RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Who-Dey 2006 : Cincy's Road to the Superbowl

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Preseason has a perfect end
Bengals' 4-0 record, on-target Palmer good signs for opener
BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

INDIANAPOLIS - Carson Palmer's rehabilitation took another positive step Friday night.

The Bengals quarterback played two series against the Colts, as planned, and directed an 80-yard touchdown drive on the Bengals' second possession, capping the march with a 14- yard scoring strike between defenders to wide receiver Chris Henry on a curl pattern in the end zone. Palmer then was taken out in favor of backup Anthony Wright, and the Bengals went on to a 20-3 victory to finish the preseason with a 4-0 record for the first time in franchise history.

"These numbers don't mean a thing," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said afterward when asked about the perfect exhibition run.

The 1971 Bengals were 5-0-1 in the preseason but 4-10 in the regular season. The 2006 Bengals posted the franchise's first winning preseason record since the 1988 team went 4-1-0.

Palmer was 4-for-6 passing for 72 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

"We got accomplished what we set out to do," Lewis said at halftime. "We got some snaps in for the first units, they did pretty well, and we got them out."

In two preseason appearances, Palmer was 13-for-20 passing (65 percent) for 212 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, and his passer rating was a sparkling 140.0. He watched the rest of Friday's game from the sideline with a precautionary ice bag wrapped to his surgically repaired left knee.

"I just wanted to get another shot and not have a week off before the first real game," he said.

"I've got all the confidence I need in my knee going into the next game."

In the first quarter, Bengals cornerback Tory James intercepted a Shaun King pass in the end zone to give Palmer and the offense the ball on the 20.

Colts coach Tony Dungy did not play his starters. Former Miami University quarterback Josh Betts, a rookie free agent, made his preseason debut in the fourth quarter for Indianapolis.

With the exception of wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals' starting offensive lineup was on the field for the second series. Henry started in Houshmandzadeh's place.

On the Bengals' first scoring drive, after left tackle Levi Jones was called for a false start, tailback Rudi Johnson ran for 14 yards and then 5 yards to give Cincinnati the ball on the 34. After another false start by Jones, Chad Johnson dropped a ball from Palmer on a crossing pattern but redeemed himself on the next play, catching a 31-yard pass down the left sideline to give the Bengals a first down on the Indianapolis 40.

On second down, Rudi Johnson ran 26 yards to the Colts 14, then Palmer fired a fastball between defenders that was caught by Henry for a touchdown.

Rudi Johnson finished with three runs for 45 yards. Chad Johnson had three receptions 59 yards.

Wright led Cincinnati's second scoring drive. Tailback Quincy Wilson, playing with the second-team offense, ran in from 1 yard for the score, capping a 13-play, 53-yard drive that took 7:49.

Wilson rushed 19 times for 128 yards, making a serious bid to make the 53-man roster.

"I did everything I could do," Wilson said. "I did some blocking, some pass catching (and) some running. I've had a blast."

Depending on the health of third-down back Chris Perry, who has not played all preseason and is on the active physically unable to perform list, Wilson might unseat Kenny Watson as the third-down back.

With Wilson's touchdown and two Shayne Graham field goals, the Bengals outscored opponents 131-54 in the preseason.

The Bengals had two takeaways and committed one turnover, ending the preseason with a plus-9 turnover differential (11-2).

The Bengals face some tough decisions when the roster is cut to 53 players today.

When Wright and the rest of the second-team offense took over, the Bengals put Ben Wilkerson at center and Eric Ghiaciuc at left guard. Center is the primary position for both players.

Ghiaciuc was the team's fifth-round pick in 2005 and started one game at center.

Wilkerson, the top-rated college center in 2004 for LSU until he suffered a serious knee injury, spent the 2005 season on the Bengals' non-football injured reserve list. He cleared his physical in time to participate fully in training camp.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer .com

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
Except the Jets, no one can pretend that well.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Now it's Carson Palmer's turn to return the kindness and reach out to Trent Green.

When Palmer went down last January with a devastating knee injury, Green was one of the first to call the Cincinnati quarterback. Although the two barely knew each other, Green offered words of encouragement, advice drawn upon his own experience with career-threatening knee problems.

Now, on the day Palmer made a triumphant comeback by leading the Bengals to a 23-10 victory over Kansas City, Green was the one rushed to a hospital.

A brutal hit by Cincinnati's Robert Geathers -- which the Chiefs expect to be reviewed by the league office -- left the Kansas City quarterback unconscious on the turf. The game was delayed 11 minutes while he was carefully carted away on a stretcher.

