Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) at Minnesota Vikings (10-2)

Transcription

1 Cincinnati Bengals One Paul Brown Stadium Cincinnati, Ohio (513) administrative offices (513) administrative fax (513) 621-TDTD (8383) ticket office WEEKLY NEWS RELEASE DEC. 8, 2009 Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) at Minnesota Vikings (10-2) Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST. Television: CBS broadcast with Greg Gumbel (play-byplay) and Dan Dierdorf (analyst). The game will be aired regionally on CBS affiliates WKRC-TV (Ch. 12) in Cincinnati, WHIO-TV (Ch. 7) in Dayton and WKYT-TV (Ch. 27) in Lexington, Ky. Radio: Coverage on the 28-station Bengals Radio Network, including a triple-cast in Cincinnati on flagships WLW- AM (700) The Big One, WCKY-AM (1530) Homer (all sports) and WEBN-FM (102.7). Broadcasters are Brad Johansen (playby-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst). The game also will be aired to a national audience on the Westwood One network. Broadcasters are Kevin Kugler (play-byplay) and Mark Malone (analyst). Setting the scene: Only unbeaten Indianapolis and New Orleans have clinched NFL division championships through Week 13, but the Bengals can secure a Week 14 clinching of the AFC North crown with a win at Minnesota (more detail in items on page 2). And Cincinnati s date at the 10-2 Vikings means more than that. The team quite simply is eager for a test against one of the NFC s elite contenders. Cincinnati rose to 9-3 last week with a decision over Detroit. The win completed a three-game stretch against opponents that all had two or fewer victories. The Bengals finished the stretch at 2-1, losing at Oakland and beating visiting Cleveland before downing the Lions. The two victories, while welcome, were not rated high for style points. I guess people would say this was a hard three-game stretch for us as far as keeping the focus, said head coach Marvin Lewis. If it was, then it was. But now we get to go do what we need to do, and that s play the Vikings. I don t know if our guys have been looking forward to it, but that s what everybody has been talking to them about. Now it s here, and there will be no excuses (regarding motivation). It s time to go play. The Bengals are also in strong contention for the AFC s No. 2 playoff seed, which carries a first-round bye. They currently share the AFC s second-best record with San Diego, and they visit the Chargers following the test against the Vikings. Maybe it was hard not to lose focus the last three games, said QB Carson Palmer, but this is the point, with a quarter of the season to go, where you want to start peaking. Hopefully you re saving your best football for late December and January, and we have two big weeks ahead of us with Minnesota and San Diego. Though the Bengals are 4-1 in their last five games, the Detroit game marked the first time in those five that Cincinnati has scored more than 20 points. Even against Detroit, the effort included only one offensive touchdown, and the Bengals settled for field goals on each of two possessions that featured snaps in the red zone. Cincinnati did, however, have a 100-yard rusher Game information Week 14, Game 13 Sunday, Dec. 13 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Next up: Week 15, Game 14 Dec. 20 at San Diego (Cedric Benson) and a 100-yard receiver (Chad Ochocinco) for the first time since its last offensive blowout, a win over Chicago on Oct. 25. I think our offense can be as good as it needs to be, said Lewis. The only thing stopping that has probably been us. We need to keep working and keep trying to improve. Added Palmer: We have to play fast and play without thinking. It was hard not to look forward to these upcoming two games. But knowing that we have to play great football is good for us. We won t beat these two teams without playing our best football. The defense, without question, has carried the Bengals of late. Cincinnati leads the NFL for the second straight week in scoring defense, having dropped its season average to 15.6 with its 13-point yield in the Detroit game. The defense got the Bengals back in the game after Detroit had started impressively, tying the score 7-7 when rookie DE Michael Johnson deflected a Matt Stafford pass and DE Jonathan Fanene turned it into a 45-yard INT for a touchdown. The Bengals rank fourth in the NFL in fewest net yards allowed (293.3 per game) and are second in fewest rushing yards allowed (81.8). The series: The series is tied 5-5. The Bengals have won five of six meetings in Cincinnati, but have not won in four previous trips to Minnesota. The Bengals won the last meeting, 37-8 at Paul Brown Stadium in It was the home opener of an 11-5 season that would see the Bengals finish 11-5 and capture the AFC North Division championship. The Bengals have not played in Minnesota since 1998, when the Vikings prevailed 24-3 in a November contest, en route to a franchise-best 15-1 regularseason record. Other memorable Bengals-Vikings meetings: Minnesota s home victory in 1989 was the regularseason finale for both teams, a nationally televised Christmas night contest in which the Vikings clinched the NFC Central title at 10-6, while the defending AFC Champion Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs at 8-8. Former University of Cincinnati kicker Rich Karlis booted five field goals for the Vikings. Cincinnati s home victory on Christmas Eve in 1995 featured a Bengals rally from a 21-point deficit, tying the biggest comeback in franchise history. The Bengals trailed 24-3 at halftime, but finished a 24-0 second-half surge on Doug Pelfrey s 51-yard field goal as time expired. Team bests from the series: Bengals MOST POINTS: 37, in the last meeting, a 37-8 Bengals win at Paul Brown Stadium in LARGEST VICTORY MARGIN: 29, in the 2005 victory at PBS. FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED: 0 (twice), most recently in a 14-0 win at Cincinnati in Page 1

