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Bengals/Browns - Battle for Ohio

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The first holding penalty was the game winner for the Bengals. Looked like Chad Johnson initiated all the contact there. But hey, the Browns looked alright today, and didn't hurt their draft position either. So, hard to be disappointed.
 
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Final 20-23 for the Bengals

OK - I opined early that this might be a trap game for the Bengals. I opined early that this could be close if the Browns played with pride. And it was close, and they did play with pride.

A win is a win, but the Browns squad should have their heads held high even though they lost. But for penalties the final Bengals drive was not showing great production -- the Bengals did secure the victory and a Win is Win. In all honesty though fellow Bengal fans, is this what you thought would happen today?

I had seen predictions of a blow-out, I had seen predictions of an easy and "boring" victory. Nothing like that happened today. Hopefully the Bengals learn this lesson well. They have lived by the pass all year, take that game away - and for the better part of the game the Browns did that - and the run becomes vitally important.
 
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12/12/05



Bengals edge Browns
Monday, December 12, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By STEVE DOERSCHUK[/FONT]
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SCOTT HECKEL Rudi Johnson (right) eludes Browns defender Nick Eason during the first quarter Sunday. Eason wasn’t the only Brown having problems stopping Johnson; the Bengals back had 169 yards on 30 carries.
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CINCINNATI - Who dey?
WHO DEY?
WHOOOO DEEEYYYY?
In answer to the group question rained by Bengal rowdies rolling down the Paul Brown Stadium exit ramps Sunday, dey are:
n A team with a tough runner, Rudi Johnson, who racked up 169 yards Sunday and has 1,235 with three games left.
n A 10-3 bunch that has two more wins than in any Cincinnati team in 17 years.
n A suspect team that likely must whip the undefeated Colts on the road to reach Super Bowl XL, but barely beat the 4-9 Browns at home.
Shayne Graham’s 37-yard field goal as time expired provided a 23-20 Cincinnati victory.
The Browns made a crowd of 65,788 jumpy moments earlier. Rookie Charlie Frye drove the Browns to a first down at the Cincinnati 12.
However, Cleveland settled for a Phil Dawson field goal and 20-all tie. From there, Carson Palmer drove the Bengals 43 yards, helped by controversial penalties.
Graham’s kick stuck the Browns with their third straight defeat.
It can be argued Cleveland, a 12½-point underdog trying to establish a competitive identity, got more done than a Cincinnati team aiming for a long playoff run.
“Our guys did a relatively good job,” said Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel.
Observed Cincinnati Head Coach Marvin Lewis, “We kept it interesting.”
In his second pro start, rookie Charlie Frye (16-of-24 for 138 yards and a 78.1 rating) outdueled league MVP candidate Carson Palmer (13-of-27 for 93 yards and a season-low 53.5 rating).
“The ball got away from Carson a couple times in the wind,” Lewis said. “He’s a good player. There will be days like these.”
The Browns limited the league’s No. 1 offense to 278 yards — the Bengals were averaging 374.3 yards a game.
“He was gonna try to diagnose the defense and figure out where he could throw the ball before the snaps,” safety Chris Crocker said. “We gave him some different looks. I think he might have had a little trouble.”
Added Palmer, “We got Cleveland’s best shot. They played great. They had a great scheme.
“They played well on offense, too. They did a good job moving the ball with the rookie.”
Frye was on the verge of riding a 4-point lead into the fourth quarter when he forced a third-down throw to the right flat. Cornerback Deltha O’Neal fought through wideout Frisman Jackson for his NFL-best ninth interception.
“(O’Neal) was covering Dennis Northcutt and came off him,” Frye said. “I didn’t even see him.”
Palmer parlayed the pick into a 4-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the last snap of the third quarter. The Bengals led, 20-17.
Frye came back to lead a 41-yard drive to a field goal with 4:19 left in the game. The big play was a rollout on which he fired a bit late to Dennis Northcutt, who made a diving 16-yard catch.
“The young kid ... Charlie ... did a pretty decent job overall,” Crennel said. “He handled himself well in situations where he was in trouble. He used his feet to get out of trouble.”
The Browns showed early signs of being fit for a shootout.
Palmer, who threw three interceptions in last year’s 58-48 defeat of the Browns, was rushed by Nick Eason and picked off by Andra Davis at the Cincinnati 23 in the second quarter.
Tight end Steve Heiden, who had three touchdown catches in last year’s 58-48 loss here, got open and scored on third-and-goal from the 2, giving the Browns a 14-7 lead.
The Bengals made it 14-13 at halftime, with the second of two chip-shot field goals coming in the closing seconds.
By then, Cleveland’s offense had stalled. The Bengals led, 200-70, in first-half yards.
Frye started the second half, though, by chewing up nearly nine minutes in steering the Browns to a 41-yard field goal, and a 17-13 lead. That held up until he threw his only interception.
“The one turnover hurt us,” Crennel said, “but you have to feel like Charlie did a decent job.”
The rookie stunned the crowd with a 56-yard touchdown drive on his first series. The Browns mixed runs with safe passes, the trickiest a 13-yard completion to Antonio Bryant on which Frye fired safely away from coverage to a spot where Bryant had to make a lunging catch.
Frye scored on a a first-and-goal bootleg run from the 3.
The Bengals answered by shredding Cleveland’s run defense. On a 65-yard march, Johnson had consecutive runs of 14 and 16 yards before sprinting 8 yards up the gut for a touchdown.
Johnson’s runs remained an effective tool for Palmer. Frye didn’t get the same punch from Reuben Droughns, who ran 21 times for 74 yards.
In the end, Frye became 0-2 as an NFL starter. “As hard as we played,” he said, “to come up short hurts a little bit.” Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail [email protected]
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Thump said:
Good game.

