GAME: Cincinnati vs. Carolina
WHEN: Sunday, 1:00 p.m.
BROADCAST: FOX. Broadcasters are Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Jay Glazer (field reporter)
SB Nation: None
PERSONNEL: Brian Simmons and Dexter Jackson are ACTIVE; but will not start. Inactive players are Wright, Brooks, Busing, Braham, Jones, Washington and Jeanty. Glenn Holt, recently signed from the practice squad, is active. Eric Ghiaciuc will start at center and Levi Jones will start at left tackle. Ahamd Brooks will start at middle linebacker (Landon Johnson at strong-side and Caleb Miller at weak-side). KK will start at Jackson's spot.
[Curnutte's blog]
[Bengals.com]
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4:02: Bengals WIN! Nice punt by Kyle Larson at the change of possession. A sky-high punt, KK catches the ball on the fly at the 13. Then on the first play, Delhomme drops back. Robert Geathers pushes the tackle into the running back who was pushed into the quarterback. Geathers hit him first and Smith had sloppy seconds. GREAT WIN GUYS!
3:55: Rudi now has 100 yards rushing... Panthers have... are you ready for this? Sixty yards rushing. Muhaha. The Bengals got the ball back with 3:50 left in the game. After Rudi ran for 3, Palmer completed a 20 yard pass to T.J. Rudi ran for eight yards and then Carolina called for a timeout. No worries. Palmer quickly passes to Chad for an eight yard pick up. Chad is obviously still hurting. Props to Chad for gutting this out. Two minute warning.
3:50: Interception!!!!! Delhommme, on third and goal at the ten, threw a prayer to K.Johnson with KK right in the middle. Picked it off. GOOOOOO BENGALS.. kill the clock!
3:45: The Bengals take their fifth possession and run a play-action on the first play to Reggie Kelly picking up 9. Nice call. Panthers thinking run? Then Eric G. did the Rich Braham and snapped the ball when Carolina jumped -- second time this game. Then Palmer threws consecutive incomplete passes stopping the clock. On third and 10, Palmer passes (shoval) to Chris Perry for 9. Bengals don't go for it on fourth this time. Punt.
3:40: Panthers go THREE AND OUT! YES. On first down, Delhomme, pressured by Robinson, quickly got rid of the ball and overthrew Carter. Then on second, Delhomme tossed to K.Johnson for a six yard gain. The stop made by Joseph. On third down, K.Johnson ran a crossing pattern and the pass was knocked down by Joseph. Nice series by Joseph. Panthers punt.
3:33: With 8:07 to go, the Bengals lead 17-14. That 32-yard pass to Chad on fourth down could become one of the biggest plays this season!
3:32: What a freaking drive. OK, Palmer gets sacked on the first play. However, on second, he tosses to Tony Stewart for 19 yards breaking two tackles. Then T.J. picks up the first on a 10-yard pass. Then Palmer throws to Chad for 11, to Rudi for four, Rudi is stuffed for a one yard loss but Chatman picks up the first on a nine yard reception. This set of downs will be talked about for awhile. Palmer threw deep to Chad on first but it was WAY overthrown and Chad was WAY behind the defender who nearly picked it off. Rudi ran for two yards and then TJ picked up seven setting up a fourth and one. They go for it. Everyone expecting run or sneak are fools. Play-fake and Palmer completes a 32-yard pass to Chad to the three yard line. Then after an illegal hands to the face, the Bengals SCORE A TOUCHDOWN TO TJ.
3:16: The Panthers third possession started out with a quick 11-yard pass to Steve Smith. Then, with Smith lined up to the left -- Williams covering -- Delhomme drops back and completes a 36-yard pass to Smith. On the play, Williams lined up on Smith but blitzed. Landon Johnson picked up Smith and Delhomme noticed this. With Johnson's back to the pass, Smith leaped up and caught the pass over Johnson. End of the fourth.
3:13: Palmer is forced out the pocket on the final three plays of the last possesion. He overthrew TJ that would have picked up at least 15 and threw an out pass to Chad who ran a hook pattern. The Bengals punt.
3:05: The Bengals defense forced Carolina to another three-and-out in the second half. On first down, Delhomme dropped back and Peko knocked down the pass. On second (GREAT PLAY), Foster gets the pitch to the right. Geathers bumped off the blocker and ran AS FAST AS Foster laterally. Geathers finally grabbed Foster and pushed him out of bounds for a four-yard loss. On third, Delhomme dumped the pass off to Foster for only a six yard gain. Panthers punt. Nice job by the defense. They seem like they're playing better and better as the game has gone on minus the late first half touchdown by the Panthers.
2:59: Bengals cut the lead to 4 after a short Shayne Graham field goal. The offense started the drive on Carolina?s 44-yard line (best field position of the day). On the drive, Rudi ran for 33 yards (before the two-yard stuff at the LOS). He's really starting to move the ball. T.J made a tremendous second effort on third down to pick up eight yards. Chris Gamble made the hit and wrapped him up. T.J. fought and fought for the extra yard and first down. The 21-yard run by Rudi was nice. He exploded accelerating through the line and nearly broke the safety's tackle.
2:50: Bengals defense is back on track. Madieu Williams was lined up on the right (from the defenses perspective). On the snap, Delhomme immediately threw to Smith. Williams, looking like he was on a blitz, jumped the pass and knocked it down. Then on second, Foster gets the handoff but dances for a second finally finding a small opening. However, Caleb Miller quickly filled the gap and dropped Foster for only a one yard gain. Then on third, both Williams and Brooks blitzed forcing Delhomme to throw like a little school girl. Three and out. Panthers punt.