2 (Team bests from the series, continued) Vikings MOST POINTS: 42 (twice), most recently in a 42-7 victory at Cincinnati in LARGEST VICTORY MARGIN: 35, in the 42-7 win in 92. FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED: 3, in a 24-3 win at Minnesota in The last meetings: A complete summary of the last Bengals-Vikings meeting in 2005 at Cincinnati is on page 18 of this release. Clash of titans: This week s game will feature the NFL s second-ranked scoring offense (Vikings at 29.9) against the top-scoring defense (Bengals at 15.6). New Orleans (36.7) is the only team ahead of Minnesota in scoring offense. Win and in: A victory at Minnesota will crown the Bengals as 2009 AFC North Division champions. By moving to 10-3, the Bengals would be three games ahead of Baltimore and Pittsburgh, even if both the Ravens and Steelers were to win to go 7-6. With only three games to play, those clubs could do no better than tie in the final standings, and the Bengals control all tiebreakers. The Bengals hold all tiebreakers because they have swept both Pittsburgh and Baltimore (applies in a two-way tie) and have clinched the best division record at 6-0 (applies in a three-way tie). Lose and???: Should the Bengals lose to Minnesota, falling to 9-4, they still would clinch the AFC North title if both Baltimore and Pittsburgh also lose. The Steelers play at Cleveland on Thursday, and the Ravens host Detroit on Sunday. Losses would put those clubs at 6-7, three games behind with three to play. Even if the Bengals were to lose all their remaining games while Baltimore and/or Pittsburgh ran the table, the Bengals would still prevail via tiebreakers. If the Bengals lose and the Ravens and/or Steelers win, the AFC North race goes on. The Bengals would be 9-4, with at least one of their pursuers only two games back at 7-6, with three games still to play. But recall, pulling into a Week 17 standings tie does nothing for the Ravens or Steelers because they are doomed in the tiebreaker arena. They must win outright, and that means making up three games, even if they trail by only two. Just for the record: What if the Bengals lose, and the Steelers and/or Ravens play a tie? The race would go on, because at 6-6-1, a contender would trail the 9-4 Bengals by 2.5 games with three to play. It would require the pursuer running the table while the Bengals were going 0-3. If the Bengals tie Minnesota, and Baltimore and Pittsburgh both lose, the Bengals would clinch. The Bengals would be and 3.5 games ahead of the Steelers (6-7) and Ravens (6-7). For now, Bengals lose No. 2 seed: It isn t likely to mean much at season s end, but for now, the Bengals have officially dropped behind San Diego for the No. 2 seed (and first-round bye) in the AFC playoff race. The Bengals and Chargers share the conference s second-best record (9-3), and if the season were over now, the Chargers would qualify via the tiebreaker of best AFC record. San Diego moved to 7-3 in the conference with its win over Cleveland last week, while the Bengals stood pat at 6-3 while beating NFC Detroit. But all the above likely will go poof on Dec. 20, when the Bengals and Chargers play at Qualcomm Stadium. Even if the loser could make up the lost game in the standings, it would be eliminated by the head-to-head tiebreaker in a two-way tie. Should the Bengals and Chargers wind up as part of a three-way or fourway tie for second-best record, the Cincinnati-San Diego result is not likely to be so crucial. What if the Bengals and Chargers tie on Dec. 20, and then wind up tied for the No. 2 seed at season s end? In the case of that two-way tie, the order of tiebreakers reads: 1) AFC record, 2) best record in common games, 3) strength of victory and 4) strength of schedule. Indianapolis (12-0) is charging toward the No. 1 AFC seed, with its first-round bye and guarantee of two home games. Behind 9-3 Cincinnati and San Diego in the race for No. 2 are Denver (8-4), New England (7-5) and Jacksonville (7-5). Bengals vs. Brett: Like a lot of NFL teams, the Bengals may have thought last year that they had seen the last of Brett Favre. But the NFL s only three-time Most Valuable Player is extending his career in grand style at age 40. The former Green Bay Packers great came out of retirement for the second time on Aug. 18, joining the Vikings, and while leading Minnesota to a 10-2 record, he has posted a passer rating of 108.5, second in the NFL. This week will mark Favre s sixth regular-season appearance against the Bengals. His first four were with Green Bay, including the 1992 breakout game that launched his success for the Packers. His fifth appearance occurred on Oct. 12 of last season, when he was with the N.Y. Jets. Favre has led his team to a win in four of the five games. Favre and the Packers won the first three meetings against the Bengals, but Cincinnati got some payback in 2005, beating the Packers at Paul Brown Stadium while intercepting five Favre passes. That tied the Bengals record for most INTs in a game against one passer. But last year with the Jets, Favre got back in the win column against the Bengals by leading a win at the Meadowlands. Here are capsule summaries of the first five Favre-vs.- Bengals meetings: On Sept. 20, 1992 at Green Bay, in his second NFL season and his first with the Packers, Favre used a performance against the Bengals to lay claim to the Green Bay starting job. He relieved injured starter Don Majkowski in the first quarter, and though the Packers still trailed 17-3 at the three-quarter mark, Favre threw the first two TD passes of his pro career in the final 4:11 to spark a Packers comeback win. The winning score was a 35-yard pass to WR Kittrick Taylor with 0:13 to play. Favre finished the game with 22 completions in 39 attempts for 289 yards, two TDs and no INTs. It was the first Packers victory for head coach Mike Holmgren. ` On Dec. 3, 1995 at Green Bay, Favre led the Packers offense in a win by completing 31 of 43 passes for 339 yards and all three Packers touchdowns. The Bengals took a 10-3 lead with 1:00 left in the second quarter, but Favre got the Packers even by halftime, completing a 15-yard TD to Mark Ingram with just :06 remaining. Favre got the only two scores of the second half on TD passes of 14 yards to Edgar Bennett and eight yards to Mark Chmura. S Corey Sawyer became the first Bengal to intercept a Favre pass, returning it 61 yards in the fourth quarter. In his first Cincinnati appearance, on Sept. 20, 1998 at Cinergy Field, Favre produced only one touchdown, but it was good to carry the Packers to a 13-6 win. His TD pass to Robert Brooks put the Packers ahead to stay at 7-3 in the first quarter. