Green hopes to use Pro Bowl to launch into ’13

A.J. Green made his annual Super Bowl pitch for the Gatorade Institute, but he hopes the next time he’s at one of these deals he’s at a team hotel and he thinks the Bengals are good enough to get to the big game.

NEW ORLEANS — Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green made his annual Super Bowl pitch for the Gatorade Institute on Thursday at the Media Center, but he hopes the next time he’s at one of these deals he’s at a team hotel and he thinks the Bengals are good enough to get to the big game.

“It will be fun to play in this game and an honor. It’s a hard place to get to but I feel like we have the players,” Green said.

He spoke with quarterback Andy Dalton on Wednesday and he thinks they’ll get together soon with the other receivers, most likely at Dalton’s Dallas home, to get some offseason throwing in. Dalton and Green are excited about having pretty much the same crew back for the first time since they arrived in the NFL.

Green is also encouraged by the return of wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, whose promising rookie season was cut short with a month to go when he suffered a foot stress fracture in practice after scoring four touchdowns in the previous three games. Plus, wide receiver Marvin Jones’s rookie year was also plagued with injury when he missed four games early with a sprained knee before he returned to start down the stretch.

“I feel like Mo was coming into his own the last couple of games. Just having Marvin come back, and he was battling a knee injury, so he probably wasn’t 100 percent,” Green said. “But Mo was a key loss. It hurt us a little bit. You put Mo anywhere and he can make plays. But that’s the game of football. He’ll be ready next year and with Marv coming into his own at the end of the season with (slot receiver Andrew Hawkins) and all us coming back next year, it’s going to be exciting.”

But the frustration of the Wild Card loss to Houston in which he wasn’t targeted in the first half still gnaws at Green four weeks later.

“It’s tough in a big game and you’re the go-to guy and you don’t get the ball in the first half; it’s all frustrating,” Green said. “They had a game plan that had a matchup problem with (tight end) Jermaine (Gresham) and they felt like they could go to him. Things happen like that. All games aren’t perfect. That’s one thing we need to build on. We just need to capitalize. Not only getting me the ball, but just making some of the big plays.”

Green uncharacteristically exited into the offseason and out of the Bengals locker room the day after the loss without talking to the media. On Thursday he admitted the competitor got the best of him.

“I was a little upset not getting the ball in the first half of a big game,” he said. “If you win, you move on. Lose you go home and not being involved in the first half was frustrating. I’m the go-to guy and I want to be out there trying to make plays.”

But then he flashed the big-play dynamic that was missing in the last month of the season in last Sunday’s Pro Bowl with three touchdowns and seven catches for 119 yards in truly Mossian fashion.

The first score, a fourth-down touchdown on a bullet six-yard throw over the middle from Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to open the game, seemed to mean the most to Green. Finally, Green, after filling his teammates with awe during his first two seasons, had a spell of it himself. He asked Manning to sign the ball.

“That one from Peyton, golly, it was like a dream,” Green said. “Just watching Peyton growing up and being on the same field with that guy and to actually catch a TD pass from him. I kept the ball and I got it signed and it’s in my house.”

The 49-yard touchdown bomb from Colts rookie Andrew Luck was also one to remember, but it also sent a reminder that Green didn’t have a catch longer than 21 yards in the last five games and after compiling the third-longest streak in NFL history with touchdowns in nine straight games, he had one in the final six.

“It was different,” Green said of the coverage. “A lot of people tried to single me up coming into the red zone using one guy or cheating the safety over slightly. Toward the end of the season they were vising me coming off the line, having the safety play way over the top and the corner taking away the slant. It was definitely different.”

Green, who ended up with five catches for 80 yards against Houston that included a 45-yarder, had a decent amount of one-on-one coverage with Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph in the playoffs. But the Bengals couldn’t take advantage.

“He was one-on-one some of the time, most of the time. But a lot of the time the safety was rolling over the top late,” Green said. “Andy didn’t have that much time to look. He’d look it off or look to the next side. The pass rush was great that game, so he pretty much didn’t have that much time.”

But the Pro Bowl has put a bounce in Green’s step. He told the Gatorade crowd that he dined on an omlette and fruit pregame because it was the offseason. But he said since it was his best game since he’s been in the league, he may make that a regular-season staple.

Manning had a few words for Green, as well as everyone else in his effort to intensify the Pro Bowl and keep it going. He also told Green to keep it going and “it was a pleasure playing with you and just keep continuing to get better.”

“He’s a great guy on and off the field; great leader and a funny guy,” Green said of Manning. “He definitely said that if we want it to continue we have to up our playing level. He felt like it should be moved to after the Super Bowl so everyone has a chance to play. It was (more intense than last year). Guys were out there playing hard.”

Green also got a signed jersey from one of his role models, quiet Texans receiver Andre Johnson (“He’s a real humble guy. Down to earth and a hard worker,” Green said) but didn’t get a ball signed by Luck.

“I didn’t keep that one. He’s going to be special though,” he said.

But Green has an idea what is going to drive him in his impending workouts in his home of Atlanta with Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas. It won’t be the Pro Bowl. It will be the frustration that has hung around this month.

“It’s more disappointing because we had the team and we could have won that game if we put the plays together,” Green said of the memory. “Last year no one expected us to make the playoffs. We knew with that game we played one of our worst games. It’s disappointing.”

