St. Louis Nearly The Toast of Cleveland

Someone outside Brad St. Louis's immediate family and Special Teams coach Darrin Simmons knows his name.  If you are a long-snapper, that's a very, very bad thing.

For a veteran like St. Louis, this season has been an absolute nightmare.  First the botched field goal vs. Denver in Week 1.  Then, the moon shot of a snap after Jonathan Joseph's pick-six vs. Pittsburgh last week.  This week in Cleveland?  Just a couple more bad snaps, resulting in a blocked field goal on the opening drive and a blocked extra point after the Bengals stirring drive to tie the game at 20. 

St. Louis is one of the highest paid long-snappers in the league, and he has (generally) served this team well through thick and thin.  But enough is enough.  The Bengals will not survive in Baltimore and throughout the rest of the season without a confident kicking game.  Shayne Graham is gun shy, and new holder Kevin Huber doesn't know whether to catch the ball or duck for cover.  I fully expected the Bengals to go for the touchdown in overtime, no matter how close they got to the goal-line.  I had that little confidence in the kicking game.

Cut him, now.  Someone else on this planet besides the 31 current NFL long snappers can't do any worse.  Plus, if you want to bring St. Louis back someday...something tells me he will be available.

Comments

[mikebrownstinks]

He shoulda been fired after the debacle 3 years ago. Must have naked pics of Katie Blackburn.

[WCH]

Hmm, cut the guy? What a tool!

[Scott Ricketts]

I swear St. Louis must be personally lifting aside Mike Brown's corpulent belly and servicing his member on a daily basis. There is no other rational explanation for his continued employment. Well other than Mike is super cheap.

[Rich]

Bengals are 3-1, but yeah, he sorta sucks right now.

[David Fulcher]

CUT HIM NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

WHY IS THE GUY STILL ON THE TEAM?

[Dan]

I try not to follow the Bungles training camp depth chart too closely - mainly because I don't like patronizing the Bengals.com site - but hasn't St. Louis been the only long snapper in camp the past few years? Lack of competition breeds complacency.

[MikeBrownGivesFreeBlumpies]

Reports say he tried to commit suicide after the game.

First, he tried to hang himself, but couldn't kick the chair out from under him.

So he tried to shoot himself in the head, but missed wide right.

[CincyRaz]

Don't forget about the bad snaps in the Denver and Pittsburgh games in 2006 that cost the Bungles the playoffs.

[Danimal, Destroyer of Worlds, Eviscerator of Steeler Fans]

I'll take a win, no matter how ugly it is. But if we keep playing like this, I don't know how much my heart or liver can take. We need to blow teams out. enough of this nailbiter stuff...Anyways great win. and F**K BSL.

[Theme-Creator]

Glad we won! I put the blame on the missed PAT and Field goal on Gram. Yes neither snap was perfect. But it was well within what a franchise kicker should be able to handle. After all, Gram is suppose to be a pro too.

[GregC78&69]

My God, STL has to go!

This is ridiculous, hasn’t been a game this year where he hasn’t almost cost them the game. They’ve been fun to watch, but my ticker can’t take this! I told the old lady she better keep my insurance paid up, because I may not make it through this season.

On the up note, I am glad they are showing some fight this year. In years past in game like the first 4 they would have just laid down.

Actually nice to have 3 wins in Sept-Oct instead of having to wait until Nov-Dec to get to 3 wins.

WhoDey!

¡Viva La Revolucion!

[YourMother]

A bad snap means the holder has to take more time to get the ball to the ground and set it (especially high ones behind him) and that is enough to delay the kick enough to get it blocked.

[ky_bengal]

I kept waiting for the Bengals of old to show back up. They did yesterday. There is no way it should have taken them 5 quarters to beat the Browns. St Louis is just part of the problem. Our defense let the Browns stay in the game and our offense was anemic. Cincy played down to the Browns' level. Next week at Baltimore isn't going to be pretty for Cincinnati. I expect the Ravens to hang over 40 points on us.

[Gambling Fool]

anyone that blames the defense is dumb. They played the whole game. They kept the game close. It is the offense's fault. They need to make a drive of more than 3 plays at a time to give the defense a chance to rest and regroup.

[Al]

WHY HASN'T ST. LOUIS BEEN RELEASED YET??

[Whutdahell]

Yes, fire STL. His non-kicking ass is obviously detrimental to the team. They are having a hard enough time of making up lost ground as it is without that albatross on their necks. What a joke. It's like you can expect at least one botched snap every game. Not what you should be looking for in a player paid as much as him.

BTW, keep up the good work, Comrades. I spread the word wherever I can when I'm on NFL.com and ESPN.com sites talkin'trash. Fortunately, at least these past 3 weeks, I haven't had to eat any words.

Viva La Revolution!