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 274 yards, with the one TD and one INT, leading Green Bay to 328 net offensive yards. S Sam Shade became the second Bengal to intercept a Favre pass. On Oct. 30, 2005 at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati s five INTs against Favre helped carry the Bengals to a win. CB Deltha O Neal and LB Odell Thurman each had two INTs, and CB Tory James had one. The Bengals led 21-7 before Favre got his only TD pass of the day, a one-yarder to TE Bubba Franks with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter. The Bengals improved to 6-2 on the season, en route to an 11-5 finish and the AFC North Division championship. On Oct. 12 of last season at the Meadowlands, Favre led the Jets to a victory, completing 25 of 33 passes for 189 yards with one TD and two INTs. Safeties Corey Lynch and Marvin White had the INTs against Favre. The Favre rating: In five career games against the Bengals, QB Brett Favre has compiled an 82.6 passer rating, with 127 completions in 189 attempts (67.2 percent) for 1370 yards, eight TDs and nine INTs. Lewis unbeaten vs. NFC North: Last week s Bengals win over Detroit gave head coach Marvin Lewis a 7-0 career record against NFC North Division teams. This week s Page 2

3 (Lewis unbeaten vs. NFC North, continued) Minnesota game will be the last of four 2009 Bengals tests against the NFC North. The Bengals were last scheduled against the NFC North in 2005, and Cincinnati swept the four-game set en route to an 11-5 division championship season. This season, the schedule rotation again pits the AFC North against the NFC North, and the Bengals are 3-0, having won at Green Bay and vs. Chicago before topping the Lions. Records vs. Vikings: The longest pass completion in Bengals history was a 94-yarder for a TD from Ken Anderson to WR Billy Brooks on Nov. 13, 1977 at Minnesota. The Bengals record for most penalties incurred in a game is 17, against the Vikings on Sept. 18, 2005 at Paul Brown Stadium. Also on Sept. 18, 2005, the Bengals snagged five INTs against Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper, one of four times they have set that record against an opposing passer. Three of the four instances occurred in 2005, with Chicago s Kyle Orton and Green Bay s Brett Favre also on the 05 list. The Bengals tied the biggest comeback in franchise history on Christmas Eve of 1995, when they rallied from 21 down (24-3) for a win over the Vikings at Riverfront Stadium. On Dec. 25, 1989 at Minnesota, former University of Cincinnati kicker Rich Karlis kicked five field goals against the Bengals. He is among six kickers who share that record for most three-pointers in a game by a Bengals foe. Bengals-Vikings connections: Vikings S Madieu Williams was a Bengals second-round draft choice in 2004 and played for Cincinnati through Vikings RBs coach Eric Bieniemy played for the Bengals from Vikings defensive coordinator/asst. head coach Leslie Frazier was Bengals defensive coordinator in Vikings LBs coach Fred Pagac played at Ohio State from and was on the OSU coaching staff from Vikings QBs coach Kevin Rogers was on the Ohio State coaching staff in Bengals DL coach Jay Hayes was on the Vikings staff in Bengals special teams coach Darrin Simmons was on the University of Minnesota staff in Vikings FB Naufahu Tahi entered the NFL with the Bengals as a college free agent in 2006 and was with Cincinnati that preseason... Vikings CB Antoine Winfield played at Ohio State. Red-zone reports: The Vikings rank in the NFL s top five in both offensive and defensive touchdown percentage in the red zone. The Vikings are fourth offensively at 60.0 percent (30 TDs in 50 chances), and they rank second defensively at 35.5 percent (11 TDs in 31 chances). The Bengals led the NFL in offensive TD percentage through Week 8, but in the last five weeks, they have fallen to 11th place at 53.8 percent. Defensively, the Bengals rank fifth at 44.4 percent. The Bengals and Vikings both have outpaced their opponents in total red-zone opportunities. The Bengals have 39 offensively, with 27 allowed on defense. The Vikings have 50 offensively and have allowed only 31 on defense. Bengals red-zone report OFFENSE DEFENSE Inside-20 poss.: 39 Inside-20 poss.: 27 Total scores: 34 (87.2%) Total scores: 22 (81.5%) TDs: 21 (53.8%) TDs: 12 (44.4%) FGs: 13 (33.3%) FGs: 10 (37.1%) TD% rank: 11th TD% rank: T-5th No scores: 5 (12.8%) No scores: 5 (18.5%) Missed FG: 3 (7.7%) Interceptions: 2 (7.4%) Lost on downs: 1 (2.6%) End of game: 1 (3.7%) Fumble: 1 (2.6%) Blocked FG: 1 (3.7%) Fumble: 1 (3.7%) Vikings red-zone report OFFENSE DEFENSE Inside-20 poss.: 50 Inside-20 poss.: 31 Total scores: 42 (84.0%) Total scores: 26 (83.9%) TDs: 30 (60.0%) TDs: 11 (35.5%) FGs: 12 (24.0%) FGs: 15 (48.4%) TD% rank: 4th TD% rank: 2nd No scores: 8 (16.0%) No scores: 5 (16.1%) Bengals-Vikings NFL rankings BENGALS VIKINGS SCORING (AVG. POINTS): Points scored... 16th (21.7) 2nd (29.9) Points allowed... 1st (15.6) T-10th (19.4) NET OFFENSE (AVG. YARDS): Total... 18th (331.9) 5th (383.8) Rushing... 6th (133.9) 11th (123.6) Passing... 21st (198.0) 9th (260.2) NET DEFENSE (AVG. YARDS): Total... 4th (293.3) 8th (311.4) Rushing... 2nd (81.8) 3rd (84.3) Passing... 12th (211.5) 21st (227.2) TURNOVERS: Differential... 11th (plus-1) 7th (plus-7) Marvin Lewis is in his seventh season as Bengals head coach, one year from tying former head coaches Paul Brown and Sam Wyche for the franchise s longest tenure of eight seasons. In Bengals head coaching victories, he ranks tied for second with Brown, trailing only Wyche (detail in item below). Lewis Bengals record is in the regular season, 0-1 in postseason and overall. His Bengals log includes an AFC North Division championship in Lewis entered 2009 tied for fifth in the NFL for current consecutive seasons as a head coach (seven). He has also cracked the active top 10 for most total seasons as an NFL head coach, sharing ninth place at seven with Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio. Lewis was named the ninth Bengals head coach on Jan. 14, In 2002, he directed the NFL s fifth-ranked defense with Washington, serving as assistant head coach in addition to his role as defensive coordinator. Prior to his year with the Redskins, he was a record-setting defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. His six seasons ( ) with the