m even happy for OBJ. He’s been a big part of this Rams run, disappointing the haters everywhere. Would also be great to see Andrew Whitworth get a ring.
As a quick aside, as a Giants fan, I now have to watch Eli Apple cover OBJ in the Super Bowl. Motherfuckers.
I think the Rams have the edge here because their defensive line matches up perfectly with the Bengals biggest weakness. But I’m through counting the Bengals out. This team can score with anyone. They find ways to do it. The Rams did not play to their potential on Sunday and they don’t scare me. So, as an early pick, I pick the Rams to win, but I have hope.
HERE ARE THE TWO PICS!
If the Rams win, I will draw a crying Matthew Stafford being carried to the top of the mountain by his teammates, as rams
If the Bengals win, I will draw Joe Burrow, sitting up top a Skyline Chili sign, admiring the sunset over Cincinnati.
This is probably the best matchup we could have asked for for neutral fans. I’m on the Rams side because Von’s presence makes me not QUITE neutral, but… damn whichever side wins this is gonna feel historic.
“There is no way either of these games matches this weekend, but maybe we’ll get lucky and still get two good games.”
Amazing how life works sometimes. The AFC Championship Game was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever watched! If KC scored before halftime, we probably all would’ve turned the TV off, but that stop was just magnificent! Showed all the signs of a magnificent implosion. Absolutely stunning. Mahomes is a great quarterback still, but this second half of his will sting for a long time. Burrow was next to impossible to take down, despite the pocket breaking down quite often, and that goes a long way to demonstrate his toughness.
The NFC Championship game was no snoozer either. Jimmy G wobviously didn’t light it up, but Deebo Samuel carried that team. Matt Stafford just made another great comeback. I admit I was a big Stafford doubters early in the season, but he proved me wrong for sure.
Pulling hard for Cinci! Won’t be mad about the Rams if they win, but I refuse to route for Kroenke’s team.
This is the single best postseason in NFL History without a doubt. Every game since the Divisional has been an instant classic. Literall all of them. I don’t think I’ve ever thoroughly enjoyed a postseason as much as this one.
On paper this Super Bowl shouldn’t close. The Rams have too much firepower, especially along the defensive line, and Cincy’s OL has been horrible all postseason. That mismatch alone should guarantee a win, but the Bengals have overcome that shit all season long. I don’t expect that to stop 2 weeks from now.
It’s the all swirly helmets Super Bowl my best friend in High School always dreamed about. I’d prefer the Rams mainly because they’re a blast to play as in Madden and it would be nice for Stafford to get a ring for all the years stuck on the Lions, but the Bengals are unobjectionable to me.
However, betting-wise I’d be leaning towards the Bengals, particularly if they’ll get a decent amount of points. The Bengals just looked assured on all aspects yesterday, and if their Defense can even come close to replicating what they did from the late 2nd Quarter on yesterday (and McPherson stays money) they should win. Rams looked shaky. I wasn’t surprised at yesterday being close, but the feel of the game was just off.
As someone who grew up in Lions country, I’m amused at all the sympathy Stafford is suddenly gathering. As if he wasn’t part of the problem in Detroit, but a huge upgrade at coach and weapons this year made him look better, while he still loved to pick-6 a game away here and there (and tried to give the game away yesterday with the dropped interception by Tartt). Dude had CALVIN JOHNSON for years in Detroit. A lot of mid-tier QBs could’ve turned that alone into a few playoff runs. Combined with his wife’s stupid comments about COVID restrictions, I won’t be excited for him to win, and I always root against the OBJ type diva WRs, but Aaron Donald and some other guys on that team certainly deserve a ring. I can’t remember the last super bowl I was more “meh” about as far as who wins though – probably Ravens/Giants?
*clears throat*
SCREW OBJ, HE’S A TEAM-KIL- err, that’s what you were expecting, right? LOL
I can only speak for myself, as self-appointed CEO of the OBJ Hate Brigade, but he’s been a model citizen since joining the Rams. He either realized he wasn’t going to get far being a jackass on his 3rd team, or maybe he had a come-to-Jesus moment and put aside his ego until he gets a ring.
But props to him, he’s been a heads-up teammate thus far on the Rams, even on the field, and if that continues, I’ve got nothing against him earning a ring.
I’ve been very surprised by OBJ during this run. He seems like a viable #2 WR for the first time in years.
One thing’s for certain, the guy has a better shot of getting his act together than Brown.
Remember though, Brown has literally committed multiple felonies, whereas OBJ is just really annoying. They are coming from different starting points in the comeback arc.
