Never felt so bad about 1st place

The good news first:

The Bengals are tied for first atop the AFC-North. They have the same record as the Ravens! They even have the same record as the Patriots - yeah, the fuckin' Patriots!

But after damn near 15 minutes of overtime against the Browns, I cannot feel confident about this team.

Why not?

1. Brad St. Louis. He has cost the Bengals at least 8 points this season by my count. It's pretty pathetic watching a snap for a field goal or extra point fly over the head of the holder and behind the kicker. And although place holder Kevin Huber managed to pull down both bad snaps from this game, they still led to delayed, and thus blocked kicks. Fortunately Shayne Graham reminded him where-da-party's-at and the Bengals won in OT. Still, how does such a long term veteran screw up long-snapping (which, by the way, is his only job)?

2. Marvin Lewis. OK, Lewis brings a lot more good than bad to Cincinnati. But I don't know who else to blame. For years now he seems to get the team to play to the competition instead of putting out a consistent effort each week. A team like the Colts will barely beat a good team and train wreck a bad team. The Bengals make games against inferior teams way too close, while playing better than expected against big teams. Last year they took the Giants to overtime, seriously threatened the Cowboys, and beat the Redskins while playing like hell against very mediocre teams. They're basically doing the same thing this year, but they're winning the close games instead of losing them.

3. The 2nd quarter - Before this week I would have said the entire first half, but the Bengals finally turned on the offense before halftime. But through 4 weeks this season they are yet to do much of anything offensively in the second quarter. And outside of the Green Bay game, they haven't done much in the third quarter either. I don't mind having the team play darlings of the 4th quarter, but I'd prefer the offense play well for the entire game.

4. Chad Ochocinco. He played well and all, but his touchdown celebrations just aren't what they used to be.

Give me some time to let the 3-1 record sink in, instead of the bitter taste of a piss-poor game, and I'll probably have some positive things to say about the tigers. Two defensive scores in two weeks already come to mind.

'stache out