Props to respected The Dallas Morning News sportswriter Rick Gosselin for giving an extra twist to the knife tonight for Bengals fans. Not only do we get to watch the once-lowly Cardinals advance to the Big Dance, but also get to recall how Whisenhunt served us the same sewer sandwich three years ago.
Whisenhunt up to old tricks: In the opening round of the 2005 playoffs, the Cincinnati Bengals cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 21-17 late in the third quarter. That’s when then-Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt dug into his bag of tricks.
Antwan Randle El took a handoff for an apparent sweep to the right end, but he stopped and threw the ball back to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger across the field. Roethlisberger then fired a second pass down the field to Cedrick Wilson for a 43-yard touchdown.
That broke Cincinnati’s back, and the Steelers won, 31-17. They went on to capture their fifth Lombardi Trophy.
Now the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Whisenhunt resurrected that play Sunday.
J.J. Arrington took a second-quarter handoff, swept right, then threw the ball back across the field to Warner. Warner then fired a second pass down the field to Larry Fitzgerald for a 62-yard touchdown.
“The key was to make sure we threw it up there and give Larry a chance to come down with it,” Whisenhunt said.
Thanks, Rick. We needed that. Not.
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