Tuesday Trenches: Edge of a knife

The Cincinnati Bengals got off to another hot start, driving right down the field and scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon. The home crowd roared, high-fives were given all around, and all was right in the world.

A few short hours later, the sky fell.

The Bengals lost 30-27 at home just four days before they travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens in a huge AFC North game. By losing, not only did they hurt their chances of winning the AFC North, but they could have jeopardized their chances of getting into the playoffs at all.

Here’s the deal. Losing this game did hurt, but the sky hasn’t fallen. Not yet, anyway. The Bengals still control their destiny, meaning…