The Chiefs reported later the injury was not as bad as it seemed. Green had "pretty severe head trauma," said Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson, but X-rays were negative.

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No doubt, Palmer was just about as happy at that news as the nearly 80,000 fans who sat hushed while attendants carted their popular quarterback away. The attendants held their hands under Green's helmet to gently steady his head.

"It's tough in this kind of small fraternity of quarterbacks in this league, when you see a quarterback go down like that," said Palmer. "You just start praying for him and that's all you can do and hope for the best."

Palmer has said often how much he appreciated hearing from Green.

"He was very helpful when he called, and he gave me good advice," he said.

Palmer, exactly eight months after surgeons repaired his mangled left knee, was not sharp at the beginning. But then the Bengals went to their no-huddle offense and he hit nine passes in a row in an impressive stretch that seemed to announce he's ready to return to the league's elite.

Once Palmer found his touch, Rudi Johnson and Kenny Watson scored touchdowns in a 17-point second-quarter. Palmer, who was injured in the opening minutes of Cincinnati's playoff loss to Pittsburgh last January, was 13-for-19 for 127 yards.

The Bengals had seven sacks of Green and backup Damon Huard, running through a revamped Chiefs line which includes two new tackles.

Kansas City Chiefs' Kyle Turley sits on the bench and wipes his face during the closing moments of the Chiefs' NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006, in Kansas City, Mo. The Bengals won 23-10.
AP - Sep 10, 4:44 pm EDT
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"We had some things early on, a couple of things on offense that kind of slowed us up a little bit," said Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis. "But once we got those corrected, we played good football."

Palmer was 5-for-5 for 51 yards in Cincinnati's first touchdown drive, capped by Rudi Johnson's 22-yard scamper through a gaping hole on the right side. Then Kenny Watson made it 17-3 with an 8-yard TD run.

Shayne Graham kicked three field goals for the Bengals, the defending AFC North champs. Huard hit Tony Gonzalez with a 9-yard TD pass for Kansas City's lone touchdown in the fourth period.

"They're a good football team," said Herm Edwards, who had an unhappy debut as Kansas City's head coach. "You can't give them a lead. You can't turn the ball over and give them field position."

Edwards said Huard would start next week if Green can't. But he refused to discuss Geathers' hit. As the quarterback went into a feet-first hook slide, the Bengals' defensive end came flying in and appeared to slam his right shoulder into the quarterback's chest or helmet, snapping Green's head into the turf.

"The officials have to look at it on tape," Edwards said. "We've been advised that we don't comment on officials' calls. I'm not going to get into it. Obviously, it will get looked at by the guys up in New York. I'll leave it at that."

Geathers said he thought Chiefs wide receiver Eddie Kennison pushed him into Green, and that it was not a particularly hard hit.

"I didn't think it was. I know I didn't hit him head-to-head," he said. "I think it was my shoulder pad that hit him in his chest.

"It's hard watching him down there on the ground and knowing that he has a family and everything."

Notes

From 2001-2005, Green passed for more yards (16,334) than any quarterback in the NFL but Peyton Manning. With 4,014 yards last year, he became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to post three straight 4,000-yard seasons. He had made 80 straight starts going into the season. ... Larry Johnson rushed for 68 yards on 17 carries, the first time in 10 games he did not have at least 100 yards.

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Cincinnati 34, Cleveland 17
Preview - Box Score - Recap

By JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer
September 17, 2006

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson flaps his arms doing the "Chicken Dance" after catching an 8-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer in the first half of their NFL football game with the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 34-17.
AP - Sep 17, 5:45 pm EDT
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CINCINNATI (AP) -- Even Chad Johnson's touchdown dance hurt.

The Cincinnati Bengals lost three starters to injury, and a bunch more were groggy and bleeding after a 34-17 victory Sunday over the Cleveland Browns -- a troubling turn for the defending AFC North champs.

"This is probably the most banged up we've been," said Carson Palmer, who was moving slowly after the second-best passing day of his career.

Even with their patchwork lineup, the Bengals (2-0) had their way with the Browns (0-2), who struggled mightily to move the ball and repeatedly self-destructed for the second week in a row.

"We felt like we were in position to be able to compete, and we came out the first two games and stunk it up," linebacker Andra Davis said. "It's not a good feeling."

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The Bengals weren't feeling too good, either, but overcame what ailed them.

