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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at PHI | CAR at TB | CIN at MIA | DAL at WAS | DET at GB | JAX at HOU | KC at NYJ | MIN at DEN |
| NE at NYG | NO at CHI | PIT at BAL | SD at OAK | SEA at ATL | SF at CLE | STL at ARI | TEN at IND |
Week 17 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 38, Miami Dolphins 25
What you need to know
| Cincinnati Bengals |
Carson Palmer had a big first half in this game as he threw for three touchdown passes, including hooking up twice with Chad Johnson. He looked sharp in this game making several big plays and throwing for over 300 yards.
Chad Johnson had two touchdowns in the game, both coming in the first half. The first one was a two yard reception in the back of the end zone where he did a great job of getting his feet down and holding onto the ball after taking a big hit (he had his helmet knocked off.) His other touchdown was a 70 yard reception on deep slant in which he was able to get behind the safety and out run the Miami defenders to the end zone. Johnson would add another big play in the second half as he and Palmer hooked up for a 43 yard reception to set up another Cincinnati score late in the game. His teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh had nine catches for 90 yards in the game.
RB Kenny Watson got the start and the rushing workload as RB Rudi Johnson missed another game because of his bad hamstring. Watson struggled running the ball in the first half as the Cincinnati line did not open many running lanes for him early in the game. He only had nine yards on ten carries in the first half. Things got better for Watson in the second half as they rushed the ball more effectively and he scored an easy touchdown on a two yard run early in the fourth quarter.
| Miami Dolphins |
Cleo Lemon had a decent first half going 14 for 21 for 123 yards, including a nice five yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Ted Ginn. Lemon looked to be having a solid game but got knocked out the game early in the second half with a hip injury. His replacement, rookie QB John Beck, did not fare as well as he fumbled the snap on his first play of the game and the Cincinnati defense returned the ball 54 yards for a touchdown. Beck struggled with his accuracy and did not look good early in the game. He did turn it around his play a little by leading the Dolphins to a 13 play, 86 yard touchdown drive later in the game. He scored on that drive with a two yard quarterback sneak play. He also had a 22 yard touchdown pass with less then a minute in the game.
Ted Ginn had a solid game leading all Miami receivers with seven catches for 53 yards. He caught a five yard touchdown pass in the first half. Ginn looked good in the game as he caught almost everything thrown his way. Fellow rookie Derek Hagan caught a 22 yard pass late in the game.
Jesse Chatman did not have much room to run as he only had 42 yards on 12 carries in the game. Lorenzo Booker had seven catches for 54 yards.
What you ought to know
| QB Carson Palmer, Pass: 23 - 32 - 316 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - -1 - 0 |
Palmer started off well completing four of six passes for 37 yards on the first drive of the game, and squeezed a tough two yard pass to Chad Johnson for the Bengals first touchdown of the game. Palmer hit Johnson again on for 70 yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. He had WR Chris Henry wide open deep down the field on the next drive but, he overthrew him for what would have been another big play. He would continue his big half by leading Cincinnati down the field 63 yards with a minute and two seconds left in the first half. He would hit Antonio Chatman on a four yard pass for Palmers third touchdown of the half. Palmer finished the half 12 of 17 for 211. Palmer hooked up with Johnson again on a 43 yard reception down the right side line. He throws one of the better deep balls on the NFL, and Palmer hit Johnson on a perfectly thrown ball. He finished the game with 316 yards passing.
| RB Kenny Watson, Rush: 21 - 69 - 1, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Watson got the start for an injured Rudi Johnson and the workload in the running game. The Cincinnati run game struggled in the first half as Watson only had nine yards on ten carries. Watson had a little more success in the second half running the ball. Watson scored standing up on a two yard run up the middle. He had 60 yards rushing in the second half.
| RB Rudi Johnson |
Johnson missed a second consecutive game because of his ailing hamstring. It is the fifth game he has missed this season, and it would be a bit of an understatement to say it has been a disappointing season for Johnson. Kenny Watson saw most of the workload in his absence.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rec: 9 - 90 - 0 (10 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh, who is Palmer's favorite receiver on third downs, caught a 17 yard pass over the middle on a third and long play on Bengals' first drive of the game. His next big catch would be an 18 yard reception late in the first half. His longest catch of the half would be a 23 yard catch with less then a minute left in the half. He finished the first half with three catches for 58 yards. He had six catches for 32 yards in the second half as he caught many short passes.
| WR Chad Johnson, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0, Rec: 4 - 131 - 2 (6 targets) |
Johnson caught a big two yard pass in the back of the end zone for a touchdown and took a huge hit, knocking his helmet off, and keeping his feet in bounds. It was a great catch and gave Cincinnati a seven nothing lead after the first drive of the game. His next catch was a 70 yard touchdown on slant pattern on the left side of the field. The safety slipped on the play and that was just enough for Johnson to outrun the defenders and take it to the house. It looked like Johnson stepped out of bounds on the five yard line, but Miami did not challenge the call. The two touchdown catches in the first half were his only receptions but, he led the team with 72 yards receiving at halftime. He had another big play in the fourth quarter as he caught a 43 yard pass to put the ball deep into Miami territory. He finished the game with 131 yards receiving.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Henry caught a 16 yard pass over the middle for a first down on the initial drive of the game for Cincinnati. It was his only catch of the first half. He would only have one catch for seven yards in the second half.