2:46: Bengals start off strong. After a 14-yard completion to Tony Stewart (he was uncovered underneth), Rudi picked up 6 yards on consecutive runs. After Reggie Kelly dropped a low pass, Palmer completes an 11-yard pass to TJ. Nice run after the catch by Housh! Then Palmer overthrew Tony Stewart who was WIDE OPEN down the field. After a three-yard gain by Rudi on a pitch to the left, Palmer throws an incomplete to TJ who had position, but just fell down. Nice shoes though... they are Ross Geller teeth white. (I hope you get that reference). Bengals punt.
2:40: Game on! Bill Goldberg is back on TV.
HALF TIME NOTES
Bengals picked up their first first down with 7:43 left in the second quarter... Chad got his first reception of the game with 7:18 left in the second... Bengals leading receiver is Reggie Kelly with two receptions for 25 yards and a score... the newly activated Chris Perry has four touches (2 rushes, 2 receptions) for 21 yards (17 receiving)...
2:25: Half-time. Bengals losing 14-7.
2:22: Carolina scored a touchdown and lead the game 14-7. On the drive, Steve Smith picked up 11, Hooover picked up 9, Foster ran for 12 then was dropped in the backfield by a tremendous tackle by Williams. Then Hoover picks up another 11 yards and then Delhomme throws a 20-yard touchdown pass to Goings. It was broken coverage... (Jackson?)
2:18: On the play right before the two minute warning break, Foster ran for 12 yards to the right. Sam Adams was around the point of attack and was blown up by two blockers. My question is, where is everyone else? There's only three linemen left...
2:12: FINALLY. The Bengals offense looked good. Rudi had some nice runs (9, 11) with some killer double-spin-a-roni moves. On third down and 7 at the Panthers 16 yard line, Reggie Kelly lined up on the right side in the slot. At the snap, Palmer looked right and then checked down to a wide open and uncovered Reggie Kelly about a yard deep in the endzone. Bengals tied the game at 7.
2:03: With 7:43 in the second quarter, the Bengals offense converted their first first down!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYY!
1:59: The Bengals defense, after giving up one first down, force the Panthers to punt (into the endzone). Get ready defense, you'll be back on the field after two minutes! OK, that wasn't very optimistic (do you blame me?)
1:52: Bengals offense commits their fourth three-and-out. On first down, Brat called an end around for five by Chris Perry -- Eric Steinbach didn't block Gamble who broke up the play. Then on second, Rudi ran off the left guard for three yards. On third down and two, Kenny Watson received the pitch to the left and missed the first down by inches. Marvin decides to punt with two chain links away for a first. Then Ethan Kilmer gets called for catch interference on the punt. When things go wrong, they just go wrong.
1:47: The Bengals defense isn't looking that bad. They struggled on the Panthers touchdown drive, but have forced Carolina to punt three times with two three-and-outs. On second down, Peko dropped Foster for only a one yard gain. He took on his blocker and just shed off to his right making the stop. If he didn't, it could have been a big gain. Then on third down, Justin Smith overpowered his blocker and got his 40th sack of his career. It looked like Smith is either superpower strong or Delhomme felt Smith's hand and just gave up falling to the ground. Either way, Bengals ball.
1:42: Bengals go another three and out. On the kickoff return, Kenny Watson bounces off Antonio Chatman and the ball hits the ground. Watson recovered. On first, Chad ran a quick hook route and caught the pass for a quick four yard gain. Rudi is SMASHED for a three yard loss as Eric G. looks like a boy against a man (Jenkins) and is just overpowered. On third down, Rucker overpowers Reggie Kelly and nearly sacks Palmer -- didn't matter, it was incomplete anyway. So far, after three possessions, the Bengals have gone three-and-out. Look horrible. Panthers have the ball and it's the end of the first quarter. So far the Bengals offense has 17 total yards. Good lord.
1:35: OK. Smith is back out. Probably a "wardrobe malfunction".
1:34: Steve Smith heading to the lockerroom. Not sure why.
1:33: I guess it wasn't that obvious. The touchdown is upheld. Bengals losing 7-0.
1:33: The Panthers moved the ball picking up four first downs on the drive. We're still seeing the Bengals defense blitz (mostly Brooks). John Thornton was been put on the ground a couple of times and Sam Adams has been non-existent. The Panthers, on the seven-yard line on third down, scored a touchdown. The play is under review. It should be overturned. This is dumb. It was obvious that Mangum was down.
1:23: Bengals have yet to make a first down. On first, Reggie Kelly caught a pass in his stomach while jumping in the air. That picked up eight yards. However, Perry ran on second and tried to break the left perimeter. No gain. Palmer, in shotgun, saw Peppers and rather than stepping into the pocket, he ran outside and was forced to throw it away. Another three and out and another punt. Search for first down still.
1:19: Nice by the Bengals defense. On first, Williams blitzed forcing Delhomme to incomplete. On second, Brooks blitzed into the backfield disrupting the run for no gain. Then on third, the Bengals only rushed three and Delhomme missed Steve Smith -- Smith looks a little off. Must be Furman.
1:14: It took 4:17 and the Bengals second offensive play for Chris Perry to get his first touch. However, the Bengals offense, like has so many times already this season, went three and out. However, on third down, Palmer passed to T.J. and I'm not sure how that wasn't called defensive holding.
1:11: The sideline reporter looks like Bill Goldberg.
1:09: The Panthers, so far, have had two third down situations and converted one (a 17-yard pass to K.Johnson). On the play, Johnson was in the right slot and came across. He was covered by Joseph. However, did you see what Brooks did? On a blitz, Brooks timed the snap count and sacked Delhomme two yards into his backdrop. Nice! Bengals have the ball after the Panthers punt.
1:03: Carolina has the ball to start the game.
12:55: "Let's put the women and children to bed and go lookin' for dinner!"