ANOTHER CONNECTION: Ever since Paul Brown disciple Bill Walsh won the first of his first three Super Bowl titles 31 years ago over Cincinnati’s Ken Anderson, the textbook quarterback for the Brown-Walsh West Coast offense, the Bengals and 49ers have been joined at a historical hip.

Walsh’s last Super Bowl title came against Brown’s franchise with a win over his own protégé, Bengals head coach Sam Wyche. When the 49ers opted to replace quarterback Joe Montana, the 49ers went with another Hall of Famer in Steve Young, whose agent reached a verbal deal with the Bengals hours before leaping at a USFL offer. In the 21st century, the first home game of the Andy Dalton-A.J. Green era was a 13-8 loss to the 49ers for coach Jim Harbaugh’s first road victory.

Add this one.

49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman got his inspiration to coach from several visits with Brown while growing up. Roman, 40, and new age quarterback Colin Kaepernick are under the ultimate microscope in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Ravens.

Roman’s uncle, Jack Clary, co-wrote Brown’s autobiography PB, a bond that allowed the youngster priceless access.

“Don’t ask me if I’ve read it. Ask me how many times I’ve read it,” Roman said Thursday during the 49ers last meeting with the press before the game. “It’s my favorite book and I’ve got literally over 1,000 football books. And not because my uncle wrote it with him. Because I have so much respect for Paul Brown. The one thing that comes to mind is him asking, ‘If it doesn’t make sense, then why are we doing it?’ I heard Mr. Brown say that all the time.”

While Roman attended John Carroll University in Cleveland, he’d take trips to Cincinnati and not only be in Brown’s Riverfront Stadium box for some games but also spend time with him at training camp at Wilmington (Ohio) College.

“He was my inspiration for getting into coaching; he’s a coaching icon as I see it,” Roman said.

Roman will never forget one day in 1984 when Anderson, just three years removed from his MVP season, lit up a practice at Wilmington one day and someone came up to him and said, “Boy, Kenny is having a great day,” and Mr. Brown said, “Oh, he’s a fine quarterback, but he’s no Otto (Graham).

“I remember how composed he was. It just opened my eyes to the world,” Roman said. “You really saw how he made decisions. He just dealt with facts. It wasn’t emotional. Just facts.”

Roman has worked with all kinds of schemes and his offense is a mix of his experiences. He’s got a little West Coast in there and says, “The way the NFL is structured from a football standpoint and coaching it really goes back to Paul Brown. Everybody does something (related).”

This Super Bowl is supposed to be a referendum on San Francisco’s use of a college-type offense that features Kaepernick’s arms and legs. But Roman begs to differ. He says he has only used The Pistol formation to augment what Kaepernick does (and what he didn’t say what Alex Smith can’t do) and still has many pro concepts.

But he loves the perception that the 49ers are going Pistol.

“What people don’t realize is we’re totally different than all that stuff,” Roman said. “We like it when people don’t quite know or mischaracterize us. It’s just an advantage.”

Roman insists he didn’t rewrite the playbook with the emergence of Kaepernick. The versatility of The Pistol formations allows the Niners to run conventional power plays to set up the pass, as well as other runs.

And that’s where Roman starts: with the formation.

“There is no Pistol offense. The Pistol is a formation. What we do is completely different than what everybody else does with that formation,” he said. “It’s just a different formation we use. We used it at Stanford. We won’t use it some, we will use it some. It’s kind of week to week.”

In fact, Roman thinks Paul Brown would like what he’s doing just fine and would recognize it as a wrinkle and not a watershed.

“He would say, ‘Great job for using our players working to their strengths,’ ” Roman said. “It’s just a formation, nothing more than that. It’s a different way to run a shotgun formation. Don’t believe the hype.”

A lot of people thought Roman had enough hype to get one of the eight head coaching jobs this postseason, but he’s headed back to The Bay. He learned something else from Brown.

“When the time is right, when it’s meant to happen, when the right things happen, it will happen,” Roman said. “If you start to detract from trying to do a great job at your job, it shows up and I don’t want that to happen.”

HUE REPLACEMENT FOR JA? As Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis left Thursday night’s Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation awards ceremony here at the Super Bowl, he indicated the replacement for running backs coach Jim Anderson could be former Raiders head coach and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.

Asked about his status when he left the ceremony, Jackson said it was safe to assume a call about his fate for next season would be made next week and when asked about Jackson, Lewis said, “Time will tell. We’ll see what happens.”

Lewis did say The Pollard group, an advocate for the NFL’s minority coaches, is talking about honoring Anderson next month at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

“He’s been a role model for so many of these guys,” Lewis said. “His work ethic and his diligence; how he went about his job.”

Anderson, the dean of NFL assistant coaches with 29 straight years with one club, has been deluged by calls since he retired Tuesday.

“The legacy he had … you talk about the calls from people,” Lewis said. “It’s been overwhelming to me, let alone to him.”

At the Eighth Annual Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Salute to Excellence Awards, Lewis and Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier received NFL Head Coaches awards after their playoff seasons.

Worth It For Whit?

Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth felt doubly invigorated after Sunday’s Pro Bowl.

Not only was it his first foray into the all-star game as well as his first chance to ever play right tackle, but it’s also going to the last time he’ll play with the pain he’s had in his knee for the past two seasons. He said Monday that he plans to have a procedure to deal with some scar tissue that will take him out of the spring practices but have him back in plenty of time for the start of training camp.

