Commentary: How one scramble changed the Bengals entire season

In a sold out stadium and in family rooms and on bar stools across the country, time stood still. We held our collective breath and watched in both shock and awe as Carson Palmer...started scrambling.

Scrambling. Scrambling?!?! What was he doing scrambling? It's his first game back and the preseason for goodness sake's! He was supposed to take a few hard hits tonight, that's all. Maybe get sacked and remember what artificial turf smelled like. He wasn't supposed to take off running on a broken play and let linebackers, free safeties and anyone wearing a white jersey have a free shot at him, right? But he did.

And in those few seconds we watched him run through a wide, gapping hole that even a guy with a Pabst in one hand and nachos in the other could have gained a few yards in.

We waited for the hole to close, and for a preying defensive back, salivating at the mouth, to crush Palmer to the turf. We waited.

And even as an entire sideline, stadium and fans across Who Dey-land screamed for him to slide, Palmer kept scrambling. Yes, scrambling on that once shredded knee that's carrying a franchise's dream.

One slide and a first down later, Palmer got up from the turf without a scratch. Perhaps the Packers' secondary was so dumbfounded by Palmer's bravado that no one really bothered to touch him down.

Palmer's scramble elevated everyone's blood pressure within a 100-mile radius of Paul Brown Stadium, but it also elevated the confidence of Bengal fans everywhere who were once unsure of the team's future and now can envision a season that will include a return to the playoffs and a Super Bowl run.

All that from one, little scramble.