What you see is what you get.

[Art-Florida]

All the things said about Steve McNair seem to be true.

He is a nice guy. He may not be the brightest light on the Xmas tree. (see the slide when he should have stretched, amongst other decisions))

He is old. He can still run like hell when he has to.

He has stood up rather well this season in spite of being injury-prone in the past. He IS brittle.

He is the coolest and calmest QB playing. He makes some strange choices at times.

His best years are behind him. He may have one more good season and a half left.

Either Steve has lost lost confidence in his arm to throw the ball deep, or Brian Billick, who calls the plays, has.

The Bengals knew full well they had no worries as far as the Bomb tonight.

Let's all hope this game was an aberration.

[POPSinPA]

What you see is what you get.

Yep a washed up QB that was never that great to begin with except with his legs.

[darb72]

I don't think anything is wrong with Steves arm. It might not be as strong as it was when he was young, but he still has an above average NFL arm.

He was off tonight. It happens. The entire offense seemed out of synch to me.

[Mobtown]

He you all go again...check the stats, Steve and Palmer has almost identical numbers last night.

Is Palmer old and washed up too?

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

He you all go again...check the stats, Steve and Palmer has almost identical numbers last night.

Is Palmer old and washed up too?

I'm with you Mobtown, he had a bad night...It happens. Steve couldn't get into a rythm...That being said, I just thought he was afraid to go deep for fear of turning the ball over....You don't want to turn the ball over in a tight game like that one...Although, you SHOULD try it at least once:nerd:

[Mista T]

I just thought he was afraid to go deep for fear of turning the ball over....

It wasn't just the underthrown deep pass. Passing was inaccurate all night, despite good protection. Worst passing performance of the season. Cincy missed several opportunities for easy interceptions, which distorted the stats. His weak arm has resurfaced. He only had four days' rest. Hopefully, the time off going into KC will allow his arm strength to return.

As to the mental errors - they were relatively minor. Not spotting open receivers was likely the result of pressing too hard under the pressure of playing from behind. As to sliding instead of surging forward to make the first down on the second to last drive - QBs are trained that way. I was happier seeing him slide short to avert injury. While this game was important, it was not a playoff game and we still have a two game lead with four games to go.

:T2:

[Ravenswarrior19]

There was nothing wrong with him sliding on that 3rd down play. We were in 4 down territory anyway. I'd much rather have a 4th and 3 with a healthy QB than a 1st down and McNair hurt. Hindsight is perfect, but what if we'd converted on that 4th down (not unheard of). The slide would have been forgotten. In the playoffs, that's a 1st down every time, even if he has to drag all 11 with him.

[FadeToBlack]

The Bengals knew full well they had no worries as far as the Bomb tonight.

Let's all hope this game was an aberration.

I think it's a combination of McNair and the receivers. Neither can really stretch the field. We have a possession quarterback and possession receivers. We don't have a deep ball QB and a true #1 receiver.