“It’s just a little repair; nothing big,” Whitworth said. “Everybody in the league deals with something like this. I did it about two years ago and it just wasn’t getting any better. Now we’ve got a chance to get something done with plenty of time to rest.”

It is minor enough that Whitworth was able to hold off and wait to see if he would get the call from the Pro Bowl. His Bengals-best streak of 67 straight starts that includes playoffs isn’t in jeopardy.

“I’m really excited about getting it done and feeling good again and getting a lot of rest and rehab and having a great year,” he said.

PISTOL PRIMER: If there is anyone not surprised with how the 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick have taken the Super Bowl by power point with The Pistol formation, it’s a Cincinnati college coach who is getting inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in the spring.

While implementing The Pistol at Division III College of Mount Saint Joseph before the 2011 season, offensive coordinator Vince Suriano spent hours watching tape of Kaepernick run it at the University of Nevada during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

After the Mount broke its all-time rushing record, it was more of the same in the film room when Suriano moved across the bridge to Thomas More College this past season. As the senior offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach, he brought The Pistol to blend with the rest of the offense and Thomas More averaged more than 30 points and 350 yards per game in 2012 while Suriano collaborated with offensive coordinator Trevor Spellman.

The irony here is that while 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh made the bold move with Kaepernick in the middle of this season, Suriano has ties to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, a friend from the days Harbaugh recruited Suriano’s Anderson High School during his eight seasons as a University of Cincinnati assistant.

“I think it’s here to stay,” Suriano says of The Pistol. “I don’t think people will go to it exclusively, but I think sooner or later everybody will have it as a part of their offense. You don’t always have to run zone read out of it. You can run other things. I see Alabama jumping into The Pistol, but the quarterback is not a runner. So they don’t run zone read. They run power out of it or (the) stretch (run). Boise State gets into it and uses a traditional zone running play.”

When Suriano started his project two years ago, The Pistol was so scarce that Nevada was the only college team he could find that ran it as is its offense and he’s still not sure how he got the video. But once he watched it, he was surprised more teams weren’t running it with more regularity, particularly those by coaches from his generation.

When he arrived at Anderson in 1987 to begin a 19-year run, Suriano used the ‘I’ formation until the Redskins became the first area team in 2000 to use what Suriano calls the “pure Tommy Bowden-Rich Rodriguez spread” offense out of The Shotgun.

“The Pistol blends the I formation with the Shotgun. You’re putting two offenses into one,” Suriano says. “The quarterback stands three to four yards behind the center with the tailback sitting anywhere between six to eight yards behind him. The key is there has to be a three-yard differential between the quarterback and the tailback and how close the tailback is, is based on how fast he is coming downhill with the ball.

“The zone read is the staple of The Pistol. The linemen are all blocking in one direction and they leave the last defender on the opposite end of the line of scrimmage free and the quarterback is reading him. If he collapses on the running back, the quarterback pulls the ball and runs it. If the end stays there and is soft, the quarterback gets the ball. That’s the general premise.”

The series of plays is called “The Midline” with the running back’s path going right up the center’s back. Suriano says it is the midline concept that makes the defensive end commit and forces the defense to make a decision.

Suriano says teams are discovering they can run just about any pass or run out of The Pistol, particularly play-action. For instance he says while Nevada didn’t use any running power plays, the 49ers run more power and he sees the Michigan influence.

Suriano says former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh is using “the traditional power play principles” as taught by his college head coach Bo Schembechler and offensive line and quarterbacks coach Jerry Hanlon. Even more irony is that Hanlon and Suriano visited each other often at Anderson and Ann Arbor to pick each other’s brain.

“The fullback kicking out with the backside guard wrapping around,” Suriano can still recite.

But now it’s not the 6-3, 215-pound Harbaugh directing power, it is the 6-5, 233-pound Kaepernick running it supersonically. It almost seems as if The Pistol had been devised with him in mind.

“What I didn’t realize when we started watching him is how fast he was,” Suriano says. “He didn’t look it because he was so tall and lanky, but every time he turned the corner no one would catch him. It would be a 10-yard gain and then all of a sudden it was 30 yards. Oh my goodness.

“His arm is really, really strong. I think he can make every throw. They had a bootleg off play-action at Nevada and he really threw the comeback route well. But they didn’t drop back and throw it as much as a traditional college team would. He did it, but it was maybe only 15 percent of the offense. Maybe that’s why he went a little lower than the other quarterbacks because there wasn’t a lot to evaluate in terms of dropback passes.”

But while he has dissected Kaepernick, Suriano has seen John Harbaugh’s quarterback during three spring sessions at Harbaugh’s invite to the Ravens facility.

He gives the edge to Joe Flacco.

“I have to go with Flacco’s experience,” Suriano says.

The Pistol can only account for so much.

This is an amazing article that I totally agree with. The game against Houston should have been ours. We are young and when Andy Dalton fixes his issues with the deep ball and timely releases the offense will do much better.

Who Dey Herald

Okay, the bitter sting of the Bengals’ soul-crushing loss to the Texans has had a week to subside. It’s time to take a look at where Cincinnati really is moving into the offseason.

Improved

I wrote in my playoffs preview that the Bengals are an improved team from last season, and my opinion on that hasn’t changed. They finished 10-6 instead of 9-7. They were second in the division and were 3-3 instead of 2-4. They took a step back in losing to Cleveland but two steps forward in beating Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The win over the Steelers was especially impressive given that it came in a hostile environment and they had to win it to make the playoffs. They earned their way into the playoffs instead of backing in.