Ravens included a Super Bowl victory following the 2000 season. In the 2000 regular season, Lewis Baltimore defense set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game campaign (165). The head coaches Lewis entered the NFL as linebackers coach with Pittsburgh from , guiding the careers of Pro Bowl selections Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland and Greg Lloyd. Born Sept. 23, 1958, in McDonald, Pa., near Pittsburgh, Lewis played linebacker at Idaho State and earned All-Big Sky Conference honors in each of his three seasons ( ). He began his coaching career as an assistant at Idaho State University in Brad Childress is in his fourth season as Vikings head coach. His record is 34-27, including 0-1 in the playoffs. He led the Vikings to the 2008 NFC North championship with a 10-6 record. The Vikings have led the NFL in rushing defense for three consecutive years ( ), an NFL first since the 1970 merger, and they rank third against the rush this season. This is Childress 32nd season in coaching, including his 12th on an NFL sideline. He was an assistant with Philadelphia when the Eagles reached Super Bowl XXXIX and played in four straight NFC Championship games. He began his coaching career at Illinois in 1978 and later coached in college at Northern Arizona, Utah and Wisconsin. He played QB and WR at Illinois before transferring to Eastern Illinois, from where he graduated. Page 3

4 (The head coaches, continued) Lewis ties P.B.: With 55 career wins as Bengals head coach, Marvin Lewis has tied team founder Paul Brown, who won 55 while guiding the Bengals from expansion in 1968 through 75. Lewis can pass Brown s total this week at Minnesota, heading toward the club-record 64 held by Sam Wyche ( ). Lewis has the most wins of any Bengals head coach with a plus-.500 record. His overall record is , including an 0-1 mark in postseason. Brown, who started with an expansion team, was , and Wyche was Lewis vs. Vikings: Lewis leads, 1-0, from a 37-8 win at Paul Brown Stadium in Lewis vs. Childress: No previous meetings. Childress vs. Bengals: No previous meetings. Sellout streak at 51: Last week s home game vs. Detroit was the Bengals 51st consecutive sellout in regularseason and postseason play, but at press time for this release, the Dec. 27 regular-season home finale vs. Kansas City was not yet sold out. The Bengals have not had a regular-season or postseason home game blacked out for local TV since Nov. 9, The streak of 51 is a franchise record. Prior to the current streak, the record was 43 straight games, at Riverfront Stadium between 1988 and 92. What a difference 12 games makes: With nine wins in 12 games, the Bengals are eight wins ahead of their record at last year s 12-game point. That ties the Bengals for the best win improvement in NFL history through 12 games from one season to the next. Cincinnati shares the designation with the 1963 Oakland Raiders (0-12 in 62; 8-4 in 63) and the 99 Indianapolis Colts (2-10 in 98; 10-2 in 99). Division perfection: The Bengals Nov. 29 win over Cleveland completed the first perfect division record (6-0) in franchise history. The previous best Bengals record for a full season in division play was 5-1, most recently by the 2005 AFC North championship team. Cincinnati s other 5-1 division records came in 1984, 89 and 90. The Bengals became the ninth NFL team to sweep its division games since 2002, when the league realigned with eight divisions of four teams each. Of the previous eight teams to post a sweep, all eight made the playoffs and five went on to win their conference championship. Only one, however, the 2008 Steelers, won the Super Bowl. The other four teams that won conference titles were the 2004 Eagles, 05 Seahawks, 07 Patriots and 08 Cardinals. The three teams that swept their divisions but did not reach the Super Bowl were the 2002 Titans, 02 Steelers and 05 Colts. Last week, Indianapolis became the 10th team since 2002 to go 6-0 in its division, as the Colts downed Tennessee to complete their sweep. Two other teams are still alive to sweep their 2009 division play. Minnesota is 5-0, and New Orleans is 3-0. The Bengals are now in division play under head coach Marvin Lewis. A wild 6-0 ride: The Bengals started their 6-0 run through the AFC North Division in historically hair-raising fashion. In Weeks 3-5, they defeated each division rival by three points, becoming the first team since the 1970 merger to win division games that closely in three successive weeks. The second meetings against each division rival were just slightly less frantic. Cincinnati beat Baltimore by 10, Pittsburgh by six and Cleveland by nine. The Bengals completed their division schedule in the first 11 games, their earliest such finish in a season since The perfect division record has been the foundation of a prolonged run in first place. The Bengals have had at least a share of the AFC North lead after games of the last 10 weeks, and this week marks their fifth week (fourth in a row) to have sole possession of the lead. Cincinnati first pulled into first place on Oct. 4, tying Baltimore at 3-1 by winning at Cleveland while the Ravens were losing at New England. The Bengals took sole possession of first place on Oct. 11, when they won at Baltimore to go 4-1. On Oct. 18, when Bengals information the Bengals lost to Houston, Pittsburgh pulled into a first-place tie by beating Cleveland for its third straight win. The Bengals and Steelers remained tied until the Bengals moved ahead with their win on Nov. 15 at Heinz Field. The standings: TEAM W-L DIVISION NEXT TWO Cincinnati at Minnesota; at San Diego Baltimore vs. Detroit; vs. Chicago Pittsburgh at Cleveland; vs. Green Bay Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh; at Kansas City Bengals are supremely stingy: For the second consecutive week, the Bengals lead the NFL in scoring defense. Cincinnati dropped its per-game yield to 15.6 by holding Detroit to 13 points last week. With 187 total points allowed, Cincinnati is the only NFL team to have allowed fewer than 200. Indianapolis is second in scoring defense, at points per game and 201 total points allowed. Denver is third, at with 202 total points allowed. Scoring defense has proven a key barometer for Super Bowl runs. Of the last 25 Super Bowl champs, 15 ranked in the NFL s top three in scoring