Browns go long in long day for Bengals

[bengalsfan33]

10/17/2004 - 4:15 p.m.

BY GEOFF HOBSON

CLEVELAND - The big play that has doomed the Bengals defense all season bit them early and late here Sunday in a 34-17 loss to the Browns that severely crippled their playoff chances and left them buried at 1-4 after their third straight loss to an AFC North foe.

But in the process of allowing a 300-yard passer (quarterback Jeff Garcia for 310 yards), a 100-yard rusher (running back William Green for 115 yards) and a 100-yard receiver (running back Lee Suggs for 100 yards), the defense got no help from an offense that got blanked in the second half and capped off its long, brutal day by getting flagged for a delay of game before a fourth-and-two from its own 39 in the middle of the fourth quarter.

The Bengals allowed a season-high 449 yards and the offense matched it with a season-low 189 yards.

"It hurts and it's disappointing," said Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis, unhappy with his team's inability to convert the basics on both offense and defense.

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer struggled through his least productive day as an NFL quarterback, and he wasn’t helped by an estimated 10 dropped passes. Before the hurry-up of the last 2:49, Palmer had thrown for just 91 yards on 13-of-26 passing that included an interception. He finished 20-of-36 for 148 yards.

Leading 24-17 with 10:15 remaining in the game, the Browns sealed it when Garcia saw Suggs isolated on linebacker Kevin Hardy and Suggs sped past him unmolested for a 59-yard touchdown catch that made it 31-17 and gave Garcia four touchdown passes.

Then on their next series, wide receiver Dennis Northcutt took advantage of safety Kevin Kaesviharn for a 49-yard pass play that led to Phil Dawson’s 23-yard field goal with 2:49 left that accounted for the 34-17 final.

"He made a good play, Kaesviharn said. "He came back for the ball and my momentum was going forward. That's the kind of stuff that's killing us. That was a third-down play ... when it looks like you have a team (stopped), that takes a lot out of you."

Throw that in with the longest pass play ever against the Bengals and for the Browns on a 99-yarder way back in the first quarter and it was literally a long day.

"I'm shocked to be 1-4," Palmer said. "Not to take anything away from Cleveland, they're a good team, but I think they're a team that we can and should beat if we execute the way we can and ought to. We didn't do that today."

The Bengals struggled trying to scratch together any offense at all in the second half and were haunted by unneccessary roughing calls on two of their rookies on defense (cornerback Keiwan Ratliff and middle linebacker Caleb Miller), a 25-yard punt by rookie Kyle Larson, kicker Shayne Graham’s first miss on a hooking 44-yard field-goal attempt after making nine straight, and a raft of dropped passes.

Just before Graham tried to cut the lead to 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, tight end Reggie Kelly dropped a pass for what would have been a first down, and the Bengals thought wide receiver Chad Johnson was interfered with on a third-down incompletion to set up the field-goal try.

Johnson had a tough second half that no doubt gave him a little stomach acid a few days after he sent each of the starters in the Browns secondary a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. But it looked like they treated him many times with the man coverage he has sought, but he could manage just three catches for 37 yards on the day.

In the third quarter, Johnson dropped two third-down passes that would have been first downs, and when Palmer underthrew him on a long ball at the Cleveland 9, cornerback Anthony Henry wrestled the ball away from Johnson for an interception. Johnson also had a drop in the fourth quarter.

"I take it all on me," Johnson said. "We would have won if I had played better."

The Bengals defense did make a stand to bail them out of an early hole in producing 17 straight points off three turnovers in the second quarter, but they allowed Garcia’s desperation five-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the first half to give Cleveland a 21-17 lead at halftime.

With seven seconds left and no chance for a tying field goal, the Browns gambled and Garcia floated a pass over Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons in one-on-one coverage of tight end Aaron Shea.

It was a crushing play given that 6:10 earlier, Bengals wide receiver Washington dropped a wide-open touchdown pass, and the Bengals had to settle for Graham’s 32-yard field goal that snapped a 14-14 tie.

Palmer, seven-of-11 passing for 44 yards in the first half, made a tremendous play on third-and-nine from the Browns 9 when he delivered the ball to Washington even though he had people hanging all over him. But Washington couldn’t gather in a low pass that was more than catchable, and Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis chose not to challenge the play.

"I did catch it," Washington said. "But I didn't do a good job of securing it. I got up too fast."

If the red-zone demons struck again, so did the Bengals’ problems trying to stop the run. The Browns got the ball back and immediately turned to Green to pound Cleveland back into the lead. They kept it for the rest of the half with Green getting it on eight of the first 11 plays of the 13-play touchdown drive. Green finished with 68 of his 87 first-half yards in that drive alone.

While the Browns ran wild, the Bengals couldn’t get their running game in sync with running back Rudi Johnson getting just 31 yards on 10 carries in the half. Johnson finished with just 57 yards on 16 carries.

