The CJ's: The 2012 Bengals Season Award For Play Of The Year

"The CJ's" are underway and we're on to our next award. This one is a biggie and the Cincy Jungle staff have a wide range of nominees for The CJ Award for Play of the Year. After our takes, cast your vote for play of the year and leave the reasons for the way you voted.

Drumroll, please...

Josh Kirkendall: I'm going with the Leon Hall pick-six against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It set the stage for the team's first win against the Steelers in three years, which also earned Cincinnati a spot in the 2012 NFL playoffs. It was the only touchdown scored by the Bengals in the game.

Jason Garrison: I'll say Andy Dalton's 21-yard pass to A.J. Green to get the Bengals within field goal range at the end of the team's Week 16 game against Pittsburgh. Not only did that single play set up Josh Brown to kick the game-winning field goal, but it was about as clutch of a play as clutch can possibly get. Dalton struggled throughout the majority of the game, but when it mattered, he and his No.1 receiver got the job done and locked the Bengals into the playoffs for the second straight seasons.

Anthony Cosenza: I'm going to go way back to Week Two. The Bengals were in a critical division game against the Cleveland Browns and it was a must-win scenario because of the debacle against the Ravens in Week One. Adam Jones started the game off with a bang on his 81-yard touchdown return that was the difference in a shootout win for the Bengals. The highlight-reel return showed Jones' big-play ability, as he avoided sevenwould-be tacklers on the play. That win propelled a huge three-game winning streak for Cincinnati.

Dave Wellman, AKA "BeerRun": Mohamed Sanu's 73-yard bomb to A.J. Green, which set the tone for a 38-31 shoot-out in Washington. Coming on the first play of the game, the call was the epitome of the gutty and creative playcalling we saw early in the season. Alas, that seemed to fade as the year went on, leading to complaints about a reversion to Bratkowskian predictability.

Andrew Miller: Chris Crocker’s interception against the Jaguars in Week Four was a big moment. Not only was Crocker less than a week in a Bengals uniform after they cut ties with him during the offseason, but the Bengals didn’t have a single interception on the season at that time. While the Bengals went through a bit of a slump after their win over Jacksonville, Crocker’s interception served as a "welcome back" both to the veteran safety and a secondary that had been struggling for the first quarter of the season.

Mojokong: I'm voting for Leon Hall's interception against Philly. It was a scary game up to that moment and a loss seemed like it would doom the Bengals' playoff hopes. It also propelled Hall into a terrific last quarter of the season. It wasn't the greatest single play, but it was big in allowing Cincinnati to finish with 10 wins and make the playoffs.

What gets your vote for The CJ Award for the Bengals' 2012 Play of the Year?