Bengals 18, Steelers 12

[text message exchange, ca. 4:08 pm]
NATE: Guess they're doing it the hard way this year
JACK: Yeeepp

OK, I'd still feel better if we knew what was up with Polamalu's knee. Still, it's not like if Polamalu goes down then the offense should just grind to a halt. Usually you feel pretty good if your defense gives up 12 points, one of those on a drive starting inside your own 20.

We had a couple of games like this last year, right? . . . just none that kicked us out of division contention. I mean, what, we beat Baltimore twice now and we can talk, but before then . . .

Anyway, I still like this division better with the Bengals bringing something to the table. You know, you man up and you hope you get them in the playoffs and beat them at your own game again. Bob Smizik pretty much says it.

More to the point -- as a fan -- man up, watch them next week. "Eli's on Whitney" is the bar up in Hamden where we went to. They draw a pretty big crowd of Steelers people, but only if the game isn't nationally broadcast. But they don't sell pitchers of beer for some reason. What gives with that? Anyway, Stu made it, plus Andrea and Andrea's friend Suzanne.

Maybe next week it'll be time to head back to the bona fide Steelers bar in Fairfield. That place was rocking between the Woodley and Keyaron Fox touchdown runs a couple of weeks back.

In any case, lovely evening, and now it had better be time to do those dishes and sober up enough to freelance copyedit 10 pages of grant proposal for someone in the med school. Awesome!

Street scene (blurry). Does not do the atmosphere justice.

Also, before we forget this: how good is it to see Ryan Clark cracking someone upside the head to stop them a yard shy on third down? Way for Ryan Clark to not play in Denver and stay alive and everything. Love the whole D, really. Brett Keisel is a man possessed this year.

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Also, if you want to cheer yourself up, check out this awesome Washington Redskins play. If it's a Redskins highlight, you already know it's an unusual thing.