Wide receiver Chad Johnson didn’t have any luck making anyone ill on two catches for just 19 yards in the first half, and the Bengals didn’t pick up their first first down until their fourth series.

So they had to get points from their defense.

After Kaesviharn scooped up a three-yard fumble for a touchdown to cut Cleveland’s lead to 14-7 with 13:19 left in the half, cornerback Tory James picked off Garcia for the second time of the day to set up Palmer’s six-yard touchdown pass to Matt Schobel on third down that tied it at 14 with 9:28 left in the half.

Then when Garcia fumbled the snap from center at his own 20, rookie middle linebacker Landon Johnson recovered to set up Graham’s field goal.

Before Washington’s drop, the drive featured No. 1 pick Chris Perry’s first two runs from scrimmage for one yard, as well as a leaping six-yard catch he grabbed away from cornerback Anthony Henry.

In their Must game, the 1-3 Bengals nearly drowned in their early mistakes here on the Lake in falling behind to the 2-3 Browns, 14-0.

After Larson pinned the Browns inside their 1-yard line midway through the first quarter, Garcia sprinted out on first down and hit wide receiver Andre’ Davis racing wide open down the middle past cornerback Deltha O’Neal for a 99-yard touchdown pass by the NFL’s 30th-ranked pass offense.

It also stands as the longest play in Cleveland history, two yards longer than a Bernie Kosar pass.

Davis’ play is longer than the 92-yard run the Raiders’ Bo Jackson put on the Bengals 14 years ago and put the Browns closer to their first 3-0 start at home since 1973.

The Bengals came out wobbly after their bye week. The opening kickoff went through wide receiver Cliff Russell’s hands at the goal line, and defensive tackle Tony Williams and defensive end Justin Smith were flagged for lining up on two of the first three snaps.

James made it all better when he made a diving interception in the flat on Garcia’s first pass of the day on his way to becoming the first Bengals to have two interceptions in a game since Kaesviharn back on Dec. 30, 2001 against Pittsburgh.

But the Bengals couldn’t get out of the funk. Defensive tackle Langston Moore got called for holding on the kickoff after the 99-yarder, Carl Powell became the third defensive lineman to line up offsides, and Shea ran over Herring on a crunching 14-yard play on second-and-13.

Garcia, who finished the half with 143 yards on seven-of-10 passing, then gave the Browns a 14-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter when he stopped short on a scramble, pulled up and hit wide receiver Quincy Morgan on a 10-yard touchdown pass that was helped along by James’ missed tackle at the two-yard-line.

But Herring, in his first game back since injuring his foot in the opener, and James bounced back.

Herring teamed with tackle John Thornton to jar the ball loose from Browns running back Lee Suggs to initiate a stumbling, bumbling sequence that ended in Kaesviharn’s three-yard fumble return for a touchdown that withstood Cleveland’s replay challenge.

Suggs, Garcia, and one of their lineman all had a chance for the ball, as did Herring and O’Neal before Kaesviharn scooped it up for his first NFL touchdown and the Bengals’ second defensive score of the season to go along with Simmons’ interception return against Miami.

The Bengals went into the game the healthiest they have been all season, and they still made a surprising move in their starting lineup.

Lewis opted to start rookie Landon Johnson at middle linebacker instead of fellow third-rounder Caleb Miller as his defense tried to regroup from its last-in-the-NFL ranking against the run. But Johnson suffered a blow to the head in the last drive of the half and didn’t return.

Another rookie also figured to get some heavy work with cornerback Keiwan Ratliff slated to be in the slot when the Browns deploy three wide receivers. Terrell Roberts came down with strep throat and was inactive, and Rashad Bauman is out with a foot injury.

Ratliff picked up a key personal foul in the third quarter at the end of a play that would have forced the Browns’ third straight punt of the second half.

Kaesviharn got the start opposite Herring for a secondary that didn’t have either two weeks ago in Pittsburgh.

Center Rich Braham also got his first start since the opener, but Lewis said that he plans to also play the man who has replaced him the last three games, Jerry Fontenot.

Despite the problems of the defense, the offense had one of the major themes of the Bengals’ bye week with its red zone failure. The Bengals came into the game scoring touchdowns just 40 percent of the time inside the foes’ 20, down from 60 percent last season. Lewis spent one meeting breaking down each of the problems that stalled those drives.

But the Bengals couldn’t get into Browns territory on their first three series and couldn’t get a first down.

“Instead of turning it on when we get down there, we’re not finishing it off,” said left guard Eric Steinbach. “We have to clean some things up and that’s what he was going over. Get the seven points instead of the three.”

A major reason for the lack of red-zone punch is that they haven’t had wide receiver Peter Warrick for the bulk of the past two games and they didn’t have him Sunday again when they put him on the inactive list. Last year, Warrick bobbed and weaved for four of his seven touchdowns in the red zone, as well as eight first downs, and 14 catches for 113 yards as Cincinnati finished No. 6 in red zone touchdowns last season. Now they are tied for 24th.

