This Sunday I took my first trip to Phebe's, a Cincinnati Bengals-loving restaurant/bar in New York City. It's a potentially dangerous experience watching a game in enemy territory*, but it's informative as well. Though the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area is not technically a small market, the Bucs are decidedly off the radar of the national sports media. So watching the game with a bar full of Bengals fans effectively foreshadowed the post-game headlines.
Here's what folks were talking about:
All Hail the Bungles
The Bengals played a bad game. There's no getting around that. Though the Bucs couldn't stop Cedric Benson and though the Bengals' wide receivers were channeling the spirit of Michael "Not Clooney" Clayton and dropping passes left and right, the Bengals continued to pass the ball. Even when they were up by 7 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. After two back-to-back interceptions, the Bengals lost by 3 points. For Bengals fans, it was the story of the game.
Yuccaneers Were Handed the Win
But does it follow that since the Bengals played like a bunch of 2009-10 Buccaneers (ooh, burn), the team that actually won the game only did so because it was handed to them on a silver platter? No way.
Remember, the Bucs had some terrible plays, too -- like Sabby Piscitelli getting beat on another touchdown, Micheal Spurlock losing a fumble on a kick return, and Mike Williams losing a fumble inches from the goal line. The difference is that the Bucs made big plays when it counted. Josh Freeman and company could easily have squandered the opportunities handed to them by the defense, but instead the Buc offense took the two interceptions in the last 3 minutes of play, scored 10 points, and won the game.
Josh Freeman Shines Because Bengals Let Him
Again, Bengals fans seemed to think their team's ineptitude was responsible for the QB's decent game.
But the Cincinnati D came after Freeman all day, daring the 22-year-old to win the game through the air. So he did. Freeman used his power to loft a pass perfectly into the hands of Mike Williams for a touchdown. He used his size and agility to scramble for a first down before the two-minute warning. He used his cool confidence to guide the winning drive in the final seconds.
Sorry, Bengals. It's not you; it's him.
Raheem Morris and NFL Ref: BFFs 4-EVA
With 14 seconds left in the game and a tied score, Josh Freeman threw a 21-yard pass to Micheal Spurlock at the Cincinnati 13-yard line to set up the game-winning field goal. The play was called a catch on field, and the refs upheld the ruling after review. What is and is not a catch has made headlines in several games recently, and Bengals fans were legitimately concerned about this call. But Bucs fans know that as long as the receiver has possession of the ball, it may touch the ground during a catch, because it was a Bucs game that inspired the rule. (In the 1999 NFC Championship Game, Bert Emanuel made a catch that was called back in review because it touched the ground. Game over. St. Louis heads to the Super Bowl.)
And while it was certainly a favorable call for the Bucs, the refs could have called a roughing-the-passer penalty or two against the Bengals, as well. But they didn't. Moving on.
T.O. Violates Twitter Rules
Hanging around a bunch of Bengals fans didn't clue me into this one, but it bears mentioning that the featured story about the Bucs/Bengals game on ESPN.com wasn't about the game at all. Apparently the whole youth defeating experience storyline is so 2008, because ESPN's headline centered around T.O.'s twitter account.
Draft schmaft. This offseason, the Bucs need to focus on getting Josh Freeman a VH1 reality show.
*Once a Cowboys fan at a now-defunct New York sports bar nearly pushed me off of my bar stool because I was cheering against him -- and for the Bucs. He had a good 10 inches and 125 pounds on me. It was not awesome.
Cross-published at Chicks in the Huddle.