OAKLAND, Ca. -- It was a long trip back to Cincinnati. It was already a five hour flight, but the circumstances of late Sunday afternoon made it feel like a lifetime.
As I left the Bengals locker room, it wasn't the morgue that we've experienced so many times in the past. But these players know this is a chance they let get away. Or better said, they let the Raiders take it away.
Nobody could explain why the Bengals had a couple of nice efficient drives in the first half and then couldn't do anything in the red zone. They said the Raiders didn't change anything, didn't give them any special looks.
But you could see that the Raiders gained some momentum each time the Bengals gave up the football without scoring.
At times this looked like the Bengals of the past 20 years. Like the third quarter drive that got to the Oakland two, only to see them pushed back by a huge sack of Carson Palmer. Then Shayne Graham missed a very makeable field goal of 37-yards away.
Morgan Trent was one of the heroes of last week. He became a goat Sunday when Louis Murphy turned him around and caught the touchdown pass in the final minute.
And Andre Caldwell, who has had dramatic catches this season, coughed up the football on the final kickoff and allowed the Raiders to kick a chip shot field goal to win it.
Caldwell says the ball was simply jarred out of his hands and he has to learn from that mistake. Trent says he has to learn from his mistake. There's going to be a lot of learning going on this week.
The Bengal players admitted that Marvin Lewis talked about this possibility all week long. They don't think they were overconfident or flat, but they sure didn't have the sharpness of recent weeks.
The Bengals flew back Sunday night, and will look at their misfortune on Monday. Then they have to set their sights on the Browns. Maybe Browns week will gain a little extra significance because of Sunday.
Cincinnati and Cleveland kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday.