defense. And, 23 of the 25 champs ranked in the top 10. The Bengals have never ranked higher than fifth in the NFL in scoring defense for a full season. The 1972 Bengals achieved that ranking, finishing their 8-6 season at 16.4 points allowed per game (229 total). Rankings aside, the Bengals record for fewest points allowed per game for a full season is 15.0, set by the 1976 club that yielded 210 points in 14 games while posting a 10-4 record. But 1976 was a tough defensive year in the NFL, and that team s ranking was only No. 7. The current Bengals team s average of 15.6 points allowed would rank second in franchise history for a full season, behind only the 1976 team. The 2009 Bengals are on pace to allow only 249 total points for the season. That would be the team s best-ever mark for a 16- game season, topping the 285 yield by a 1989 team that finished 8-8. Bengals regain No. 2 rank against run: The Bengals didn t much improve their defensive rushing average in last week s win over Detroit, but they moved from third to second place in the NFL rankings. The Bengals had ranked second for four consecutive weeks (through play of Weeks 8-11) before falling to third for a week. Cincinnati allowed 80 yards to the Lions last week and dropped its per-game yield from 81.9 to But the Bengals moved ahead of Minnesota, which had been No. 2 heading into Week 12 play. The Vikings allowed Arizona 113 rushing yards last week, and Minnesota s average yield went from 81.6 to 84.3, putting the Vikings in third place. The Vikings are no newcomers to this territory. They have led the NFL in rushing defense for the last three consecutive full seasons ( ), the only team since the 1970 merger to lead three years in a row. The Bengals 81.8 yield is more than 10 yards better than the franchise season record of 93.7, set in The Bengals have never ranked as high as undisputed second in rush defense for a full season. The highest rank on record is tied for second, by the 1983 team. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have set the tone in the AFC Page 4

5 (Bengals regain No. 2 rank against run, continued) North, said Bengals QB Carson Palmer. They were the ones to come up with the formula, which is good solid defense, run the football, and control the field position. But now that s something we ve turned into. Our defense is giving us the chance to play that kind of game every week. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis notes that in assessing rush defense, fans sometimes pay attention too exclusively to the performance of the defensive line and/or front seven. It starts from the perimeter guys, Lewis says. Teams that don t play the run very well usually have secondary guys who don t tackle very well. It s really never as much a reflection of the front guys as it is maybe of the perimeter players. You don t see most teams rip up and down the middle of the field. What happens that the secondary guys don t play the leverages and forces correctly. Defense extends record streak: The Bengals limited Detroit to 80 rushing yards last week, extending to eight the team s franchise-record streak of holding opponents under the 100 mark. Prior to this season, the franchise record was six games, and that spanned two seasons. Cincinnati yielded less than 100 in the last two games of 1981 and the first four games of Here s a recap of the rush defense performance from the last eight games, in which Cincinnati has yielded only three rushing TDs: DATE OPPONENT ATT. YDS. AVG. TDS Oct Oct. 18 HOUSTON Oct. 25 CHICAGO Nov. 8 BALTIMORE Nov Nov Nov. 29 CLEVELAND Dec. 6 DETROIT Record pace against rush TDs: The Bengals have allowed only six rushing touchdowns in 12 games, a pace of 0.5 per game that projects to eight for the full season. Technically, that would only tie the team record for fewest rush TDs allowed in a season, as the 1982 team allowed eight. But that was a strike-shortened nine-game campaign. The team low for a full season, and the low in average per game, occurred in 1989, when Cincinnati allowed nine rush TDs in 16 games. Players scoring rushing TDs against the Bengals this season have been Green Bay RB Ryan Grant on Sept. 20 (four yards), Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger on Sept. 27 (one yard), Cleveland QB Derek Anderson on Oct. 4 (one yard), Baltimore RB Ray Rice on Nov. 8 (two yards), Cleveland QB Brady Quinn on Nov. 29 (nine yards) and Detroit RB Kevin Smith (two yards). Third-down shutdown: The Bengals lead the NFL this week in defensive third-down conversion percentage (32.9). Cincinnati has allowed only 50 conversions in 152 opponent attempts. The Bengals have risen from 21st place to first place in the last five weeks, by allowing only a 14-for-61 reading over that span. That s a 23.0 percent success rate. To recap the last five games, Baltimore went one-for-10, Pittsburgh was three-for-15, Oakland was four-for-11, Cleveland was four-for-14 and Detroit (last week) was two-for-11. Prior to the Nov. 8 Baltimore game, the Bengals ranked tied for 21st in the NFL in defensive third-down percentage, at Since 1981, when third-down performance became a regularly recorded portion of team statistics, the Bengals have not matched a 32.9 defensive percentage for a full season. The best full-season performance was in the strike-shortened nine-game season of 1982, when Cincinnati finished at 33.7 percent. In the 28 seasons from , the Bengals were under 40 percent on defense only six times. In Marvin Lewis six previous seasons as head coach ( ), the Bengals were under 40 only once. Benson s back at it: After missing two full games and half of a third due to a hip strain, Bengals HB Cedric Benson returned as his workhorse self in the Detroit game, rushing for 110 yards on 36 carries. Benson had been out since suffering the injury in the first half of the Nov. 15 Pittsburgh game. The fifth-year pro leads the Bengals with a career-best 969 yards on the season, and despite his missed time, he ranks fourth in the AFC and seventh in the NFL. He is only 108 yards out of second place in the AFC. With four games yet to play, he has tied a Bengals record with five 100-yard rushing games on the season. Ced didn t look like he had missed any time, said QB Carson Palmer. He had his explosion and his quick cuts. He was running powerfully and falling forward