4-1

[boomerman]

Even just a half decent run defense wins the game for us. It's a little scary to me to see how ineffective we were against the cutbacks.

Still, 4-1, I would've taken it in a heartbeat at the beginning of the season. It's a marathon, not a sprint, but at least we got out of the blocks in great shape this year!

[Bengalbob]

I liked this from ESPN Page 2 on the game:

"What we learned about the Bengals on Sunday night: (1) They're the team the Colts don't want to see in December"

Now their other answers were: "(2) Bad helmets; (3) Still a ways to go; and (4) They definitely have the most entertaining WR in the league."

But, as a registered homer I reserve the right to pick and choose the answer that I think best applies. I'm sticking with #1.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=nfl/week5/grid

[Stripes]

"What we learned about the Bengals on Sunday night: (1) They're the team the Colts don't want to see in December"

I saw this same article, but I have no idea what he means by this. I can make assumptions out of context, but this is coming off of a loss? I don't get it.

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

He means that when push comes to shove, we keep playing no matter what happens. We nearly beat the champs last year, we put up 21+ points in the 4th against Baltimore last year, and despite imploding in the first quarter and getting behind, we rallied to nearly win it last night. In other words, it ain't over till Marge Schott comes back to Cincy and sings for this squad!

[redsbengalsbucks]

It's the defense, not Carson's fault. Now we have to put up with all the sportswriters talking about how the Bengals "can't win big games." Ugh.

Our defense played fine. It's the stupid things that killed us. Three drives killed by brain-dead penalties on Kevin Walter. A 69 yard punt called back on bonehead Myles play -- eventually shanking a punt giving the Jags an eventual score.

I think all of our units played fine football. It was, like the four weeks before it, brain-dead penalties that killed us. Unfortunately, this time it bit us in the ass.

And hell, I'd take 3-2 right now before the season started. The way this division is shaping up, we may not need 5,251 wins to win the crown. Go Chargers!

Penalties have been the only bad aspect of this team all year, I thought the backups played well but the injuries probably hurt some also.

[jjakq27]

I know everyone is giddy about the start and the playoff implications and the Steelers game in two weeks but here is a stat that just blows me away. This is how far this franchise has come in 37 games.

The Bengals are 4-1 at this point. After the first five games during the previous five seasons, the Bengals were a combined 5-20.

2004: 1-4

2003: 1-4

2002: 0-5

2001: 3-2

2000: 0-5

For all of the Bengal bashers and critics, just relax and enjoy the ride. Let's be happy where we are. We will surely lose a few more that we should have won and may win a few that we should have lost but I'll take it!

This is a very good team but not a great team yet. We will make the playoffs and could win a game or two but I doubt very much if this group has the big game experience yet to get past Pittsburgh or New England in January. Remember about half of our defense is made up of 1st or second year guys. But I am OK with that. The fruits of this season may not come due until next year or 2007.