[Major Payne]

@ky_bengal: typical pessimist Bengals fan. I didn't expect to have to wait too long to find a post like yours, and it didn't.

Believe me, I get that this team is FARRRRR from perfect, and STL is leading the charge to bring this team down. (He needs to go!) But holy pink gloves and sweatbands, can't you take even one day to enjoy a 3-1 record? Would you feel better if they were 1-3 like we all expected? Geez, get out from under your MFB-enduced rain cloud and enjoy life a little while you can.

[Randy]

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the fact that we're 3-1. But we could very easily be 0-4 right now. We've won the past 3 games by the skin of our teeth. They're not dominating at all on the field. They're playing just good enough to win. And that's not going to work against Baltimore at all. I have a bad feeling that Baltimore is going to absolutely blow us out of the water this week. 1) because they lost one to the Pats. 2) because they're just an all around better team than us. 3) because we're in the same division and they are going to fight as hard as they can to get that "easy" division win on us. I have a bad feeling about next week.

[bigbabysweets]

well it seems that we play to every opponents level so hopefully we play to the levels of the ravens and pull out another squeeker

[Wyatt]

Randy,

Did you also post two weeks ago that the Bengals were going to get blown out by the Steelers? I understand that the history of our beloved franchise has reasonably taught us to wait for the other shoe to drop, but let's wait until we actually see some storm clouds before we break out the umbrellas, eh? I was at yesterday's game, and regardless of how well or how poorly they played in certain situations (and, as usual, Brat's play-calling with a lead was uninspired, to put it EXTREMELY lightly) - the fact is, they've risen to the occasion and scored go-ahead points through all four weeks. If not for a fluke play against Denver, our Beloved Bengals would be in the ranks of the 4-0 teams (although they still wouldn't get any love from the pundits). The offensive line is still looking to grow and improve, but they've performed more admirably than any of us expected, and as they continue to improve their cohesion, the offense *SHOULD* as well (again, Bob Bratkowski's horrible playcalling could be enough of an anchor to drag the offense down). However, they've proven that, with the game on the line, they're more or less money, making the plays to keep the chains moving and putting the ball in the end zone. That's something that's been lacking since 2005, and even then, the mental toughness to complete those drives was questionable.

So let's see how they fare against the Ravens - this is our barometer game, so to speak. Regardless of how it's happened, this team has beaten both the preseason consensus best team in the NFC in the Packers and the defending Super Bowl champions (and usual nemesis) in the Steelers. If they can play the Ravens, who finally looked beatable on Sunday (against a Patriots team that doesn't nearly merit the love they continually receive), in a close game until the final frame, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bengals are able to eke out another win.

[Randy]

Yeah I did post that but what reason did they give us to believe that the Steeler's weren't going to beat us? None at all. The Packers played an absolute abysmal game. Their O-line was riddled with injury. They just weren't there. So we caught them. That's it. We didn't play that great either. With Pittsburgh, we got lucky to have Polamalu out. Honestly, if he were in that game, we don't win in that final drive. He's that big of a difference on that team. The next time we play them, we get beat. No doubt. And then finally our offense does absolutely nothing against a TERRIBLE defense of the Browns. So tell me, what reason do you have that shows we can beat the Ravens? Yeah besides one play, we could be 4-0. But besides one play each game, we could be 0-4. So let's not all jump under the Bengals pants and get to work just yet. They still have a lot of proving to do for us fans to believe they'll be playing for the playoffs this year.

[Major Payne]

You've convinced me, Randy. The Bengals suck. They've always sucked. They will always suck. It's only be sheer accident or dumb luck that they ever win at all. Why cheer? Why watch? Who even cares?

The Bengals suck. we need to put an asterisk by the 3 W's, because they don't really count anyway. I mean, all of us know that if you don't win by 20, it doesn't really count as a win anyway.

Yeah, the Bengals suck.

(Why do you choose to live like this? My God, I'm glad I'm not you.)

[Randy]

If you only knew me. lol I'm one of the biggest Bengal fans you'll ever meet. We have season tickets that we haven't given up b/c of our true devotion and love of the Bengals. I'm the one sporting the Bengals jersey on Fridays (and Mondays sometimes) at work supporting the Bengals. I'm only keeping reality in everyones' ears. We could very easily be 4-0 but we could also very easily be 0-4. Yes I'm enjoying the wins more than anyone on here for sure. If you knew me you'd notice I've been in a MUCH better mood lately. But I'm also always haunted by the Bengals of the past. They do good for a couple games and fall flat on their face. Or they'll play tough the first two quarters and get spanked the 2nd half. Or they're behind 20 points in the first half and struggle to make it up in the 2nd half. So until you meet me and know me in person, don't judge me. I'm only keeping it real here. They have proven nothing to me except that they play well under pressure. They obviously can't start games strong or stay consistant if they do. But if given the oppportunity in the end they somehow find a way to win. But that won't happen agains the Ravens. You can mark my words.

