Isn't it ironic,

[Bobcat Bengal]

And equal parts, shame, embarassment, numbness, etc.

Shame on me.

I felt it in my bones.

It's a feeling unique to only few sports fans: those rooting for the Chicago Cubs come to mind as well.

A premonition, that something terrible that would affect the final outcome was going to occur today.

I couldn't shake the feeling. It was just too deceptively simple: the Bengals needed to take care of business. Time for the Bengals to step it up. It was to be yet another hurdle crossed in the road to respectability. Elite teams, playoff teams, do it all the time. But I was rooting for the Bengals.

I started to sense de ja vu, as cliched words like, 'We control our own destiny." and other such obvious axioms were being said.

There's just something with big games, games the Bengals need to win, that they just don't deliver on.

When that XP was botched, I think I felt what is was like to be mentally scarred.

Except it was a gash that was already on its way to healing normally, if not slowly, only to be violently re-opened. Worse of all, I was watching it with a Broncos fan, who threw salt in the wound by re-rewinding it.

I covered my eyes. I DVR'd the game, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna watch it.

I'm not sure how a Bengals fan can wear anything anymore and not be subject to all-too-familiar-clowning at the hands of others, some who know absolutely nothing about football. As much as it hurts me to say it, that was a defining BUNGLE moment.

Last night, I seriously thought about turning in my stripes.

I did. Long and hard.

Being a long time Bengals fan, it takes something out of you, to watch, repeated heart-breaking losses.

There's only so many agonizing, stake-plunging-into-the-heart moments I can bear.

If they fail to make the playoffs because of the plethora of bad calls, undisciplined play, non-execution, unfocused football, I'm not sure if I will make it through an agonizingly long off-season. There will be too much to think about, and too much time to think with. It's sad, because we can all clearly see glimpses of greatness in this team.

anyway....the reason I said it was ironic was because I won BOTH of my Fantasy Football leagues (one for pay) in pretty dominating fashion.

[Diesel]

Everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong. It seems like as Bengals fans we are always blaming the refs. We made plenty of mistakes in this one, but in my opinion the only reason we struggled was because of the momentum the Broncos got from the out of bounds catch on the 1 yard line. I'm not even sure the guy had possesion in the white sideline, let alone the field of play. That call essentially gave them the momentum to score 14 quick points. As usual, huge decision by the refs that went against us.

[Dinker]

And equal parts, shame, embarassment, numbness, etc.

Shame on me.

I felt it in my bones.

It's a feeling unique to only few sports fans: those rooting for the Chicago Cubs come to mind as well.

A premonition, that something terrible that would affect the final outcome was going to occur today.

I couldn't shake the feeling. It was just too deceptively simple: the Bengals needed to take care of business. Time for the Bengals to step it up. It was to be yet another hurdle crossed in the road to respectability. Elite teams, playoff teams, do it all the time. But I was rooting for the Bengals.

I started to sense de ja vu, as cliched words like, 'We control our own destiny." and other such obvious axioms were being said.

There's just something with big games, games the Bengals need to win, that they just don't deliver on.

When that XP was botched, I think I felt what is was like to be mentally scarred.

Except it was a gash that was already on its way to healing normally, if not slowly, only to be violently re-opened. Worse of all, I was watching it with a Broncos fan, who threw salt in the wound by re-rewinding it.

I covered my eyes. I DVR'd the game, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna watch it.

I'm not sure how a Bengals fan can wear anything anymore and not be subject to all-too-familiar-clowning at the hands of others, some who know absolutely nothing about football. As much as it hurts me to say it, that was a defining BUNGLE moment.

Last night, I seriously thought about turning in my stripes.

I did. Long and hard.

Being a long time Bengals fan, it takes something out of you, to watch, repeated heart-breaking losses.

There's only so many agonizing, stake-plunging-into-the-heart moments I can bear.