| WR Antonio Chatman, Rec: 2 - 16 - 1 (2 targets) |
Chatman had two catches for 16 yards in the first half, including a four yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer with four seconds left in the half.
| TE Dan Coats, Rec: 3 - 38 - 0 (4 targets) |
Coats caught a couple of big passes late in the first half, including a 25 yard reception that helped set up the Bengals third touchdown.
| TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Kelly had one catch for two yards in the first half and another catch for five yards in the second half.
| PK Shayne Graham 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Graham made a 30 yard field late in the game.
| CIN Rush Defense |
Lineman Nedu Ndukee returned a fumbled snap 54 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Bengals did a good job of shutting down the Dolphins run game.
| CIN Pass Defense |
The Cincinnati pass defense did an ok job on the Dolphins passing game holding them to only 258 yards passing. A lot of those yards came in garbage time. They did give up two passing touchdown.
| QB Cleo Lemon, Pass: 14 - 21 - 123 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 7 - 0 |
Lemon led the Dolphins on an 11 play, 72 yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. He hit WR Ted Ginn a five yard touchdown after rolled out and pumped faked the defense. It was a nice play by Lemon and a very solid drive. Lemon and the offense did not do much else in the first half but, Lemon did have decent first half numbers. He was 14 for 21 for 123 yards and touchdown. Lemon would go down early in the second half after scrambling for some yards. It was reported that Lemon had a hip injury and he did not return to the game.
| QB John Beck, Pass: 13 - 21 - 135 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 2 - 1 |
Beck came into the game for the injured QB Cleo Lemon early in the third quarter. Things could not have started worse for Beck as he dropped the ball after the snap and the Cincinnati defender returned it 54 yards for a touchdown. Beck did not look sharp and struggled with his accuracy, often missing open receivers. Beck did turn it around by leading the Dolphins on a 13 play, 86 yard drive early in the fourth quarter. He capped it off with a two yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown. He would get a very late touchdown pass to WR Derek Hagan.
| RB Lorenzo Booker, Rush: 7 - 33 - 0, Rec: 7 - 54 - 0 (8 targets) |
Booker had three carries for only one yard and two catches for six yards in the first half. He did have a nice run after the catch on a ball thrown to him out of the flat for an 18 yard gain. He caught a lot balls late in the game, and finished with seven catches for 54 yards in the game.
| RB Jesse Chatman, Rush: 12 - 42 - 0, Rec: 2 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Chatman had seven carries for 26 yards in the first half and added two catches for eight yards. The Bengals did a pretty good job of containing Chatman and the Dolphins run game in the first half. His longest run of the first half was 11 yards. He would only have 14 yards rushing in the second half.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rec: 7 - 53 - 1 (8 targets) |
Ginn caught a five yard pass for touchdown near the goal line for Miami's first points of the game. He caught four passes for 35 yards in the first half. He had three catches for 18 yards in the second half.
| WR Derek Hagan, Rec: 2 - 44 - 1 (5 targets) |
Hagan's first catch of the game came late in the game on a 22 yard catch over the middle. He came back on the next play and caught a 22 yard touchdown pass in the back of end zone. He caught the two point conversion as well.
| WR Greg Camarillo, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (2 targets) |
Camarillo had one catch for ten yards in the first half of the game. He had one catch for 13 yards in the second half.
| WR Marty Booker, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (4 targets) |
Booker had only one catch for nine yards in the game.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 4 - 52 - 0 (3 targets) |
Martin caught a nine yard pass late in the first quarter. He would have a bigger catch later in the half when he got open over the middle and QB Cleo Lemon hit him on a 19 yard gain. Martin would come back a few plays later and catch a short pass and turn it up field for a nice 18 yard gain. He led all Dolphins receivers at halftime with three catches for 46 yards. Martin had only one catch for six yards in the second half.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (2 targets) |
Peelle had one catch for nine yards in the first half. He had one catch for six yards in the second half.
| PK Jay Feely 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Feely, who is having a nice season converting 20 of 22 field goal attempts coming into this game, made a 49 yard field on Miami's first drive of the game.
| MIA Rush Defense |
Miami did an excellent job of stopping the run in the first half and limited starter RB Kenny Watson to only nine yards in the first half. They did not do as good of a job in the second half as the Dolphins defense seemed to wear down and they gave up an easy rushing touchdown to Watson late in the game.
| MIA Pass Defense |
LB Derrick Pope made a big interception for the Dolphins early in the second half. That was the only highlight for the Miami pass defense as they gave up over 300 yards passing to QB Carson Palmer and three touchdown passes.
