Week 12 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 30, Cleveland Browns 0

What you need to know

Cincinnati Bengals

With a 30-0 shutout over the Browns, the Bengals moved to 6-5, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and N.Y. Jets, one game out of the wildcard race. The team relied on an aggressive defense, and the arm of Carson Palmer to beat the Browns in every facet of the game. Palmer completed 25 of 32 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns to one interception before giving way late in the blowout to Anthony Wight, who completed both passing attempts for 25 yards.

Though he did not find the end zone, Chad Johnson was Palmer’s primary target, catching seven balls for 123 yards. T.J. Houshmandzadeh did find the end zone one, and also caught seven passes, gaining 79 yards. Showing faith in Chris Henry, Palmer went to him twice on passes to the corner of the end zone, allowing Henry to catch a pair of touchdowns to finish the afternoon with five catches for 41 yards. Tight end Reggie Kelly looked especially impressive on the Bengals’ opening drive, and caught three passes for 25 yards. Rudi Johnson had one catch for no yards out of the backfield.

Though they led the entire afternoon, the Bengals kept the ball moving with an efficient passing game, and didn’t rely on Rudi Johnson to put the game away. After looking very good early, Rudi Johnson had just an average afternoon, finishing with 25 carries for 64 yards and a one yard touchdown. Chris Perry had a ten yard carry on the afternoon, taking a hard hit, and had to be carted off. It was later confirmed that he broke a bone in his lower left leg. Perry was replaced in passing situations by Kenny Watson, who carried the ball five times for 12 yards.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns took the opening kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown, but had the play called back due to a holding penalty, and never got back on the board. Falling behind early, Charlie Frye tried to make too much happen, and threw four interceptions on an afternoon which he completed 18 of 29 passes for 189 yards.

The Browns’ top receiver was again tight end Kellen Winslow, who caught six balls for 52 yards. Highlighted by a forty three yard catch down the right sideline, Dennis Northcutt led the wide receiving corps with three catches for 61 yards. After not being targeted in the first half, Braylon Edwards finished the afternoon with two catches for 29 yards, and allowed his frustration to boil over on the sidelines, where he was observed trying to bait Charlie Frye into an argument, which Frye would have no part of, and the two were separated by Reuben Droughns. Joe Jurevicius was unable to develop any rhythm either, and caught just two passes for nineteen yards. Steve Heiden had two receptions for 14 yards for the tight end slot. At running back, Jason Wright, Reuben Droughns and Jerome Harrison had one reception a piece for zero, five and six yards respectively.

Jason Wright got the start at running back and saw the majority of action in terms of plays on the field, though carried the ball just five times for twelve yards. With one carry in each half, Reuben Droughns totaled just four yards, while Jerome Harrison led all backs with three carries for eighteen yards. Charlie Frye added five yards on two official carries.

What you ought to know

QB Carson Palmer, Pass: 25 - 32 - 275 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0

By completing 78% of his passes for an average of 8.6 yards per attempt, Palmer finished with a passer rating of 120.7. Palmer looked very good distributing the ten yard pass over the middle, the deep ball and the timing pass into the corner of the end zone, the latter which he connected twice with Chris Henry. The announcers in this game commented how this was a drill they spent a great deal of time in practice upon, placing a garbage can in the corner of the end zone to the exact spot which Palmer was to throw it. Palmer did not face a significant pass rush for most of the game, and his only interception occurred on a deep pass intended for Chad Johnson in a 23-0 game where was looking for a knockout punch.

RB Rudi Johnson, Rush: 25 - 64 - 1, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets)

Johnson opened the game with carries of ten, 12 and five yards, but gained just 37 yards on 22 carries after that. Johnson showed good explosion early, but did not have many holes to run through as the game went on. The Bengals responded by moving the chains through their passing game. Rudi’s touchdown came on a one yard rush on fourth and goal early in the game where he barely crossed the line. The absence of three starting lineman appeared to have a bigger effect on the Bengals rushing as oppose to passing game. Johnson was replaced on many third downs by Kenny Watson this week after Chris Perry left the game.

RB Chris Perry, Rush: 1 - 10 - 0

Perry ran hard for ten yards before taking a hard hit to his head. He was on the ground for several minutes, and after trainers came out, it became apparent that he had suffered an injury to his lower left leg. Perry suffered a broken bone, and will require screws to be inserted, ending his 2006 season.

WR Chad Johnson, Rush: 1 - 6 - 0, Rec: 7 - 123 - 0 (12 targets)

With another strong effort, Johnson set the record for most yards gained receiving over three consecutive games with 573 yards. Johnson started off the game quietly, and was not targeted in the first half, but then was heavily targeted throughout the remainder of the game. While Chad was not targeted in the end zone, Palmer’s interception was targeted for Johnson inside the Browns’ five yard line.

WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rec: 7 - 79 - 1 (9 targets)

Houshmandzadeh was targeted primarily over the middle of the field and came down with virtually everything thrown his way.

WR Chris Henry, Rec: 5 - 41 - 2 (6 targets)

Henry is a big target in the red zone, and Palmer showed renewed confidence in going his way. Henry caught touchdown passes in this game in both the left and right corners of the end zone, and showed his versatility to move all over the field.

TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 3 - 25 - 0 (3 targets)

Kelly made two big grabs on the first drive, stretching for the first down on one reception, and making a very athletic catch a few plays later, especially for a guy known more so for his blocking.

PK Shayne Graham 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 4 XP, 6 points

Graham had an extra point blocked, the first miss of his career when the snap was extremely high and Graham had to stop and restart before kicking it too low to clear the line which was being pushed back towards him. Graham did connect on a 24 yard field goal.

CIN Rush Defense

The Bengals gave up just 51 yards on the ground over 14 carries, of which the majority of that distance came on unconventional rushing plays, including handing off to the wide receiver, scrambles and third down and long draw plays.

CIN Pass Defense

With four interceptions and four sacks to go along with the shutout, the secondary had an excellent performance, especially impressive considering the Bengals entered as the leagues worst team in terms of total yards allowed.

QB Charlie Frye, Pass: 18 - 29 - 186 - 0 TD / 4 INT, Rush: 2 - 5 - 0

Frye completed 62 percent of his passing attempts for an average of 6.4 yards per attempt, but due to his four interceptions, finished with a passer rating of just 40.9. One of his four interceptions occurred on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half, but it could be argued that the other three interceptions, all occurring in the second half, could have been prevented had he not been trying to force the ball in trying to make something happen. Frye suffered a bit of a setback after going 102 pass attempts without an interception. It should be noted that Frye faced a significant pass rush all afternoon, and had very little time to get his feet set against the Bengals’ defense.

RB Jason Wright, Rush: 5 - 12 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (2 targets)

Wright got the start in this game, but saw very few opportunities to make anything happen. Coach Crenel stated during the week that he would like to mix Wright in with Droughns, and added that he liked Wright’s shiftiness, though the Browns were unable to create many holes for him against the Bengals.

RB Reuben Droughns, Rush: 2 - 4 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Droughns saw very little action in this game, and perhaps made his biggest play on the sidelines, separating a potential altercation between an aggressive Braylon Edwards and a passive Charlie Frye.

WR Dennis Northcutt, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0, Rec: 3 - 61 - 0 (5 targets)

Northcutt made a very nice 43 yard catch early in the game, and was more involved in the passing offense than in previous weeks.

WR Joe Jurevicius, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (5 targets)

Jurevicius had a quiet afternoon, and did not seem to be on the same page as Charlie Frye in this game, who was under a heavy pass rush all afternoon, as he failed to break off his routes to create opportunities for Frye to make the plays necessary to maintain possession of the ball.

WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (4 targets)

Edwards was officially credited as starting this game, but was not present in many of the three wide receiver sets throughout the first half, which featured Joe Jurevicius, Dennis Northcutt and Josh Cribbs. It was not made clear whether this was a disciplinary action taken by the coach for Edwards' media comments earlier in the week about fellow teammates, especially safety Brian Russell. Edwards opened the second half with a nice 22 yard catch where he carried a number of defensive players for additional yardage. A few series later, following an interception by Charlie Frye intended for Joe Jurevicius, Edwards was observed screaming into the ear of quarterback Charlie Frye, and tried to push him on the shoulder before being pulled back by Reuben Droughns. Announcers later speculated that Edwards tried to clarify his comments on the field to Frye, though Frye didn’t seem to be too interested in hearing him out, though he did target Edwards later in the game.

TE Kellen Winslow Jr, Rec: 6 - 52 - 0 (9 targets)

Winslow remained Charlie Frye’s outlet and most trusted receiver, used primarily over the middle on short passing plays, but also looked to deep when Winslow was able to split the two safeties.

PK Phil Dawson 0 - 1 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 0 points

Dawson had just one opportunity to help get the Browns on the board, and missed wide left from 48 yards as a strong rush was coming from the right side which forced him to pull the ball.

CLE Rush Defense

In a game which they lost by 30 points and were shutout, the Browns yielded less than 100 yards and three yards per carry, though one could argue they should have known when the rush was coming already to begin with.

CLE Pass Defense

The Browns' secondary, without Leigh Bodden was gashed for 300 yards through the air, and could not slow down the Bengals’ receiving corps of Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. The pass rush did come up with three sacks, and helped to force an errant pass on their interception.