My Bengals won today against Green Bay, 31-24! 
The Bengals were previously 0-4 there at Green Bay (until today), and had an overall record with them at 5-5 until today which my Bengals now lead the series 6-5. 
Now below was an article I read today which I found pretty interesting concerning 17 years ago today when my Bengals went to Green Bay and played them.
By Paul Daugherty • The Cincinnati Enquirer
GREEN BAY, Wis. – And so it began. Tim Krumrie rolled up on Don Majkowski’s ankle 17 years ago Sunday in Lambeau Field. Ligaments tore, to birth a legend. A kid named Brett Favre replaced Majkowski. You know the rest of the story.
Not Favre’s story, cheesehead.
• Bengals-Packers Scouting Report (PDF)
The Bengals’ story. It’s a story so sad, it makes Tiny Tim seem like Bernie Madoff. It’s a compelling tale of the NFL’s best and longest-running Reverse Dynasty.
Picture Susan Boyle, in the Linda Evans role. Just think: If Majkowski hadn’t gone down, Favre might not have played, the Bengals could have won and maybe the last 17 years wouldn’t seem like one long “Halloween” sequel.
Dave Lapham broadcast the game. When Krummy KO’d Majkowski, Lap thought, “It’s over.” Bengals win. “Shula would have gone 3-0 and who knows what would have happened,” Lapham said. Instead, the Bengals were the first team ever to be Favre-d. They lost their next four and nine of their next 11. After the Favre Game, Dave Shula would go 17-51.
For the next 10 years – branded The Lost Decade by, um, yours truly – Cincinnati’s crimes against football were frequent and heinous:
The left-handed interception thrown by Gus Frerotte.
Corey Dillon’s refusal to re-enter a game in Baltimore.
David Klingler’s 10-sack day against the Steelers.
Gary Reasons twisting Shula’s hat backwards on national TV.
And so on. It all started with Favre, 17 years ago Sunday.
The Bengals were 2-0, riding high under the hot, young coach Shula and the cool, wise head of Mike Brown. They were leading The Pack, 10-3, when Krumrie stomped Majkowski’s ankle. So really, blame the last 17 years on Krumrie.
Favre fumbled four times that day. The fans screamed for Ty Detmer. What if then-Packers coach Mike Holmgren had yielded to their wishes? Ladies and gentlemen, the Ty Detmer Era.
But Favre would foreshadow his greatness, his style and his vulnerability, all in about three quarters. Green Bay had the ball on its 8-yard line, down 23-17 with 1:07 to play. Favre threw 40 yards to Sterling Sharpe, then 35 yards for a TD to Kittrick Taylor. And so it began.
I used to blame Max Montoya. The Pro Bowl guard left after the ’89 season, when the Bengals tried to nickel-and-dime him on a contract. (Talk about foreshadowing.) But the Favre Game was the true turning point, the first toe on the big, long banana peel. Curly launched the first cream pie at Moe, on that pleasant Wisconsin afternoon. The long, local nightmare had begun. Whoop-whoop-whoop.
Carson Palmer was 12 years old that day. Chad Ochocinco was 14. Catorce.
Marvin Lewis was coaching linebackers for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quoting Bob Seger: “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”
As for Favre: You could watch that game today and think, “If that guy stays healthy, he’ll be the most exciting QB in the game for a decade.’’ As Lapham said, “Favre ran around like a high school kid in his first game. Totally ad-lib. If he were a comedian, he’d be the headliner on Improv Night.”
That was Favre, wasn’t it? Not so much anymore. At age almost-40, he’s reduced to caddying for Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. But for 16 Packers seasons, through three consecutive MVP awards and a Super Bowl ring, Favre was dynamite in your hand. And the Bengals were the Bengals.
They’re in Lambeau again Sunday, on the 17th anniversary of their maiden voyage to darkness. They’re in a must-win situation, if they want to stay playoff-relevant. Of all the teams that have ever made the playoffs in the NFL, only 14 percent started the year 0-2. Plus, the Bengals host the Steelers next week. Of the last 78 playoff participants, only two started 0-3.
In other words, lose in Green Bay, you have eight toes off the board and the wave is curling over your head. Start 0-3, you’re wiped out. In the bottom-line world of the NFL, you make the playoffs or you are a loser. “It’s a failure if you don’t make the playoffs,’’ said Bengals safety Chris Crocker.
Losing last Sunday to Denver put the Bengals in a deep hole. It was a whoop-whoop-whoop game that resurrected the bad vibes that have surrounded this franchise since Sept. 20, 1992. Seventeen years ago, to the day. The symmetry is awful. Also, familiar.
|