This team is better. There is a lot to hang its hat on, starting with the defense. The Andy Dalton…

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The Bengals vs Pittsburgh

If the Bengals are playing better on defense and running the ball at a better clip than they did back on Oct. 21 when they lost to the Steelers, then Pittsburgh has a different look in the secondary.

The Steelers not only won’t have cornerback Ike Taylor, the man that took away A.J. Green last time on just one catch, but the man that is supposed to shadow Green this Sunday in Pittsburgh (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12), Kendall Lewis, is coming off Sunday’s hip injury in Dallas.

Not only that, but Lewis told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac after practice Wednesday that he stepped in a hole during the workout and is more worried about his knee than his hip.

Meanwhile, before his own practice Wednesday, Green tried to remember the last time he had been held to one catch while playing an entire game.

“I don’t remember; it was a long time ago,” said the usually implacable Green, admitting his frustration at the coverage that either had a safety over the top or a linebacker underneath helping Taylor.

“It gets frustrating sometimes because of the tension of trying to stop ‘take me away, take me away.’ Hey, that comes with the territory, but I’ve got to make a play whenever my number is called.”

The month of December has been almost Steelers tough. Green’s only TD in the three games this month has been in the garbage time of last Thursday’s 34-13 victory in Philadelphia. His longest catch has been 17 yards. He’s got 18 catches in 31 targets for 10.3 yards per catch, nearly four below his season average. There have been no A.J. moon balls in December.

“I started off real hot; a lot of people were giving me a lot deep,” he said. “I expected a lot of people to take away the deep game … a lot of cushion.”

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton took one shot at Green deep in Philly and a leaping Green looked like he was going to alley-oop it away from the corner in the end zone until backup safety Colt Anderson came in at the last instant.

“The safety came right over the top. I didn’t see the safety over there, so I thought I was just trying to hold the corner off,” Green said.

The Steelers don’t let anybody go long. They lead the NFL allowing the fewest passes of 40-plus yards (two) and 20-plus (25). Back on Oct. 21, they gave Green shots, but not many.

“There were a couple of opportunities, but like I said their scheme is so good it’s hard to guess what they’re doing,” Green said. “We’re playing against a sound defense. Nothing too complex. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.”

But even though Green hasn’t exploded lately, he’s simmered with greatness. On Cincinnati’s go-ahead touchdown drive in Philly, Green stretched to Gumby a third-and-nine off the conversion list for an 11-yard gain that put the Bengals in the red zone.

“Just keep running the short stuff and the big stuff will open up later on,” Green said.

While Green has the numbers (his 11 TDs lead the AFC and his 1,208 yards are seventh in the NFL), rookie wide receiver Marvin Jones and slot receiver Andrew Hawkins may get the chances Sunday. In the four wins the Bengals have over Dick LeBeau’s defense in the past nine seasons, the No. 2 and No. 3 receivers, and not the No. 1, have made the plays.

In the 38-31 win at Heinz in ’05, Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh each had five catches, but with LeBeau taking away Johnson for 54 yards, Houshmandzadeh had a 43-yard TD and 88 yards. The Bengals also won at Heinz in ’06 when Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry each had two touchdown catches while Johnson had only one catch total.

Then in the ’09 sweep of the Steelers, slot receiver Andre Caldwell caught the winning four-yard TD pass with 14 seconds left in Cincy, and at Heinz No. 2 receiver Laveranues Coles led the team with five catches for 67 yards while Johnson had two catches in a game the only TD came on Bengals running back Bernard Scott’s 96-yard kick return.

NUGENT CAUTIOUS: For the first time since he injured his kicking calf two weeks ago Wednesday, kicker Mike Nugent returned to the field and he was listed as limited. But it sounded like he is still taking it slowly and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for Sunday.

“Just lightly swing my leg,” he said of where he is. “One-steps, mainly. Not really trying to be too aggressive. You don’t want to have something react and things happen again and kind of go through the whole process for another however many days. One of those things I’m just being very patient with it.”

It’s not a normal injury. Josh Brown has kicked brilliantly in Nugent’s absence and now the question is how long can the Bengals keep two kickers. The answer could be Sunday if they continue to stay healthy everywhere else. Nugent indicated the subject has come up.

“I don’t want to use the word vague, because it sounds negative, but in a positive way we leave it vague,” Nugent said. “It’s one of those things like hey if I’m imitating a coach I’m saying just do what you can to get better and heal as fast as possible. It’s one of those things where your schedule changes a little bit. You have to come in here and do extra treatment. You hate standing on the sideline and watching. As long as I keep getting better each day that’s the way I’m looking at it.”

This isn’t Nugent’s first rodeo. He lost his job with the Jets in 2008 when he suffered a quad injury on the season’s opening kickoff and while he remained on the roster he was inactive the rest of the way as the club stayed with Jay Feely.

“You learn from it, but that was more long term and serious than this is,” Nugent said. “Right when I came back Jay did just phenomenal, can’t take anything away from how well he did and did that the rest of the season, so, that was one of those things that was earlier in my career and you sometimes can worry about things that are out of your control. I’ve learned now that it’s completely out of my control. Only thing under my control—the timeline is even out of my control for me—but when it comes to working out or rehabbing or strengthening, I think that’s the only thing I can really focus on.

