Let us not be faithless. But, WOW, what a terrible loss. Before I get into all of that Cheesy Gordita mess from Sunday in Oakland, let’s exorcise this demon.

Listen, we can’t afford to be like any of the other Bengals blogs with snark filled disgust. Why? We don’t reap the daily benefits of living in the glorious city of Cincinnati. True, the grass is always greener, but they’ve got the good Fountain Square and fresh Skyline Chili. Not fair.

Let me set the stage for this reactionary t-shirt coming down your internet pipeline. Colts Fans in the fine establishment known as Brothers Bar & Grille, for some reason, were still loitering for the 4:15 Bengals game. As the clock winds down and the Bengals squander away this “for sure victory,” some Baltimore, err… Indianapolis Colts fans start clapping for the Raiders. Weird, right? Maybe they don’t realize that the Bengals are in the AFC North and the Raiders are in the West, while the Colts are in the South. Hardly a leg to stand on from a divisional rival standpoint. Moreover, the lowly Bengals have never truly proven themselves as a worthy opponent to the sacred Horse. So I am still confused about the Raiders alliance that they were forming. And on top of everything, we NEVER cheer against the Colts in their hometown bar that has been so gracious to us as outsiders.

So for a fake team with fake fans that couldn’t name their Quarterback before Peyton showed up, here is your gift from the Who Dey Nation.

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Now on to Old Coach Bratowski.

I haven’t been as critical of Coach Brat on the blog as I have during the game viewings. That being said, enough is enough. You don’t start chewing clock in the 2nd quarter unless you’re up 15 touchdown [that's 105-0 for those keep score at home]. It just doesn’t make sense to eliminate entire volumes of your playbook just because you have a 14 point lead. We have a set of offensive weapons that lands in the top 3 of the NFL. We know Brat has the ability to step on throats [see Chicago game], but if he is not willing to use his weapons then Mikey should start the search for someone that will. Brian Kelly anyone? I wish. Seriously though, this team should achieve nothing less than an AFC championship game based on talent alone.  Anything less would be a waste of resources. That’s all I am going to say about that until next week.

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Also, BIG ups to all of the new members that came out to Brothers for the game this weekend. It was great meeting you all and spending the game in the friendly confines of fellow fans! Remember IWDC trip to PBS for the Browns game this weekend!

Who Dey.

I’ve got to think, regardless of Mike Brown’s past indiscretions, that Marvin is telling the truth and Larry is just an insurance policy at this point. This makes complete sense to me, especially after Cedric left the Steelers game early this past weekend. Thankfully, Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard are quite serviceable as RB options, otherwise this game could have been lost. But let’s take a look at this past weekend’s game from the opposing vantage point and I still think the Larry Johnson signing holds up.

Consider this: Benson comes off of the field, decides he feels fine and comes back out to play just like he had over the weekend. But for the sake of this hypothetical, he actually IS healthy enough to play at full strength. Ced then grabs that pitch out from Carson, turns the corner, runs over William Gay (a la AP) and scores a touchdown. A completely different game. It’s apparent that the Bengals recognize the drop off from Ced to BScott against a defensive like the Steelers, so they picked up a similar run style back as an insurance policy. Now, that is by no means an attack on Scott or Leonard, it just shows how important a big, bruising running back can be against a fast and big defense like the Steelers, Ravens, and certainly the Bears. By the way, Scott and Leonard are two of my favorite players… behind Tom Nelson, of course.

I like this move. I don’t think he can have the affect on the Bengals locker room morale at a league minimum salary. Basically, this is a win-win for the Jungle Cats and for Larry Johnson. Best of luck to him. Maybe now we can get that Super Bowl ring…

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On another topic, we have been tearing up the tweetersphere with Tom Nelson love recently. To be completely honest, there isn’t much need for TNels right now with the defense playing as well as it has been. Still, can’t we dream of the IWDC’s favorite player to get some time on the field with opportunity to make an impact? Hey, Bratowski! Maybe you can give the Wildcat one more shot? If so, bring in TNels under center. Just a thought…

Who Dey.