Palmer threw for 352 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season. Chris Henry, who pleaded guilty to a gun charge five days earlier, led the way with five catches for 113 yards. Rudi Johnson ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

It was Palmer's sixth 300-yard game and the second-highest total of his career, the latest piece of proof that he has fully recovered from a knee injury. The Bengals needed a steady game from Palmer on an unsettling day.

"We go how far Carson takes us," said receiver Kelley Washington, who had a 22-yard touchdown catch. "He's a great leader and a great quarterback."

Injuries forced one of the NFL's most balanced offenses to improvise.

Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and left tackle Levi Jones were inactive with lingering injuries. During the first half, the Bengals lost center Rich Braham to a knee injury, safety Dexter Jackson to an ankle injury, and linebacker David Pollack, who was taken to a hospital for evaluation of an unspecified neck injury. Pollack had full movement in his arms and legs.

Few Bengals made it through unscathed. They won anyway.

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson walks off the field with blood on his jersey after they defeated the Cleveland Browns, 34-17, in their NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006, in Cincinnati. Johnson had six receptions and one touchdown in the game.
AP - Sep 17, 5:38 pm EDT
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"That's what you've got to have -- a deep football team," coach Marvin Lewis said. "That's what the best teams are."

This one hurt from start to finish.

Chad Johnson got his first touchdown of the season, stretching far out of the end zone to catch an 8-yard pass from Palmer. He got the tips of his black cleats down before landing hard on his right shoulder.

The Pro Bowl receiver popped up, did an encore of the "Chicken Dance" that he performed at the city's Oktoberfest a day earlier, then slouched in pain. He didn't miss any plays, but ended the game on another painful note.

Brian Russell's high hit knocked off Johnson's helmet on the Bengals' final pass, leaving his white No. 85 jersey spotted with blood. Johnson had still had glassy eyes and several stitches just below his chin when he emerged from the trainer's room.

"How do I look?" he said, trying to focus his eyes.

He was too disoriented to conduct an interview.

"I talked to Chad," Palmer said. "He's a little loopy. He's a little out of it."

The Bengals' balance allowed them to stay unbeaten for their long-awaited game next Sunday in Pittsburgh, against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs in January.

"That's the thing we try to get to around here," said right tackle Willie Anderson, blood oozing from the bridge of his nose. "It's not about one player or one side. With our schedule, this team can't be one-sided."

By contrast, Cleveland's offense never got off the ground. The bumbling Browns failed to get more than one first down on any first-half drive. They had a field goal and Charlie Frye's late 2-yard touchdown run set up by interceptions.

Frye repeatedly threw behind receivers in a conservative approach -- hand off, dump off, throw short over the middle. He didn't put together a touchdown drive until the fourth quarter, when he completed a 75-yard pass to Braylon Edwards down the left sideline to set up a score.

"We weren't good on either side of the ball," coach Romeo Crennel said. "It wasn't good. That's about all I can say."

Notes

Frye was 20-of-33 for 244 yards. The 75-yard completion to Edwards was the longest of his career, and the second-longest of the receiver's career. ... The Browns are 0-2 for the third time since they rejoined the league as an expansion team in 1999. ... Bengals K Shayne Graham missed a 44-yard field goal attempt to the right, ending his club-record streak of 17 made in a row. It was his first miss since last Nov. 6 at Baltimore. ... Graham made his next two tries. ... With LT Levi Jones out, the Bengals moved LG Eric Steinbach to tackle and gave second-round pick Andrew Whitworth his first start at guard.

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Animalman said:
I'd wait until after they lose to Pittsburgh next week, though.

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I'm sure the Bengals would beat Pittsburgh next week if they had Charlie Weis coaching 'em.

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PJP said:
I'm a Dolphins fan but they aren't ready this year. They will still make the playoffs but the Bengals in my opinion are the class of the AFC.....and like I said I really like Baltimore, getting Steve Mcnair was huge for them and Jamal Lewis is going to rush for 1500 yards this year and of course they may have the best defense in football this year.....Bengals have a much better offense though. Pittsburgh will finish third....they are pretenders.

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Stopping Palmer, starting their running game are Steelers' big concerns
By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer
September 21, 2006

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Troy Polamalu may take on the challenge of defending what he calls the AFC's best quarterback with one good arm.

Polamalu, the Pittsburgh Steelers' All-Pro safety, has an injured left shoulder that effectively forced him to play at far less than 100 percent efficiency in a 9-0 loss to Jacksonville on Monday.

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"There's a lot of things I could have done better, so that's how good it (the shoulder) is," he said.