DRE RETURNS: For the second time since he suffered a concussion in San Diego on Dec. 2, rookie cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was marked as full go in practice Wednesday and he hopes he has no return of the symptoms that have kep him out of the last two games.

He said the last symptoms he had were Friday, where he had vision problems and headaches while driving. But he said he’s had nothing since and feels confident he’s overcome another Year One obstacle.

“The Bengals have taken the time to observe my injury and managing it well. I just think they’re going a great job,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s just a mental process. Just really messing with your head, especially for me for all the things I’ve gone through this season, not being on the field and wanting to play. All that takes place in the concussion because that’s some of the things you’re thinking about and they really don’t want you to think a lot.”

Kirkpatrick says he’s taken the protocol test—matching it up with his healthy baseline—four or five times as he deals with his second concussion after getting one in college.

“The one at ‘Bama, I was completely out. I don’t remember really anything about the play,” he said. “This one right here it seems like it’s lingering on longer than the first one. Same symptoms but this one is lingering.”

But Kirkpatrick says it doesn’t phaze him (“I’m not worried about the head. It’s football. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. This is my job, this is how I feed my family”), but he is thinking about trying a new helmet.

“It’s more of a speed helmet,” he said. “It’s supposed to have extra cushioning. Just going to see how it works.”

For Kirkpatrick, the club’s No. 1 pick, it’s another in a series of injuries that have limited him to five games this season. A bone spur near his knee wiped out training camp and pushed his NFL debut into November.

“Everything happening to me this year is just killing me inside. I’m just trying to hide it and deal with it on my own terms,” he said.

SLANTS AND SCREENS:

» Left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who got a concussion Thursday night in Philadelphia, said he’s fine and ready to go and was limited Wednesday.

“Everything is back to normal,” he said.

Running back Cedric Peerman, who hasn’t practiced since injuring his ankle Dec. 2 in San Diego, eturned to practice Wednesday and was limited.

» Whitworth on what it all means: “It’s not about a prove-it game. It’s not a statement game. This is, ‘This is on the line, how much does it mean to you, and how well can you play when everything is on the line?’ That’s the bottom line.”

» If there was ever a Bengal that played big against the Steelers, it was the late Chris “Slim” Henry. When he and Carson Palmer got hurt on the same play of the ’05 Wild Card playoff, they did it hooking up on the club’s longest postseason pass, a 66-yarder.

In the next chapter in 2006, Henry caught two of Palmer’s four TD passes in a 28-20 win in Pittsburgh. In the ’06 season finale at PBS, the last time the Bengals played Pittsburgh in late December with a playoff berth on the line, Henry led a fourth-quarter rally with a 66-yard TD catch and drew a pass interference penalty on a long ball that set up Shayne Graham for a 39-yard field goal and the win to get into the postseason with 12 seconds left. He went wide right.

Three years later on Dec. 17, Henry died from injuries suffered in a truck accident while he was on injured reserve. Three years later, the Bengals still remember.

Each December since his death, defensive tackle Domata Peko’s family offers a remembrance and this season he gave his teammates black stocking caps emblazoned with Henry’s orange No. 15, as well as a memorial Christmas ornament.

Peko also gave a cap to Bengals president Mike Brown and it’s been a staple for him during the last few weeks of practice. There are 16 players left from that ’09 team and they remember.

“It’s a great thing, an awesome thing to keep him in our memories and keep him alive,” Whitworth said. “It’s just a great opportunity to remember a guy that meant a lot to us and was a big part of us.

“It’s a guy that we were all close with and still means a lot to us. With everything that’s going around with some of the guys across the league, it’s just an opportunity to remember a person special to us.”

» Sunday is the 40th anniversary of Steelers running back Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception on fourth down that beat the Raiders in the playoffs in the last minute on a heaven-sent ricochet pass. Lewis, a Pittsburgh-area native of McDonald, Pa., knows exactly where he was. It happened to be at Carlynton High School in Crafton, Pa., the alma mater of former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.

“The Carlynton High School wrestling tournament,” said Lewis, then 14. “I don’t think I was wrestling. I was wrestling JV or junior high or whatever I was then. We heard the Steelers beat the Raiders. Back then you had to go to someone’s house to see it on television where we were from. There wasn’t a TV out in the lounge.”

Cowboys Don’t Belong In The Wild

 

First, I have to apologize for not writing last week. I had a few personal things I had to handle but my stripes were still out in full force and the Bengals took care of business. Now with that comes criticism as well. Today, I will sort through them and as good as a biased fan will ever do. I also want to touch base on BJGE, even though I have been a big critic of his. I will talk about what we have to do in order to beat the Cowboys as well.

Over the past few weeks I have heard people uttering about the Bengals and I would love to jump in with my very biased opinion. I have heard from a few other unimportant team fans that the Bengals dont play anyone this year and that their schedule has been easy. I dont agree and I feel that some of the teams we have played play hard every week despite their record. Cleveland is a tough and up coming team that is makng people take notice, plus they are a divsion gameand you can never go all in with these games. They know each other bettter than other teams which often times make it a great game. I have no excuse for the first loss to a tough Baltimore team. We were embarrased. That is all to say of that. Also I feel that we play in the toughest division of footall. The AfC North has consistently sent at least 2 teams to the playoffs. Just based on the two they are 1/4 of our schedule. Not to mention we don’t create the schedule.

