We’ve all seen this movie as Cincinnati Bengals fans; the Bengals leading by one with less than a minute left and the defense on the field trying to stop Ben Roethlisberger from leading a game-winning drive for the Steelers. I truly thought there would be a better ending Sunday afternoon after the Bengals went ahead 21-20 on a Joe Mixon touchdown. The defense looked like they actually were going to hold Big Ben and the Steelers offense until a penalty by Dre Kirkpatrick. Then before you could even blink, the Steelers ran two plays with the second being a short slant that Antonio Brown took for a touchdown to once again stab the hearts of Bengals fans in Paul Brown Stadium.
The first few minutes after the game had me smacking my Bengals towel on a seat next to me and think that there are simply no positives to take away from this game. There’s no reason the Bengals should have lost this game. This was supposed to be the game where they finally laid to rest the misery of the playoff loss to the Steelers almost three years ago, and everything was set up throughout the game for them to do so. The problem is, the Bengals just simply didn’t execute when it mattered most. Same old narrative, isn’t it?
As my sister and I were walking back to our car, though, I realized that with all the heartbreak we’ve been dealt as Bengals fans, especially against the Steelers, maybe we don’t have to deal with it. Why deal once again with a feeling we as fans know all too well? After all, we can only take so much heartbreak. I know the Bengals didn’t win today, but is a win the only remedy for heartbreak and misery?
Sometimes teams learn more about themselves in losses than they do in wins. If this season is truly different, let’s as fans live vicariously through this team. Let’s not hold this loss against them, complain about how Marvin Lewis can’t win a home game against the Steelers or contemplate any other negative thought that comes to mind after Sunday’s loss. The players will get over the loss and immediately shift their focus to the Kansas City Chiefs next week on Sunday Night Football, and that’s what I’m doing.
I’m already over Sunday’s loss. In fact, I was over it no more than 15 minutes after the game. It won’t do me any good to think about the game. It happened. We may not have got the result we wanted as fans, but there is nothing we can do about it. What we can do is focus on the fact that the Bengals have an opportunity to show the entire nation next Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs that they can bounce back. And the Bengals will still have another shot at Pittsburgh in the last week of the regular season, which could have major playoff and division title implications. I know the Bengals just lost at home to the Steelers again, and it’s easy to feel heartbroken again. But maybe ending our heartbreak as Bengals fans comes at the hands of a loss, even one like Sunday.
Even after today, I firmly believe this season is truly different than any previous season. If it is, we don’t wallow in pity as fans over this loss. What we do is live vicariously through this team and support them through thick and thin. We do what they’re going to do, and that’s getting over Sunday’s loss and start focusing our attention to bouncing back in front of a national audience at Kansas City. Don’t stop believing Bengals fans. It’s just one loss.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 