“He’s so good in small places,” said Palmer. “He makes guys miss. All he has to do is break one tackle down there and it can be a touchdown, and he’s the best guy on the team at doing it.”

Wide receiver Chad Johnson said that once the ball gets into that tight area, Warrick’s talents against the schemes take over.

“He takes advantage of the one-on-one matchups with linebackers because he’s inside (in the slot,”) said Johnson, who says it’s tough for the defense to play zone inside the 20. “Regardless of who’s on him, he’s going to win.”

The Bengals have answered Warrick’s absence by promoting wide receiver Cliff Russell from the practice squad and working him into the lineup. But in the process, they left promising rookie free-agent receiver Jamall Broussard on the practice squad and exposed him to getting picked up by Carolina.

But the Bengals felt that, at the moment, Russell is the better fit. At 5-11, 186 pounds, Russell, a Redskins’ 2002 draft pick, has more experience than Broussard, is four inches taller, about 15 pounds heavier, and some feel he is faster. Coming out of Utah, Russell estimates he ran a 40-yard dash in the 4.3-second range.

Also inactive for the Bengals Sunday were safety Rogers Beckett, tackles Alex Sulfsted and Stacy Andrews, and defensive tackle Matthias Askew.

The Bengals captains for the game were running back Rudi Johnson for the offense, Thornton for the defense, and linebacker Marcus Wilkins for special teams.

SOURCE: http://www.bengals.com/press/news.asp?iCur...=0&news_id=2468

[BengalszoneBilly]

Oh man. We need Warrick back BAD!! Does anyone know when he might return? Ever?

Pretty ballsy the way Hobson even mentioned playoffs in an article about the Bengals, eh?

[bengalsfan33]

Yeah, Warrick would really help is out about right now.

I doubt he would've dropped those easy catches that CJ and Housh missed today.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

TEN dropped passes, what a sloppy bunch. They're probably too used to kitten hands' soft tosses, Boomer threw the same sort of darts.

Squirrel dropping that TD was pathetic.

And CJ dropping 4 passes all right in the #'s is unheard of.

[kybengalsfan]

After our pitiful performance today, I see no reason for a lot of optimism. Can anyone?

[HoosierCat]

After our pitiful performance today, I see no reason for a lot of optimism. Can anyone?

Well, it can't get much worse. But that's about it. The run D looked a bit stouter yesterday, but the pass D promptly broke down. And the offense...what an absolutely pitiful performance, especially by the WR corps.

[cincy9275]

once again our team turned a bunch of scrubs in to superstars . iam getting really sick of this crap week after week . we are going to get crushed on monday night . the score will be 31-10 in another loss. with the fall of the buckeyes and the bengals getting smashed . this is as bad as it gets god this really sucks

[membengal]

After our pitiful performance today, I see no reason for a lot of optimism.  Can anyone?

Well, it can't get much worse. But that's about it. The run D looked a bit stouter yesterday, but the pass D promptly broke down. And the offense...what an absolutely pitiful performance, especially by the WR corps.

Yeah, it CAN get worse. They can get bent over on national TV next Monday night like they were in Atlanta back in 2002. That would be worse. They can then lose four of their next five to enter that nasty December stretch around 2-9. That would be worse. They can finish the season 3-13. That would be worse.

They can then pick third overall in the draft and take another running back. That would be worse.

Hell, it can always get worse. I have finally learned that lesson as a Bengals fan. As bad as it is, it can always get worse.

[Bobcat Bengal]

After our pitiful performance today, I see no reason for a lot of optimism.  Can anyone?

Well, it can't get much worse. But that's about it. The run D looked a bit stouter yesterday, but the pass D promptly broke down. And the offense...what an absolutely pitiful performance, especially by the WR corps.

Yeah, it CAN get worse. They can get bent over on national TV next Monday night like they were in Atlanta back in 2002. That would be worse. They can then lose four of their next five to enter that nasty December stretch around 2-9. That would be worse. They can finish the season 3-13. That would be worse.

They can then pick third overall in the draft and take another running back. That would be worse.

Hell, it can always get worse. I have finally learned that lesson as a Bengals fan. As bad as it is, it can always get worse.

damn.

and the f**ked up thing is, its true....I can't argue with him on that.

[HoosierCat]

Yeah, it CAN get worse. They can get bent over on national TV next Monday night like they were in Atlanta back in 2002. That would be worse. They can then lose four of their next five to enter that nasty December stretch around 2-9. That would be worse. They can finish the season 3-13. That would be worse.

They can then pick third overall in the draft and take another running back. That would be worse.

My answer to all the above: been there, done that. Short of a 1-15 season, we've seen it all before. I don't get upset about it any longer.