One of our biggest issue to me in those games was the lack of a running game. However, the past few weeks you would think we have a superstar back. Afterall he did start off veery rocky by giving up his staple of not letting the ball go and he hadnt seen what 100 yardslooks like. Today, BJGE has done things he didnt need to do, to get him this job. That is good for us as it keeps defenses honest and some of the pressure off Andy Dalton. I also believe the OC takes some blame for not letting BJGE get rolling. I dont know many backs who can get rolling with less than 5 touches a quarter. This will not be any different for a short yardage back. So now I am a liitle bit more fond of BJGE and I am hoping he can continue to see the holes and break big runs. He isnt Corey Dillon, but he did get 3 straight 100 yard games, something that hasnt been done since Dillon in 1998. Pretty sweet for a guy who was a short yardage guy.

Now to what really matters this week. The Cowboys. The Cowboys are a shakey, uncertain, and confusing because they are everything but consistent. However that may be a concern of ours because its hard to game plan for teams like this. So what would any coach say? Gameplan for the best Cowboys! Now with that being said the Cowboys have the #2passing attack in the league so it will be imperitive that the defensive unit is mistake free. I know Romo tends to fold when the games are crucial, but that normally happens in the playoffs. We cant be their route to the playoffs because they have to be ours and our schedule still holds tough games with the Steelers and Ravens. If there are no hats hiting Romo it is my belief that our secondary will suffer and we cant get into a scoring challenge unless it is in the first quarter where we score the most points. We have lost the hunger after that in every game and have lost leads due to this issue. And Tony Romo has 1/3 of his wins from behind which could possibly play right into how this season has gone.

Not only do we have to worry about Romo but Demarcus Ware is an absolute monster who is going to cause havoc. Even our own Dave Lapham says he can be a problem. And if he isnt contained, double teamed, stunted, and blocked well he will be an issue. But don’t let me appear to be a fan of the Cowboys because they too have a shaky secondary that AJ Green can expose and have a big day. I mean he is due one. Every since breaking the franchise record previously held by Carl Pickens, he has been relitively quiet (for AJ Green). We have to get him his mojo back. If he can get going there is no stopping him and when he is going, normally everyone else is as well.

To be truly honest, this game is going to be pretty even. They have a hot offense, and our defense is hot. Its going to be nice to catch our Bengals back on tv, as the band wagon fans pile back on. But that isn’t a bad thing for the true fans who cant afford ticket prices right now and are having a hard time. I would love for them to see thier team do well, and I will be watching as well.

My prediction for the game is 28 Bengals 13 Cowboys. Enjoy the game guys and dont forget to shout – #WhoDeyAllDayEverydayEspeciallyOnSunday

Streaking Bengals invade San Diego

You can bet “4th-and-29” will be prominent when Norv Turner’s epitaph is finally written in San Diego.Uv

Norv’s Chargers continue to invent new ways to lose as they get ready to host the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

The Bengals, who have won three consecutive games and have outscored opponents by a gaudy 21.3 points over that span, currently sit in seventh place on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff race with just five games to go.

“The anticipation comes down to these last five now and what they mean and how important they are,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said. “We’re in OK position. We’re not in great position, but we’re in OK position. And we’ve got to improve upon it each and every week.”

Last week against Baltimore all the Chargers needed to do was stop the aforementioned 4th-and-29 late in the game. San Diego dropped off its entire defense as a preventive measure as Joe Flacco looked on helplessly, almost admitting defeat by checking down to Ray Rice.

The Rutgers product, however, caught it on the right side, and zig-zagged across the field before stretching over the first-down marker, beating half the Chargers defense in the process.

There was a lengthy review to determine whether the spot of the ball was correct, and eventually it was moved back about a half-yard. After resetting the chains to their original position, the spot still left plenty of room for a first down at the San Diego 34.

Rookie kicker Justin Tucker eventually tied the game on the final play of regulation before winning it with 1:07 to play in overtime as Baltimore stole the 16-13 win.

“I guess for you guys (the media), you can say that, and it’s easy to say,” Turner said when asked if that play defined his team’s season. “It’s a play we had guys in position to make the play and we didn’t handle it very well.”

Philip Rivers went 23-for-36 with 228 yards and a touchdown in the loss for the Chargers, who have dropped their past three games. Malcom Floyd caught four passes for 65 yards and a score, while Ryan Mathews had 19 carries for 72 yards in the loss.

“What we’re trying to do is find a way to win a game, and that’s obviously the frustrating part,” Turner said. “We were able to make a couple plays in the first half and we didn’t make the same plays in the second half.”

San Diego opened the season 3-1 but have since dropped six of seven – with their only win coming against a 1-10 Kansas City team on Nov. 1.

Things are looking much rosier for Cincinnati.

Back on Nov. 10 the Bengals were a floundering 3-5 team in the midst of a disastrous four-game losing streak. A strong performance against the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants ignited things and Cincinnati is now back in the middle of the AFC playoff race as they get ready to visit the reeling Chargers.

Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes last Sunday and outperformed his predecessor in Cincinnati, Carson Palmer, during the Bengals’ 34-10 win over the Oakland Raiders, the third straight win of more than 18 points by the Bengals.

Dalton, who replaced Palmer at quarterback a year ago following the Southern Cal product’s ugly split with Cincinnati, threw for 210 yards on 16-of-30 attempts for the Bengals, who are tied with the Steelers for the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC but lost to Pittsburgh earlier in the season.