like he always does at the end of runs. The NFL rushing leader, by runaway proportions, is Chris Johnson of Tennessee at 1509 yards. Johnson is 277 yards ahead of the second-place player, Steven Jackson of St. Louis at 1232, and Johnson leads the AFC by 432 yards over secondplace Maurice Jones-Drew of Jacksonville (1077). Thomas Jones of the N.Y. Jets is third in the AFC at 1068, and then comes Benson at 969. Tennessee s Johnson is on a pace for 2012 yards for the season, which would rank fourth in NFL history and be the most since 2003, when Baltimore s Jamal Lewis had 2066 yards. The NFL record is 2105, by Eric Dickerson of the L.A. Rams in Benson led the league in rushing at two junctures this season, through games of Week 5 and Week 7. Gold, silver and bronze: Bengals HB Cedric Benson has the top three NFL totals this season for most rushing attempts in a game. That would be 37 vs. Chicago on Oct. 25, 36 last week vs. Detroit, and 34 on Nov. 8 vs. Baltimore. The highest total by another back is 33, by Maurice Jones- Drew of Jacksonville on Oct. 18 vs. St. Louis. Asked about handling such a heavy load against Detroit, in what was his first game back after missing two with a hip injury, Benson said: I felt like I could have played last week. And they (coaches) know I don t need a break. They know I can run all day. I always feel great (physically) after that kind of game, ironically. Whatever the team needs me to do, I m all for it. I love carrying the ball that much. That usually just means we re putting a team away, and I love putting a team away. You ve got to put the hay in the barn. That s what my old high school coach called it. When you carry the ball that much, it means you re putting the hay in the barn. In carries for the season, Benson s 241 rank second in the AFC and fourth in the NFL. He had been the NFL leader in carries prior to his injury. Rushing riches: Glad as they are to have HB Cedric Benson healthy again, the Bengals didn t hurt badly for a bell cow rusher during Benson s two games out of the lineup. In Week 11 (Game 10) at Oakland, rookie Bernard Scott rushed for 119 yards, and the team totaled 177. And in Week 12 (Game 11) vs. Cleveland, veteran free agent pickup Larry Johnson rushed for 107 while the team totaled 210, its secondhighest output of the season. When Benson came back last week with 110 yards, it marked the first time in Bengals history with three different backs reaching the century mark over a span of three games. It is the first time since 2006 for an NFL team to do it in three straight games, and it is the first time since 1993 for a league club to do it in three games over a three-week period. The 2006 Packers did it in three games over a four-week span (including a bye). The rushers were Noah Herron, Ahman Green and Vernand Morency. The 1993 Seahawks did it over three consecutive weeks, with 100-yard games from Chris Warren, Jon Vaughn and John L. Williams. Major credit of course goes to the blockers, as testified to by Johnson following the Cleveland game. It was only my second game (as a Bengal), said Johnson, who twice topped 1700 rushing yards in a season for Kansas City, and I tried to study really hard, to make sure I d be taking the ball to the right place on every chance I had. And every time I did it, the hole was there, just like it was drawn up. Page 5

6 (Bengals information, continued) Benson and team tie rush marks: HB Cedric Benson s 110-yard rushing game vs. Detroit was his fifth 100- yarder of the season, tying the team record for an individual. With four games left on the schedule, he has a good chance to break a mark that has now been set nine times, by six different players. Corey Dillon hit the five mark three times, Rudi Johnson did it twice, and it has been accomplished once each by James Brooks, Harold Green, Ickey Woods and now Benson. Also: This year s team total of seven 100-yard rushing games by individuals ties the team record. In addition to the five 100-yarders by Benson, Bernard Scott and Larry Johnson have one each. The only other time for the club to hit seven was in 1988, when Ickey Woods had five 100-yard games and James Brooks had two. This season marks only the second time for three different Bengals to post 100-yard rushing games in the same season. The only previous instance in Bengals history was 1970, when RBs Jess Phillips, RB Paul Robinson and QB Virgil Carter each had a 100-yard game. Each had only one on the season. Carter s 110- yard game against Cleveland stands as the only 100-yard rushing game by a Bengals QB. Benson s ratio is best: With a 110-yard rushing total last week vs. Detroit, Bengals HB Cedric Benson now has eight total 100-yarders in his 20 Cincinnati starts. That s an average of one 100-yarder for every 2.5 starts, better than the ratios posted by Corey Dillon and Rudi Johnson, the players who rank 1-2 in most 100-yard rushing games for Cincinnati. Dillon got his team-record 28 games of 100 rushing yards in 96 starts, an average of one every 3.4 starts. Rudi Johnson got his 19 games of 100 in 59 starts, one for every 3.1 starts. On Nov. 29 vs. Cleveland, HB Larry Johnson became the 22nd different player in Bengals history to rush for 100 yards in game. Here s a listing of the 22 who have done it, with their number of 100-yarders in parentheses: Ten or more games Corey Dillon (28), Rudi Johnson (19), James Brooks (17), Pete Johnson (14). Five-to-nine games Cedric Benson (eight), Harold Green (eight), Paul Robinson (six), Essex Johnson (five), Ickey Woods (five). One-to-four games Larry Kinnebrew (four), Boobie Clark (three), Archie Griffin (three), Jess Phillips (three), Kenny Watson (two), Ki-Jana Carter (one), Virgil Carter (one), Doug Dressler (one), Larry Johnson (one), Marc Logan (one), Bernard Scott (one), Deacon Turner (one), Stanley Wilson (one). Another 25-er for Cedric: The Bengals are 27-1 in 28 games under coach Marvin Lewis in which a rusher has carried 25 or more times. Cincinnati is 7-0 when HB Cedric Benson has turned the trick. Five of his seven 25-carry games have occurred this season, including a 36-for-110 effort last week vs. Detroit. Also during the Lewis era, Cincinnati was 18-1 when Rudi Johnson had 25 or more carries (over ), and the Bengals were 2-0 when Kenny Watson had a pair of 25-plus games (both in 2007). It s not always the