Calm down, Chicken Little

The sky is falling!!!

The Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Oakland Raiders.

The Bengals, who just last week were anointed as AFC champions by fans and analysts alike, fall to 7-3 on the season and the Raiders improve to 3-7.

Bengals fans must be asking themselves, ‘how could this happen?’ This is the Raiders – Quite possibly the worst run organization in any sport. Their crazy-old-coot of an owner has allowed the team to spiral, out of control towards their seventh straight losing season. They’ve lost at least 11 games a year for six straight years.

Granted, every other team in the AFC North lost on Sunday. There are no throw-away games in the NFL, but this doesn’t hurt nearly as badly as it could have. Had Pittsburgh not laid an egg against Kansas City, the margin of error would much tighter. As of now the Bengals still have what amounts to a two-game division lead with six to play.

There were some bright spots. Bernard Scott proved to be able to run in Cedric Benson’s absence. Scott gained 119 yards, with more than half coming on one 61-yard jaunt. The Bengals defense forced three turnovers.

On the flip side, the Bengals offense had four turnovers themselves, including a red-zone fumble by fullback Jeremi Johnson in the fourth quarter. The Raiders wouldn’t score on the ensuing drive, but they were able to play field position until they eventually tied the game with just 33 seconds remaining.

Andre Caldwell’s fumble might be viewed by many as the moment the game was lost, but the Bengals suffered from lost opportunities all game. Perhaps the most costly was a missed 31-yard field goal by Shayne Graham with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

The Bengals drove all the way down to a first and goal from the three, but after two rushes, Carson Palmer lost 18 yards on a sack. The Bengals had run the ball six times for 77 yards on that drive. Palmer had already carried two quarterback sneaks into the end zone earlier in the game. A play-action pass in that situation makes no sense.

On paper, the Bengals controlled the game. They gained over 70 yards more than Oakland. The Bengals held the ball nearly twice as long as the Raiders, but the inability to finish drives and especially the lack of a pile-moving back near the goal line cost the Bengals a game they had no business losing.

The sky’s not falling, but falling apart against a team like Oakland is certainly a loud warning signal.