The Bengals’ heartbreaking 18-16 wild-card playoff loss to the Steelers not only has weighed on Adam Jones’ mind throughout the offseason, apparently it also has taken up space on his DVR.
The Pro Bowl cornerback told ESPN.com that he’s watched the game “about 10 times.” While he felt like the Bengals deserved to win the game, he didn’t exactly use the word “dominated” when sharing his observations.
“We kicked they ass the whole game; that’s all I can say,” Jones said. “And it hurt me to my heart that we let it go like that.”
Jones is correct in saying that the Bengals let the Steelers off the hook. They led 16-15 and had the ball at the Steelers’ 26-yard line with 1:36 left after a Vontaze Burfict interception. Then came Jeremy Hill’s fumble and back-to-back personal foul penalties on Burfict and Jones that put the Steelers in position for Chris Boswell’s game-winning 35-yard field goal.
But to say the Bengals kicked the Steelers’ ass the whole game? Sure, Ben Roethlisberger had to temporarily leave the game with a separated shoulder and Antonio Brown was knocked out with a concussion, but the Bengals didn’t do the kind of ass-kicking that needs to be done to win a game. The Steelers led 15-0 through three quarters. A 42-yard pass interference penalty helped the Bengals finally get on the board in the fourth quarter and make a game of it.
The Bengals need to move on and try to advance past the wild-card round for the first time since 1990.
And if DVR is the means by which Jones has watched last year’s wild-card game over and over, he needs to delete it.