yardage total that s most important, says Lewis. When your back is carrying 25 times, it means that even though the yardage will vary, you re controlling the ball, controlling the clock, and keeping your defense off the field. As it shows for us, that is very likely going to be a winning combination. Cincinnati s only loss under Lewis with a 25-carry rusher was Dec. 24, 2006 at Denver, when the Broncos overcame a 30-for- 129 day by Rudi Johnson in a win. Factors that contributed to the game being the lone exception to the 25-carry formula included a minus-two turnover differential for the Bengals and an aborted PAT in the closing seconds that kept Cincinnati from forcing overtime. On Benson s comeback: HB Cedric Benson and the Bengals have been on roughly parallel paths since In 2005, the Bengals won a division championship, and Benson joined the Chicago Bears with high hopes as the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL draft. But the Bengals have been out of the playoffs since, and Benson until this season was largely out of the spotlight. He was released by the Bears after 2007, carrying mediocre stats and a reputation of not being a good team player. But things started picking up again in An injury-ridden Bengals team rallied from a disastrous start to post a record over the season s second half, and Benson was a big part of it. Rescued from the ranks of the NFL unemployed in late September, he went on to post three 100-yard rushing games, to lead the team in rushing yards (747) and yards from scrimmage (932), and to earn a new reputation as a valued teammate and friendly figure to media. This season, of course, Benson has been one of the NFL s top rushers while remaining a team leader, and the Bengals are 9-3 and leading the AFC North Division. Ced has not taken a play off since he s been here, says QB Carson Palmer, in a game or in practice. Even in T-shirts and shorts, he s going 100 miles an hour. Maybe some people wondered about him personally when he first got here, but he put that to rest in a hurry and earned everyone s respect. I believed it myself, OT Andrew Whitworth said of the reputation Benson brought to Cincinnati. But he has taught us all a lesson about not judging people you don t really know. Cedric is just a team guy who quietly does his job and works really hard. Benson was completely exonerated from off-field charges which had contributed to Chicago s decision to release him in June of But he concedes he did not always carry himself or his emotions well while with Chicago. He says the rough period after his release helped effect the changes his teammates and Bengals fans have seen. I m proud to have gone through what I did, and to have turned things around, he says. Keep the chip: With early career disappointments, including being released by Chicago in June of 2008, HB Cedric Benson has often been asked about playing with a chip on the shoulder. And though he made an emphatic statement to the Bears on Oct. 25, rushing for a career-high 189 yards, Benson made clear then that he still values the motivational factor of his troubled start. I kind of like the chip on my shoulder, he said with a smile. I think I m going to keep it. Scrap Iron is tough: It s traditional for successful NFL defenses and particularly for ones lacking superstar identity to have a nickname. The 2009 Bengals defense is now in that category, as players are adopting the name Scrap Iron Defense. The nickname fits because the Bengals were still considered hugely unproven entering 2009, and because they owe much of their high standing to players whose recent NFL resumes have been shaky. We ve got a lot of pieces that nobody wanted, says LB Brandon Johnson, but when we all come together, we re a hell of a machine. Johnson himself is a true piece of scrap iron. The fourth-year pro from Louisville, among the team s tackling leaders both this year and last year, was denied a relatively routine tender offer by Arizona in In two seasons with Arizona, he played only nine games and had no statistics on defense. The Bengals grabbed him as a free agent for 08, and in a prequel to this season, he came on strong after getting an opportunity via injury to Keith Rivers. He wound up playing every game with nine starts last year, and he finished second on the team in tackles (112). For the nine games he started, he led the team. I don t blame Arizona for releasing me, Johnson has said. I wasn t much of a player when I was there. I wasn t big enough or strong enough. When the Bengals picked me up, I knew it was time to get stronger and pick up my game. I kind of felt like it was a last chance. More on the Scraps: Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has been playing the scrap-iron theme, without coining the nickname, since the preseason. Nobody Page 6

7 (More on the Scraps, continued) wanted us has been his mantra to the group. Besides LB Brandon Johnson (see previous item), defenders who fit the Scrap Iron mold include: MLB Dhani Jones was released and jobless for almost three weeks before the Bengals, racked by LB injuries, signed him in September of He was the team tackling leader in 2008 and is also in first place this year. FS Chris Crocker joined Cincinnati in midseason 2008, after being released by Miami. He has 54 tackles and two INTs, and he has been credited as a mentor to younger players in the secondary. Rookie SLB Rey Maualuga despite a stellar career at USC, was notably bypassed in the first round of the 2009 draft. Rookie DE Michael Johnson, seen as a playmaker in the making, was also drafted significantly lower (third round, 70th overall), than he had hoped. DE/DT Jonathan Fanene and DE Frostee Rucker have recently been among the top playmakers on the defensive line. But both entered this season with performance records that spelled backup, Rucker in part due to injuries and Fanene in part to having entered the NFL with very little combined high school and college football experience. DT Tank Johnson, though coming to Cincinnati for 2009 as an unrestricted free agent, was not pursued aggressively by his former team (Dallas). Injured SS Roy Williams (out for the season) was released by Dallas last season, and after helping the defense get off to a good start, Williams has been effectively replaced by Chinedum Ndukwe, a seventh-round