[Gambling Fool]

Oh Randy, You psychopath you. Which one of your personalities wrote this Gem:

"WCH seems a little bitter. Yeah I hate Mike Brown as much as anyone on this site. But you have to give credit where credit is due. Palmer and company overcame one of the best defenses in the league to produce a couple game winning drives in the 4th. The only one not on the field to help the Squeelers was Polamalu. Yet we still marched down the field on them. So just b/c we did that, it means that they played bad? Can't we for once say that the Bengals actually played good for those couple of drives? Does it always have to be that the other team just played that bad? Come on man. I'm not saying the Bengals are going to the playoffs b/c they probably aren't. But let's enjoy this win against the Squeelers instead of dogging the Bengals even more. They played their asses off to win this game. Give them credit. "

[Gambling Fool]

Besides, why are you here? To join the revolution or just complain? I mean, you keep your season tickets and go to every game. Then you complain when other here think the Bengals are doing well. Do you really have multiple personalities?

[Randy]

Trust me, I root for them as much as anyone. If not more. But I also remember the past 18 years of futility from the Bengals. But I will always keep my season tickets. I can't get rid of them. They've been in my family for over 20 years, I'll never get rid of them. But I don't go down there and spend money on food and drinks. Yeah I know having season tickets is bad enough but like I said, I'll never get rid of them. Yeah I give them credit for wins. Sure they earned them. But they aren't the team everyone else is thinking that's going to go beat the Ravens. That's just not going to happen. And if they do, I'll gladly admit that I was wrong and move on with life. But they haven't impressed me enough this year to believe they're a completely different team that's going to be tough to beat. Anyone have any reasons why I should believe that they'll beat the Ravens? The Ravens D is 100x better than Cleveland and you see what Cleveland was able to do to us. The Ravens offense isn't bad but I think our D can handle them. So I believe the Ravens D will score most in their game against us. But there D is just good enough to put us away.

[Major Payne]

Randy, I went over the cynical edge on you, but I'm not judging. I'm just trying to get you to lighten up a little and enjoy a "W"... no matter how ugly it was.

I don't think you have to keep many people on this site "grounded" in reality. We recognize that fortune has smiled on this team (for once). We know that this offense is far from where it needs to be. We see the flaws on defense and the gapping holes in special teams. We are also wondering if the Rooney family has put some Vulcan mind-meld on STL to get him to sabotage the season. We know that the Ravens are the better team at this point.

But dude, don't let the stressful way they won steal the fun of a win. A win is a win; enjoy it! We aren't drinking the MFB coolaid. This is a BYOB event! Wait until Thursday to start sweating the Ravens.

[Randy]

Oh and like I said in an earlier post that you guys saw. I give credit where credit is due. Yeah they won the game against Cleveland but they looked even worse than in the game against the Steelers. If they have that much trouble against one of the worst teams in the NFL right now, what do you think is going to happen against the Ravens? They have no health issues that I'm aware of. So they're coming off of a loss, we're playing in Baltimore, and they're pretty much 100% health. That's a recipe for disaster.

[Gambling Fool]

Randy. The Ravens lost their starting right tackle and a middle linebacker this past weekend. One probably for the season. But, you know, left tackle and middle linebacker don't really matter in football.

[Gambling Fool]

I think I am most frustrated with the way you are posting. The Bengals that played the Browns were not the Bengals that played the Steelers, Broncos and Packers. Your scientific figures of the Ravens D being 100X better than someone or because they want it more make you sound like a bitter fan that just wants to bitch.

[Gambling Fool]

Left Tackle, my bad.

[mikebrownstinks]

@Randy: If you haven't give up your season tickets YOU are part of the problem. The money goes to fund a greedy incompetent bastard. You fuel the incompetence. Your taxes paid for the half billion dollar monument to incompetence that they call PBS. So you have no right to complain. You paid for it and continue to do so. Until you stop buying provably inferior product, the product ain't going to improve.

[Al]

The Bengals were coming off of an emotional win in the Steelers. One that they (the team in place now) really have never experienced. And they played the Ravens the following week: the Browns game screamed trap game. It was on the road against a team that was thought to be the worst in the league. And Derek Anderson made that team better. So maybe we should be looking at this win as more of a quality win. It showed mental toughness for the second straight week. Converting 4th downs like it was easy. I mean come on. Maybe God is with the Bengals this year (or maybe he is just giving us false hope so we fall flat on our faces later).

[joemama]

mikebrownstinks, YOU SUCK!

[ky_bengal]

To the people who have let 3 wins erase the past 18 years, I would hate to be y'all. when the team gets back to it's old ways of playing, you guys are gonna need the psychiatric help because you have forgotten the past history of this team. The rest of us, who are prepared for the other shoe to drop, will continue to live our lives normally.

