Oddbounces

By Timzilla

This is my "Hey, baby ... I stomped this thing and its nine puppies to death with my own boot" look.

If you’re anything like me, you probably watched yesterday’s Super Bowl petting your pet Boa, wearing a wild animal on your head, sipping a cold one (protected with a nifty corporate keep-cool, zip-up beer jacket), of course. I mean, who doesn’t.

So there I was watching authentic, gin-U-wine Super Bowl footballs zinging around south Florida like live bullets in south LA gangland shootout.

Seemed every few minutes CBS told me another Super Bowl passing record had fallen. Hell, from what I saw even fans were passing beers with authority.

When it was all said ‘n done Air Nar’luns shocked our Cincy neighbors 31-17. Whodat-a-thunkit? Good job, Saints.

Yup, yards via air yesterday were more than just a passing fad. Super Bowl 44 MVP Drew Brees threw for 288 yards and two scores, while Colts Peyton Manning had a touchdown and threw for 333 yards on 31 of 45 passing.  In fact, the two teams tied the Super Bowl record for fewest combined rushes (the Steelers and Cardinals also combined for 37 carries last year).

So do we need any more evidence the NFL is (and has been for a while now) a passing league?

This is my "Hey, baby, if you think the curtains are thick, might wanna check out the carpet" look.

I mean, wasn’t three of the four teams playing in this year’s conference championship games considered passing teams, with only the New York Jets and their Maybelline Model Mark Sanchez the lone misfit?

Wow, and just a few short years ago the Bengals were hanging with the NFL in-crowd; a cool Johnny Depp haircut and our pants on the ground. But those hefty passing days of yesteryear are now just passing days —long gone. In return we get our 2001 Baltimore Ravens “run-first” reprint, which literally means run first … and maybe second, and third, too (Oddbounces has exactly, precisely calculated the Bengals are paying their Heisman Trophy QB accessory about a $1 gazillion per handoff).

So are you like me, laying awake at night wondering if Britney was wearing a fake bald-headed cap, and feeling the NFL is going digital, while the Bengals analogue? Or am I just doing my best Glenn Beck worrisome, the-sky-is-falling act (or in the Bengals case, the ‘ground’ is falling)?

Having watched all 12 playoff teams this year, what do you think? Is Marvin Lewis’ run-first plan a good one; and not outdated? Can the Bengals win playoff games with Cedric Benson as the main spark?

Can the old 2001 Baltimore Ravens philosophy (for which the Bengals are modeled) work anymore?