you won't like what you see

That sure didn't look like a team interested in getting into the playoffs. It looked like a team trying to give away their wild card spot. Sure, the Colts game was the one game out of the final four that the Bengals could most afford to lose, but tonight was just pathetic. Nothing was clicking on offense. Not even the running game was that great, all though I had the bad feeling going into the game that after their terrible week against Jacksonville, the Colts' run defense was going to be out for redemption. The main problem went back to the offensive line, who were getting absolutely dominated. Losing Willie Anderson was one of the final nails in the coffin; Whitworth was getting schooled all night by Dwight Freeney on the right, but with Willie out we couldn't count on the right side either. Palmer had no time whatsoever to do anything. He had four fumbles, for crying out loud!

The wide receivers weren't looking too hot themselves either. The number of dropped passes is just inexcusable. And can we just go ahead and cut Chris Henry now? The guy obviously has no interest in playing because he never puts forth any effort. Chalk up another drop in the endzone for him, and how many times did he make a half-hearted, one-handed attempt to catch the ball? He seems to think he has better things to do, so let's not hold him up.

Some terrible coaching tonight too. Why, oh why, did we call a timeout on what was obviously a questionable catch by Chad early in the game?! Even if they needed to take a timeout to sort things out, snap the ball and spike it. It wasn't worth the timeout or all the lost yardage. Granted, I actually think it was a completion and the referee was wrong to reverse it (yes, initially it went through his hands but he caught it against his leg. It still never touched the ground) but it was clear that it was a close call. I couldn't believe we took a timeout and gave Indy all that time to decide on whether or not to challenge.

Plus, I don't know what Marvin was thinking in leaving Palmer in till the end. It was obvious that they'd already conceded the game when they kept punting instead of going for it on fourth down, so why leave your quarterback in to take more shots? He'd been getting pounded all game, and it was a stupid risk to take. In fact, Palmer's fourth fumble came late in the game when Anthony Wright should have been in instead. If you're going to admit defeat, don't take unnecessary risks.

Lastly, Chuck Bresnahan should publicly apologize for that defensive gameplan. Apparently he thought it would be a good idea to give the Colts a free 10 yards on every play. Just as long as we didn't give up a pass of 20 or more yards, it doesn't matter how many times they catch it short and run for extra yards. It was maybe a nice idea to start off, but we should have abandoned it after Manning had his way with us on short passes. I don't know how many times I saw the linebackers or safeties running away from the running back coming out of the backfield because they were afraid of a deep pass, only to have Manning dump it off and the back runs for a first down. The pass coverage was pathetic.

We can clinch a playoff spot with a win at Denver next week and losses from Buffalo and the Jets or Buffalo and Jacksonville. But more likely, we'll have to win at Denver next week and at home against Pittsburgh. We're going to need major adjustments.