I totally understand where Randy is coming from. Winning is great, everybody loves to win. However the Bengals have gotten lucky so far in these wins because some of the same ole problems are there. Bengals were only 28% on third down conversions. 6 penalties for 46 yards and only 2-4 in the red zone. You can't beat teams like Baltimore with numbers like that unless you get "lucky". And if you depend on luck to win games, eventually it runs out.

And if you think the defense did a good job against Cleveland, Cleveland had an average of 5 yards per play. Passing or rushing. They had a total of 395 yards and a total possession time of over 38 minutes. If you consider THAT a good defense then that's part of your problem. The defense allowed the Browns to stay in the game. Again, if this team is as good as you guys want to believe, there is no way it should have taken them into overtime to beat the Browns.

I like the Bengals as much as the next guy, however I refuse to be a homer and turn a blind eye to the problems that still exist here.

[votasi]

jesus you f@cking capitalist f@cks...when the bengals lost games in the '06 and '07 seasons, a lot of them were by less than a score. marvin would come on the mic and say, "eliminating one or two big plays here and there and we win this game..." this site and you douches loved it so much, you created your own stats, 'almost-wins'.

well now they are winning those games. not almost winning them, they did win them. the steelers almost won a game. they didn't have the game sewn up. you have to play the whole game and our team hung in there. luck was what denver had to have to win the first game. who gives a shit if the browns are bad. we beat them. there is 3/4's of the season left and anything can happen. that's not being a homer or a debbie-downer. that's just taking it for what it is and enjoying some sundays. i'm not waiting for them to fail or canceling my plans in january for playoff tix either (btw's - how many of you 'hard-core' comrades are going to forgo the manifesto and buy playoff tix if that happens...no matter how much of an aberration or how abhorrent you think it is?).

does it make you feel intelligent for your mid-western upbringing to 'guarantee' through 'marked words' that they will lose on sunday to the ravens? big f@cking limb your climbing on there, chotch. will it make my life a nightmare if they lose? please. do i think they can hang and could possibly win? of course. will i start talking like, "this is the league's elite team" and point to it as redemption/justification for everything m. brown has ever done? please. will i enjoy it and take satisfaction smirking and headbobbing at all the other afc north fans around my neighborhood. abso'f@ckin'lutely.

get over your need to call for a bengal's loss every week to prove you know what's up. they will lose a game this year. they will lose several. the team will be better in the long-term with more consistent and capable management. i will enjoy every win and watch every sunday even if they don't. that's not being a 'true fan', a 'good fan', a 'homer', or any other label. that's being a normal, healthy person.

[Randy]

So I was running a bit late to work this morning waiting on my clothes to dry and I flipped on the TV and America's Funniest Home Videos was on. Once I turned it on the guy was talking about fans of sports teams who go "too far" when rooting for their team. They show a fella sitting in front of the TV watching a sport. I could tell it was football by the way he was talking. Then he starts saying "I keep telling you to run man to man. Don't give them a cushion. Why do you give them a cushion? Play man to man!". This guy is basically crying at this point. I just think to myself, geez, that's what I say when the Bengals are playing. So I continue to listen to this guy and then he says "Chuck, I keep saying to run man to man. Don't give them any cushion!". The name "Chuck" caught my attention and I giggled thinking that it'd be funny if he were talking about Bresnahan. So he continues on with his rage about man to man coverage. Then the kicker. He says "Jesus Bresnahan, I keep saying run man to man defense!". I burst out laughing as hard as I could. Boy did I feel his pain when Chuck was here. It was just funny that the Bengals were technically on AFV. True story. I recorded it on DVR so I could show it. :-)

[Randy]

Well, a friend just reminded me of his stint with the Raiders before us. So I believe this was probably with the Raiders considering my guess at the age of the video. But never the less, it was rather amusing. LOL

[Major Payne]

ky_bengal:

You have got to be one of the most thick-headed fans I've seen post here in a while. I don't expect you to understand what I'm saying, because you obviously see and hear what you want, but who here is saying that there aren't problems with this team... some of them BIG problems? I doubt anyone here is blind enough to say that. I'm not.

I don't know who you think you are punishing by being such a purist that you refuse to enjoy a win unless every aspect of the team is up to your idealistic standard. If you treat the rest of your life this way, your life has to suck (unless you enjoy misery). Thank God I'm not your kid, trying to live up to your standard of perfection.

I said going into this season that the Bengals could easily go 10-6 this year, and they could just as easily go 5-11 this year. Either one is still entirely possible, but I won't need psychiatric help to get through it if the wheels come off the wagon. It's just football for God's sake. You are the one who needs at least an enema to get the burr out of your a** and enjoy a win for once, if not the psychiatric evaluation for your issues that refuse to let yourself or others crack open a cold one and let out a "Who Dey!" after a victory.