Complicating matters, Polamalu has a short week to get well for Sunday's game against Cincinnati and his former Southern Cal roommate, Carson Palmer. To Polamalu, Palmer "probably is the best offensive player in the league."

"You've just got to fight your way through it, just like everyone else on the team," Polamalu said. "With any injury, you're restricted in some way. But there are a lot of people playing in pain and with injuries I'm sure people don't know about."

Polamalu may have missed making an interception against the Jaguars because of the injury that occurred in the Sept. 7 opener against Miami, but, he said, "It's time to move on."

That's the problem: The Steelers (1-1) are moving into perhaps the biggest home game of the season with a secondary that's not playing all that well and a running game that almost disappeared against the Jaguars, gaining 26 yards.

The Steelers, excellent on defense during their Super Bowl run last winter, have allowed 492 yards passing in two games -- an excessive number for a team that was No. 4 overall in defense last season. Jacksonville's Byron Leftwich threw for 260 yards against them Monday even without leading a touchdown drive.

Polamalu knows the Steelers can't be so soft in coverage against Palmer, who threw three TD passes against them in a 38-31 Bengals victory in December that all but clinched the AFC North.

"It's obvious the key to their offense is Carson," Polamalu said. "Those guys (wide receivers) do a great job and they could play exactly as they do on any team, but definitely the heart and soul is Carson."

Palmer, of course, will be opposing the Steelers for the first time since his left knee was shredded by a tumbling Kimo von Oelhoffen on the Bengals' first pass play of their 31-17 playoff loss to the Steelers in Cincinnati in January.

Palmer promised then to return to play Pittsburgh this season and he has. What has been equally surprising about his fast comeback is how well he has played. He is 37-for-59 for 479 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Bengals' no-huddle offense also will test a defense that prefers to play cornerbacks Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend well off the receivers and let them react to a receiver's route, rather than jamming at the line of scrimmage.

That scheme was effective last year in limiting star receiver Chad Johnson, who didn't have a touchdown catch or a 100-yard game in three games against Pittsburgh last season.

"That's our defense," Townsend said. "That's always what we do. If you've been in Pittsburgh watching our defense, the corners always play off most of the time. You can get up there and bump but, for the most part, we play off."

The running game the Steelers had Monday wasn't their usual running game. Willie Parker was limited to 20 yards on 11 carries after having 115 yards against Miami. That inability to run the ball forced the Steelers to lean on rusty quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for their offense.

Only there wasn't much of it as they were held to 167 yards.

"Everything is predicated off the run," wide receiver Hines Ward said.

Roethlisberger figures to be sharper now that he's finally played a game -- he missed the Miami game with appendicitis.

To get him going, the Steelers also need more production from a running game that will be going against a defense missing two starting linebackers, David Pollack and Odell Thurman. Pollack is injured and out for the season and Thurman is serving a suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

However, the Bengals have added run-stopping lineman Sam Adams, partly with the intent of trying to control the Steelers' runners.

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Animalman said:
I'd wait until after they lose to Pittsburgh next week, though.

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- dey biotch!

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Cincinnati 28, Pittsburgh 20
Preview - Box Score - Recap

By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer
September 24, 2006

Pittsburgh Steelers runningback Willie Parker (39) scores a first quarter touchdown past Cincinnati Bengals Madieu Williams (40) in NFL football action Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006, in Pittsburgh.
AP - Sep 24, 3:40 pm EDT
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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Carson Palmer wasn't about to lose this one. Not against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he says he hates -- the team he spent eight exhausting months rehabilitating his mangled knee mostly for the chance to face.

Alternating between brilliant and awful, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback threw two touchdown passes to T.J. Houshmandzadeh less than a minute apart midway through the fourth quarter following Steelers turnovers and the unbeaten Bengals rallied for a 28-20 victory Sunday over the Super Bowl champions.

Only three games into the season, the Bengals (3-0) own a two-game lead in the AFC North over the Steelers (1-2), who couldn't withstand a second mediocre game in seven days by their own rehabilitating quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger, recovering from an offseason motorcycle accident and appendicitis attack, was an ineffective 18-of-39 for 209 yards and appears to be lacking strength on his downfield throws. The game ended when Roethlisberger was intercepted for the third time, this time by Kevin Kaesviharn, on a third-and-10 from the Bengals' 16 and Pittsburgh trying to drive for the tying score.