If they fail to make the playoffs because of the plethora of bad calls, undisciplined play, non-execution, unfocused football, I'm not sure if I will make it through an agonizingly long off-season. There will be too much to think about, and too much time to think with. It's sad, because we can all clearly see glimpses of greatness in this team.

anyway....the reason I said it was ironic was because I won BOTH of my Fantasy Football leagues (one for pay) in pretty dominating fashion.

I feel your pain.

The bengals have alwyays had a black cloud over them. It started all the way back with Greg Cook. i won't run all the other things down but if you are a true bengals fan you know what I am talking about.

My parents always taught me you create, control and manage your succeses and learn and mature from failure. I find it hard to believe that a 53 man roster and coaching staff can't figure that one out to create a little internal resolve to succeed

The Bengals have never had "it" since Marvin got here. Bad thing is no one really knows what "it" is. You can list all the things wrong and all the things that go right but can't place why the intangables never go the bengals way.

Believe me it is disheartening. Just in one year we have a crushed knee, broken neck, 11 arrests and on and on and on. Things that are somewhat in the control of an organization like mindset, continuity, discipline that to some degree the Bengals coaching staff can control, falls apart 2-3 times a year.

I guess the male soap opera that is the Cincinnati Bengals will continue like it always does.

As far as turning in my stripes, no way. I don't know any different and could care less about any other team being succesful. I will trudge along with the blind faith that is the draft and OTA's, the start of camp and the hope that even though we are not perrenial losers anymore we can shake the stigma of an average franchise.

[Tasher]

Sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better.

Growth, maturation, understanding what it means to play emotional, critical games EVERY WEEK, not just with divisional opponents and just going out and playing.

With our new-found expectations for this ball club, this is now worse. But not anything compared to what went on between 1993 and 2003. That was comatose. I don't want that back. I would much prefer this. It is at the very least exciting.

What? When we were on the doorstep and had scored the TD and all we have to do is kick the XPt, you weren't sitting there going, gee I wonder how we are going to muck this up? It was a given. And sometimes **It happens.

Look at SD last year... they did not make the playoffs either, and nearly everyone said that they were the best team in football all year long. Schedule conspired against them last year and a rash of extremely bad luck, which I would parallel for you with the Bengals this year.

Hey, keep your chin up, we can still get in with a win, a Jets loss, Broncos loss, Chiefs win in some combination.

That is far better than being the first team of 32 eliminated from playoff contention in week 3 or 4.

[BengalByTheBay]

Last night, I seriously thought about turning in my stripes.

I did. Long and hard.

Being a long time Bengals fan, it takes something out of you, to watch, repeated heart-breaking losses.

There's only so many agonizing, stake-plunging-into-the-heart moments I can bear.

I could say a lot of positive, optimistic things to you about the turn-around that has happened in this team....but I won't. You've been a fan of a team that has been far worse than this one is, likely when you had absolutely no reason to believe they would ever be better. Struggling to make the playoffs with a ridiculous injury report every week and against one of the (if not the) hardest schedule(s) in the league is worlds different than having an in-depth knowledge of the top 5 draft prospects in November because you already know one of them is yours.

Like I said, though, you don't need to hear that. It's like that line from Stripes -- "there's something really wrong with you" already -- you're a Bengal fan. I guarantee you that if you quit now they'll go to the SuperBowl next year (please quit now...become a Chargers fan).

[HairOnFire]

As much as it hurts me to say it, that was a defining BUNGLE moment.

Yup. I'm not a big believer in karma, fate, destiny, or any of that sort of crap. I'm more of a fan of chaos, pure chance, and the total anarchy that comes when random atoms smash together.

That said, this season has made it clear to me that the culture of losing that Marvin Lewis inherited has been beaten back, but remains...lurking just beneath the surface.

This is going to be a long offseason.

[jjakq27]

The ultimate irony for me a few weeks ago would have been to have the Bengals and the Steelers playing for the final Wild Card spot, winner-take-all. Almost one year after the playoff game. That would have been a great game. Now I sense very little interest on the part of either team or many fans.