“Andy played very efficiently,” Lewis said. “He got us in and out of the right things and handled the line of scrimmage very well.”

The red-hot Dalton has nine passing touchdowns with no interceptions during the Bengals’ winning streak.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the ball 19 times for a season-high 129 yards and a score against the Raiders while Cedric Peerman added 61 on eight carries for the Bengals.

“Our ability to run the football really paid dividends,” Lewis said.

The Chargers lead their all-time series with the Bengals 19-12, including one postseason game, the famous 1981 AFC Championship Game won by Cincinnati commonly called “The Freezer Bowl.”

San Diego has also won five of the past seven, although Cincy took the last encounter, a 34-20 win back on Dec, 26, 2010.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The Chargers have actually been quite competitive to this point. They rank just 25th in the NFL in offense, a surprise considering Rivers’ previous success, but are a solid 10th in defense.

Though three games under .500 on the season, San Diego has actually outscored its opponents 245-237.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Lewis said. “The Chargers are a talented team with an exceptional quarterback (Philip Rivers).”

The Bengals need to continue to combine a solid rushing attack, which garnered 221 yards against Oakland — the team’s most since 253 versus Cleveland in 2004 — along with stingy third down defense. The Bengals allowed the Raiders to convert only 3-of-12 on football’s most important down last Sunday.

“We’re starting to find the way we like to play, and that style, that attitude, is key,” said Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth. “We’ve just got to continue to do it”

Cincinnati is a perfect 7-0 when rushing for at least 130 yards since Dalton arrived for the beginning of the 2011 season. The strong running attack enables the second-year signal caller to use play action and get he ball outside the numbers and down the field. Since Week 10 the explosive Bengals offense is averaging 31 points per game, third-best in the NFL.

“We’ve got to keep this going,” Dalton said. “The running game has done a great job the last two weeks. We’ve got to keep the balance.”

The Chargers enter this week’s contest banged-up after losing strong safety Atari Bigby to a season-ending groin injury against the Ravens. Bigby’s running mate, Pro Bowler Eric Weddle, also suffered a concussion while the team’s leading tackler Donald Butler is also expected to miss the game with a groin injury.

“We’ve lost a lot of guys throughout on offense and on defense, and we have guys that just keep coming in,” said Turner. “Obviously, it affects you in certain situations.”

Weddle is expected to play, however. A key for a Chargers secondary which will have to deal with Bengals star receiver A.J. Green, who’s tied for the NFL lead with 10 TD receptions.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

San Diego is an imposing 18-3 in December under Turner so the Bengals need to keep their focus against a team which could be ready to give up under a lame duck coach. The last time Cincy won three straight, however, they followed that up with four consecutive losses.

“I’ve got to keep pressing and make sure that it’s different this time,” Lewis said. “We can’t have any backslides. What I want to keep seeing is the same resolve I saw in the guys’ eyes (against the Raiders). It’s going to be December when we get to San Diego, and we want to play our best football in December. We’re getting there, and that’s what the great teams do.”

Who Dey Herald

“Defense wins championships” goes the old football maxim. This week’s game against the Chargers will definitely prove that to be true.

San Diego has one of the league’s best run defenses. It’s highly unlikely BenJarvus Green-Ellis is going to get his third straight 100-yard rushing game, and it’s just as unlikely the Bengals will be able to get second-and-short and third-and-short opportunities if they try to run the ball on first down too often.

But injuries to the Chargers’ linebacking corps and secondary should provide some opportunities in the passing game. Cincinnati has to make sure San Diego’s defense doesn’t control this game.

At the same time, the Bengals’ D must. Phillip Rivers is a dangerous quarterback if he’s given time. He’ll be playing behind his fourth-string LT, an undrafted rookie. Bengals RDE Michael Johnson has got to make hay in this matchup. He needs to be hitting Rivers and…

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What to Sanu?

The Bengals’ playoff run underwent a major blow Friday when head coach Marvin Lewis revealed after practice that versatile rookie wide receiver Mohamed Sanu suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during Thursday’s practice and indications are he’s going on season-ending injured reserve after surgery Monday.

It’s believed that Sanu broke the fifth metatarsal, an injury similar to the one former cornerback Johnathan Joseph suffered in the 2007 mandatory minicamp and current right tackle Andre Smith got during a 2009 practice. It’s the long bone on the outside of the foot that connects to the little toe and it’s seen as an injury that Sanu is going to have no problem overcoming. But since it happened with just five weeks left in the season he’s got no chance of getting back in time.

Lewis indicated that wide receiver Andrew Hawkins (knee), limited Wednesday and Thursday, should be ready to go for Sunday’s game in San Diego (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) against the Chargers. He’ll take back the slot spot Sanu took when Hawkins went out with a knee injury suffered two Fridays ago in practice that took him out of the last two games.

It’s a big shot to the offense for a variety of reasons. Sanu has not only caught the first four touchdown passes of his career in the last three games that have been the first three starts of his career and the Bengals have clicked for touchdowns on 11 of their last 13 red-zone trips with Sanu scoring three of them on third down, but he’s done a little bit of everything else.

As a Wildcat quarterback against the Redskins, Sanu’s first NFL pass was a 73-yard touchdown to wide receiver A.J. Green. He has also run for two first downs on third down and half of his 16 catches (154 yards) have come on third down.