Palmer, whose focus has been on this game almost since the moment Kimo von Oelhoffen tore apart his knee by rolling atop it early in the Steelers' 31-17 playoff victory in January, had three fumbles and two interceptions, yet withstood them with four touchdown passes. He went 18-of-26 for 193 yards and now has seven TD throws in two games in Pittsburgh since December, both victories.

With the Bengals scoring 21 points off Steelers turnovers, Palmer twice hit Chris Henry for touchdowns in a first half largely dominated by Pittsburgh. Then, after the Steelers seemed in control even while leading only 17-14 in the fourth, Palmer took advantage of fumbles by punt returner Ricardo Colclough and running back Verron Haynes to hit Houshmandzadeh on TD throws of 9 and 30 yards only 54 seconds apart. Houshmandzadeh had missed two games with a heel injury.

The Colclough fumble at the Steelers 9, recovered by Tony Stewart, was the turning point. An inexperienced returner, Colclough tried to catch a tumbling punt that was aided by a strong wind with his hands over his head but never controlled it, and the Bengals scored on the next play. Rookie Willie Reid was supposed to be the Steelers' punt returner, but was deactivated for a third consecutive game -- a move coach Bill Cowher may now regret.

The Steelers, coming off a 9-0 loss Monday to Jacksonville in which they ran for only 26 yards, couldn't have gotten off to a much better start. They drove 80 yards for the first of Willie Parker's two short touchdown runs, a 3-yarder less than six minutes into the game. Parker ran for 133 yards.

Palmer then had what might be the worst three-play sequence of his career -- fumbling on consecutive plays, with the Bengals recovering each time before his pass was intercepted by Deshea Townsend at the Steelers' 46.

The Steelers, with a chance to quickly make it 14-0, drove to the Bengals' 6 before Madieu Williams picked off Roethlisberger's pass into the end zone -- the first regular-season interception Roethlisberger has thrown inside an opponent's 20. He did so again in the final minute.

As quickly as the Steelers seized the momentum, they gave it away and Palmer led a 97-yard drive that took up much of the second quarter and was finished by the first of his two touchdown passes to Chris Henry, a 16-yarder on a fade pattern.

After John Thornton tipped Jeff Reed's 48-yard field goal attempt with about a minute left in the first half -- the second consecutive 11-play drive in which the Steelers didn't score -- Palmer directed a 62-yard drive ended by his 3-yard throw to Henry that made it 14-7 at halftime. Like Palmer, Henry also was hurt early in that January playoff loss.

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Hits keep coming
Plenty of trash talk, big hits in Bengals' win
BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

PITTSBURGH – The game was especially hard-hitting.

The Heinz Field crowd was loud when the Bengals tried to use their no-huddle offense.

There was plenty of trash talk: On the field before the game and during the game and behind the Bengals bench with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and a few Pittsburgh fans.

The Bengals-Steelers game, won 28-20 by Cincinnati, lived up to its hype as the most anticipated and most entertaining of the NFL schedule this weekend.

Before the game, Bengals wide receivers Chad Johnson and Houshmandzadeh had to be restrained by coaches and game officials after they gabbed with Steelers talkative linebacker Joey Porter.

There was plenty of talk and a handful of personal fouls and unnecessary roughness penalties during the game. Safety Mike Logan was flagged for taunting Bengals long-snapper Brad St. Louis on a punt return late in the game.

The hardest hit was delivered by Steelers safety Ryan Clark on Bengals receiver Chris Henry in the third quarter.

“I lost my wind,” Henry said. “I got hit in the stomach. It hurt.”

Clark hit Henry with his shoulder pads.

“One thing about us, we are going to run around and try to hit,” Clark said. “I think when you play an offense that is good like (the Bengals), the best thing that you can do is be physical.”

Late in the game, Bengals cornerback Keiwan Ratliff knocked the ball loose from wide receiver Santonio Holmes by upending him.

Houshmandzadeh, who cleaned his shoes with the Steelers Terrible Towel after the game last year in Pittsburgh, struck up a conversation with fans behind the Bengals bench.

“Hopefully, we'll be winning, and I'll continue to talk to them,” said Houshmandzadeh, who had two touchdowns among his nine catches.

In the fourth quarter, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer told his teammates to “shut up and just play."

“Part of their mystique, and they're an intimidating team, a talking team, and at the end of the game we caught ourselves talking and playing their game instead of just playing football,” Palmer said. “My message was, `Just shut up and play. You don't need to talk. You don't need to tell them how good we're playing or tell them that we're up.’ Just play.”

Asked for his reaction to Palmer’s edict, Houshmandzadeh said, “You shut up and play.”

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