He’s playing in a system that suits his skillset much better than what they ran in Cleveland. The Browns strictly tried to use him as the big play guy on deep shots down the field and usually failed because Baker either didn’t see him or completely missed him when he did try to get OBJ the ball. The Rams just try to get the ball in his hands however possible, and let him take advantage of mismatches in coverage created by their other weapons like Kupp. Also worth noting that upgrading from Baker Mayfield to Matthew Stafford helps out a ton. Stafford can actually see the field and make throws that Baker Mayfield isn’t capable of.
Having Kupp out there helps too. Not saying Landry was bad, but Kupp has been incredible this year. OBJ actually impressed me as a caring, more mature guy after going over to the 9ers DB after the game.
deebo samuel is our WR, not DB
Yeah, having Cooper Kupp plus an excellent safety net in Tyler Higbee opens the field for him a ton. The Rams just provided him with an all around better situation and he’s thriving in it.
I think a lot of the OBJ talking points were overblown. He mellowed out in Cleveland, but the connection between he and Baker just wasn’t there and they were never going to make it work. Keep in mind that it was OBJ’s Dad that started calling out Baker and the coaching staff, not OBJ himself. OBJ may have felt that way but he wasn’t outwardly saying it.
I Guess if Bengals win this one, We are going to feel like the people in 1969 watching the history being writing seing The Jets winning a Superbowl.
As a Bengals fan, I still don’t believe it. We shouldn’t be here. We have no offensive line. Our QB get hit so much, I felt like I was watching Rocky in a title fight. Our defensive line is hurt, so the other QB is able to work on their taxes while his WRs routes develop. Our secondary is playmakers, which is the nice way of saying its a coinflip between turnover and giving up a big play. Now C.J. Uzomah goes down, which takes away Burrow’s security blanket. We shouldn’t be here..except this team just finds a way to win. I can’t explain it; I’m just enjoying the ride.
On paper, the Rams should win. However that was the same as the Titans and way more the Chiefs. If the Bengals show up and play and coach the way they’ve been this year, they could pull it off.
Eli Apple potentially covering OBJ is pretty much why the Rams will win.
Either they’ll give up on that by the Rams’ fourth play, already down 21-0, or it’ll be a very long day for Cincy.
Andy Reid’s greatest enemy, the clock, returned with a vengeance.
Great Super Bowl for helmet vexologists, or whatever they’re called. I kind of wanted the Bengals to face the 49ers AGAIN, just because that would have been an interesting piece of trivia… but no complaints.
My fitness watch thingy got mad at my heart rate during the Bengals game, and I actually had to get up and leave during the half at the 49ers/Rams game. Was just too, too much. Holy shit, I need a cigarette and a shower after the last two weekends of football. Inject this shit into my veins, this has been awesome.
I’m hoping but refuse to expect that the super bowl will be this good. Personally I’m hoping for the Bengals but either way this is awesome
Ahem. Cincy native here. This place is weird… One day the team sucks and everyone is depressed… The next day Joe Burrow is taking them to a super bowl… I sometimes hate being here… But it’s so weird.
It’s been an incredible two weeks of football. Last week I was hoping we’d see Bengals vs Rams, but wasn’t expecting it.
Also, I’m very worried we’ll see Burrow like Eli was in his 2nd NFC championship game. https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/891451/eligrass_1.jpg
Hopefully Burrow can overcome it as Eli did
I’m hoping for a Bengals win honestly. They’re the fun team to pull for and Burrow-Chase has been a guilty pleasure of mine since college. I fully expect the Rams to pull a Tampa and go full on beast mode in their home Super Bowl.
Seeing the Bengals offense go against the Rams defense will be good. Something I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere though is Zac Taylor matching up against Sean McVay. Since Taylor worked under McVay, I’m wondering how much they’ll see through the others gameplan
Unrelated to the Super Bowl but because of Big Ben’s retirement we need final closure to the Ringless Rivers series now that everyone is retired
It’s funny that Stafford is being praised as clutch, a winner, great now that he’s out of Detroit. Everyone’s forgotten the Tartt dropped interception. It was a horrible throw and if Tartt had been able to hang on to it, that would’ve ended the game for the Rams. Instead, he was given a second leash and to his credit, he was able to take advantage of it. But let’s not forget that he made that throw, and it was as bad as any throw Goff — or Jimmy G, or any other maligned QB — has made.
Interesting Dave, you think wins aren’t a qb stat.
So the team earned the wins. Guess Eli’s titles aren’t because of him then. No Hall of Fame for him
It also means Tom Brady didn’t earn any rings either so if you wanna troll logic me at least use some that doesn’t make me happier
You’d be surprised at some of the lame attempts Eli haters would stoop to.
Meanwhile, will there be a TB12 retirement comic?
There will be, then it will be retracted, only to later be reposted and confirmed.
Just… Flores. Fuck.
Please reconsider! If the Bengals win draw Cincinnati celebrating the year of the Tiger