Edition 4 "Welcome to Heartbreak"

Today I got to attend the season opener for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Denver Broncos...It was definitely a tough one to swallow.

The game as a whole was a very boring game going into halftime with a score of 3-0. The Bengals at times showed glimpses of the lethal run/pass attack that they are capable of, yet they struggled to punch the ball into the end zone or even convert on gimme field goals. One positive was the Bengals defense, which looked to demonstrate some of its hard hitting ability at times with the combination of Maualuga and Keith Rivers anchoring the linebacking corpse.

The game ultimately came down to the last couple of minutes though. Carson Palmer, who at times in his career has struggled with leading game winning drives at the end of games proved able on this day. He marched the Bengals 90 yards down the field and Cedric Benson punched in a score with 38 seconds left to give the Bengals their first lead of the day.

The Bengals rise and fall literally on the body of Carson Palmer. Palmer has the ability to be a top 5 quarterback in the league every year, but unfortunately has had many injury problems that have prevented him from rising to that elite status the past few years. Palmer on this day though, looked very confident at times, yet was unable to punch it in. When I saw Cedric Benson score for the Bengals, Carson Palmer looked relieved and glad to have escaped with an opening day W.

Then one of the most freak plays that I and many have ever witnessed occurred. The Broncos Kyle Orton, who played through some tough injuries today, threw up basically a desperation heave down the sideline. The Broncos star receiver Brandon Marshall was well covered and Leon Hall knocked the ball in the air..the ball landed in Brandon Stokley's hands, and well, you know the rest. One of the most unbelievable occurrences I have ever seen. Give Stokley some credit for having the mindset to continue to run the clock down before crossing into the endzone.

With this play unfortunately, may have went Carson Palmer's confidence, and maybe even a shot at a playoff birth. Now obviously the Bengals year is not over from one game, but the team and their fans were heartbroken leaving this one. Fans upon leaving Paul Brown all were muttering under their breath,"Only in Cincinnati."

Well Cincinnati goes home heartbroken on this Sunday afternoon. Hopefully next week the team can go into Cheeseheadville and restore some pride in the Who Dey Nation heading into the showdown with the rival Steelers.

Be on the lookout for a US Open recap tomorrow following the Men's and Women's Final.

-Kraze