Okay, so technically, this is the evening after. My paying job has required a little extra attention recently.
A few things really stuck out for me yesterday. First, the Bengals are a good team that was highly motivated to win. Their weakest unit, their defense, had even more motivation after an embarrassing showing the week earlier. The offense was already great, and was playing with a ton of confidence and rhythm after scoring 45 in their last game. Beating a team like that, regardless of how you do it, is a great accomplishment.
You almost had to be at the game to appreciate just how good Carson Palmer and his two WRs are. When you see precision timing and accuracy like that, it really makes you wonder how they ever get stopped. I turned to my friend on a 3rd & 1 they ran for and said, “It’s a gift every time they run the ball.”
The Seahawks run defense was almost as remarkable in it’s turn around from Week 2. I was shocked to see one of the Bengals runs in the 4th quarter was for only seven yards. They had been stuffing the run so well, that it looked like he was running for days. Gaps were tight and consistent. Tackling was strong and collaborative.
I know it’s lame to brag, but I think my keys to the game have been pretty damn good the past two weeks. Stopping the run was the number one reason we won that game. If the Bengals could have gotten Rudi Johnson going, the Bengals would have hung 40 on us.