I was impressed by Frye's mobility.
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Careful. NJ-Buckeye is going to tell you how Frye is the world's greatest QB because he came from Akron U. We all know that Kent State puts out the world's greatest football players :wink2:

I'm glad they lost to at least maintain a higher draft choice (whoever that cursed player is), but I wish they would have tanked as they cost me v10K.
 
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Couple of points.

Good job by the Browns. Frye is gonna be a serviceable to very good QB.

Bengals looked like dirt. Ran the ball OK, but did not seem to have their head in the game much of the day.

The offside on the 4th and 1 on the 50 was inexcusable.

There was a 20-25 mph cross wind according to my neighbor who was at the game. Made it difficult on both QB's. Palmer is never that off on the crossing routes, he was behind or ahead or low all day.

Wins a win. Would have lost that game in years past.

On to Detroit to clinch the division. I am thinking of driving up for the game. I bet I can get tics for about 5$. :biggrin:
 
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Folanator said:
Wins a win. Would have lost that game in years past.
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Exactly. The fact that their starting QB was complete garbage would have doomed the Bengals 3-5 years ago, but this is clearly not the Bengals of old. They were obviously still celebrating their win in Pittsburgh and playing an underrated browns team with nothing to lose. That normally would spell disaster, but the guys in stripes ere able to gather themselves together and squeak out an ugly win (something OSU fans have seen before and can appreciate). It's a great day to be a Bengal fan...a great day indeed.


Edit: Fixed "quote" syntax, missing "]"
 
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A few random thoughts from a Bengals fan:

1) I really like what I saw from Charlie Fry in his second start. He executed the game plan that was given to him...and with the exception of the pass he tried to force into the endzone in the 4th quarter, he played within himself. Could the AFC north have the best QB's in all of football in two to three years with Palmer, Fry and Ben? (I hope the Ravens always have a moron at QB. :biggrin:

2) The first Defensive holding penalty was a rather weak call...but, as a life long fan of Cincy, I have seen those calls go against the Bengals for the last 15 years. I am not sorry to say that I was pretty happy to finally see one of those calls go their way for once.

3) Romeo has the Browns where Marvin had the Bengals three years ago. It takes time to change a losing culture...and when Romeo has three drafts under his belt, the Browns and Bengals are going to rule this division for several years. (The Steelers are aging in a hurry and the Ravens are being badly managed by that arrogant asshole, Billick.)

4) I don't think I want to see the Bengals and Steelers play in the first round of the playoffs. :(
 
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