Sanu played mainly in the slot on third down, as does Hawkins. Rookie wide receiver Marvin Jones, who missed a month with a sprained knee, returned last week and played nine snaps in last Sunday’s win over the Raiders.

Lewis was left shaking his head. He had just promoted Sanu to starter on the depth chart on Tuesday.

“It’s the first time we had all three guys, Marvin and Andrew (and Sanu) running and playing with confidence yesterday,” Lewis said. “For about an hour.”

Lewis said Sanu was simply running a route and didn’t collide with anyone or get stepped on.

“(Stuff) happens,” he said. “It’s another weird thing we’ve had this year, unfortunately.”

The Bengals have suffered almost as many season-ending injuries in practice as they have in games. Starting WILL backer Thomas Howard tore his ACL in a Thursday practice before the second  game. Running back Bernard Scott tore his ACL in the Oct. 7 game against Miami and left guard Travelle Wharton tore an ACL on the third snap of the preseason opener.

WHIT FINED: Left tackle Andrew Whitworth said before practice that he has heard from the NFL that he has been fined $26,000 for fighting in last Sunday’s confrontation with Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston. He said earlier in the week he’s prepared to pay it.

TEZ-MANIA: Bengals rookie WILL backer Vontaze Burfict makes his return home in a game about an hour from where he grew up in Corona, Calif. He figures he’s got 30 family and friends coming and that it’s his fourth time at the stadium. He went to three games as a fan to see his favorite team, the Broncos, play the Chargers.

WEATHER CHECK: According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, there’s a 30 percent chance of showers in San Diego at game time under partly cloudy skies with the temperature at 66 degrees and a wind out of the northwest at about seven miles per hour.

courtesy of:

Geoff Hobson

Editor

Bengals.com

It’s always good to see when other fans of the Jungle can see what I saw. The second half has been our enemy all season. If we can’t get pass that hurdle we will never be a playoff type team

Who Dey Herald

The Bengals did what their fans were desperately hoping for Sunday: they beat the snot out of Carson Palmer.

On the game’s third play, DT Geno Atkins shot through the gap and blasted Palmer, slamming him to the ground as the Jungle roared. Two players later, they sacked him again, and the tone for Palmer’s rough day was set.

But despite Cincinnati enjoying its second three-game winning streak of the season and improving to 6-5, it’s too early to really get excited about the possibility that the Bengals have matured enough to be a serious playoffs contender.

After they built a 24-0 lead at halftime, they came out absolutely flat in the second half. They endured four straight three-and-outs while allowing Palmer and the Raiders to scratch their way back into things, 24-10.

Had it not been for one of the most curious officiating mistakes in the history of the game…

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Exhiled Palmer Returns To The Jungle

We all know that Carson Palmer didn’t leave here on good terms. He whined like a two year old baby in a toy store full of candy. He risked his career and the chance of people only thinking of how could he may have been. I was not happy about him leaving and I would have rather him retired, at that time. Well he ended up in a new number, a new city, with new fans, and a new city of Oakland. Today he is coming back, like the abandoned dog left in the dessert by Mike Vick.

The truth is we don’t want him here. This is our SuperBowl! The pure hate is evident. Not just because he left but because he blamed everyone but himself for not being up to par and throwing touchdowns for the other team. He gave up on our team, and blamed us all. He spit in our faces and smeared it in. So I am hoping that Burfict hits him hard, I am hoping that Johnson makes him wince, and Dunlap gives him a concussion. If you think that’s too much then it’s obvious your aren’t a true fan because that isn’t enough. He tried to hurt us so I feel that it’s only right to try to hurt him. Besides, it’s football and he has been through worse.

Reality is that Carson Palmer can throw the ball, but he is not so great at it when they are playing from behind and has to throw the ball more often. So I am sure you can tell what I think the game plan should be. Stop the run and Palmer can take the risks and it should be a good day for our secondary. I think it would be great to see Pacman get a touchdown. That’s a stretch, but not so much when Palmer plays in the jungle.

What I do know is Palmer doesn’t like to get hit and is easily rattled. A hit low can get us a flag but that would be a mental barrier that we have yet to see him surpass. I’m willing to take the flag. I can’t be the only one with the hatred that I feel towards Palmer. Not if we are all true fans. I want to see him get hit hard and struggle. I want to see him in pain.

Now to simply get to the game here is what I think the Bengals need to do to win the game:

1. Contain the running game to make Oakland one dimensional.
2. I hate Palmer but he still has a rocket and is capable of torching a defense. The front line has to get pressure to help our secondary.
3. BJGE should get more touches after last weeks performance so with a balanced attack they can control the clock.
4. Hold on to the lead. 3 of the last 4 losses we have lost the lead. We have to be able to hold the lead and keep putting points up
5. I love our offense but AJ Green needs help. Gresham has been very productive but we still need a solid number 2 (Sanu hasn’t made it yet although he is emerging).
6. Andy Dalton hasn’t been looking Palmer-like the last few weeks but has thrown too many picks this year. Stay on this path and Get points up without AJ.

If we can commit to not playing over conservative as we normally do and play football by taking chances (carefully thought out) and not laying on our backs. We are Bengals not house cats. We should play fierce and fearless. If we get the opportunity to route teams, we should. This is the NFL, nit peewee football.

Who DEY All Day Everyday Especially On Sunday!!!