supplemental selection by Cincinnati in the 2007 draft. Rookie CB Morgan Trent, who has moved into the nickel back role, was a sixth-round choice (179th overall) by Cincinnati in the 2009 draft. More on the castoffs: The Bengals defense (see previous items) is not the only side of the team which has prospered from the efforts of players coach Marvin Lewis has affectionately called castoffs. A roundup of that group on offense and on special teams would include: Running backs: HB Cedric Benson was released by Chicago in June of 2008 and out of football until the Bengals signed him in late September of 08. FB Jeremi Johnson was released by Cincinnati in November of last year due to conditioning issues and not re-signed until this past April. HB Brian Leonard was traded to the Bengals by St. Louis last May for DT Orien Harris, HB Bernard Scott was a sixth-round pick (209th overall) in the 2009 draft, and HB Larry Johnson was released earlier this month by Kansas City. Receivers: WR Laveranues Coles, despite a 70-for-850 season with the Jets in 2008, became a free agent by mutual consent with the team, due to a contract issue. TE J.P. Foschi was released in August by Oakland before joining the Bengals, and TE Daniel Coats entered the NFL as a college free agent. WR Chris Henry, whose promising season was ended Nov. 8 by a forearm fracture, was waived by the Bengals in April of 2008 before later being offered a final chance to resurrect his career from off-field problems. Offensive linemen: Starting C Kyle Cook entered the NFL undrafted, as a college free agent with Minnesota, and was cut by the Vikings before climbing onto the Bengals roster via the Cincinnati practice squad. Nate Livings, who started last week at LG, was a college free agent in 2006 and did not play until 08. Evan Mathis, the starting LG for seven games this season, joined the Bengals last year after being waived by Miami. Dennis Roland, promoted to the starting lineup at ROT in Game 6, was a 2006 college free agent for Dallas who waited more than two years, mostly on practice squads, before playing. Specialists: K Shayne Graham, though a top performer since 2003, was released five times by NFL clubs before gaining a foothold. PR Quan Cosby was undrafted last April and joined the Bengals as a college free agent. Rashad Jeanty and Kyries Hebert, among the team leaders in special teams tackles, both started their careers in the Canadian Football League. A record streak: The Bengals have won a franchiserecord seven consecutive games in division play. The streak includes last year s Dec. 21 victory over Cleveland and this year s 6-0 division mark. The Bengals had previously posted six consecutive division wins over the seasons and the campaigns. Record on the road: The Bengals head for Minnesota with a 4-1 record on the road this season. Their Nov. 22 loss at Oakland ended a record streak of five consecutive road wins for the franchise, dating back to the 2008 road finale at Cleveland. The best full-season road record in Bengals history is 6-2, posted by the 1981 and 2005 teams. After Minnesota, the Bengals have road games left at San Diego on Dec. 20 and at the N.Y. Jets on Jan. 3. In starting 4-0 on the road this season, the Bengals tied the club record for consecutive road wins within a season. The fourgame streak put them on equal footing with some of the best clubs in team annals. Other Bengals clubs that won four straight on the road in the same season have been: The 1975 team, which finished 11-3, for the best regularseason winning percentage (.786) in franchise history. The 1981 club, which 12-4 and reached Cincinnati s first Super Bowl. The 2005 team, which went 11-5 and claimed the AFC North championship. J-Joe still tied for second: Bengals CB Johnathan Joseph has not had an interception in the last two games, but he remains tied for second place in the AFC for the season, with five. Buffalo CB Jairus Byrd leads the AFC with eight interceptions. Also at five in the AFC are Jets CB Darrelle Revis and New England CB Leigh Bodden. Buffalo s Byrd shares the NFL lead at eight with New Orleans S Darren Sharper. Joseph ranks tied for fifth in the NFL. Joseph s five INTs through 12 games is already his career high. The fourth-year veteran had four INTs in Joseph now has 10 INTs for his career. Bengals CB Leon Hall has four INTs this season, ranking tied for fifth in the AFC and tied for 10th in the NFL. Hall has had 12 INTs since joining the Bengals as a first-round draft pick in Top CB tandem? Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer opened the year by putting his starting cornerbacks both Cincinnati first-round draft picks on the spot. Those two cornerbacks, they ve got to play good for us to be good, Zimmer said of LCB Johnathan Joseph and RCB Leon Hall. If they don t, we re probably not going to be very good. What s fact at the 12-game point is that the defense is among the league s best, and that Joseph and Hall could be considered the foundation of that effort. They are increasingly regarded as among the NFL s best starting CB tandems, both legitimate candidates for Pro Bowl honors. Joseph has five INTs and Hall has four, and Hall leads the team with 20 passes defensed while Joseph is second with 18. Together they have helped hold opponents to a 23.0 percent success reading on third-down conversions in the last five games (14-for-61). And the Bengals lead the NFL for the season in defensive third-down conversion percentage, at I don t know of a better tandem, said Bengals QB Carson Palmer. The two guys in Green Bay are really good, but I don t think I would take either of those guys over our guys. Our guys are young, fast and physical, and they both have been working on their hands to make big plays. Johnathan Joseph was always getting his hands on the ball, but he worked hard in the offseason and he is converting tipped balls and interceptions. I don t think I would take any two corners over our guys. Joseph, from South Carolina, was the Bengals first-round draft choice in 2006 (24th overall). Hall, from Michigan, was Cincinnati s top pick in 2007 (18th overall). Hall has played in every game since joining the Bengals, and his 38 starts at RCB include the last 36 games in a row. He leads the team in INTs (12) and passes defensed (57) over his Bengals tenure. Joseph had Page 7