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Week 16 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 14, Cleveland Browns 0
What you need to know
| Cincinnati Bengals |
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick did not look impressive but he did not have to. He did throw for one touchdown but only threw the ball nine times on the day. He almost threw two interceptions but the Browns could not capitalize, and then the Bengals stuck on the ground behind Cedric Benson.
RB Cedric Benson had a great day, rushing for 171 yards. He was moving the chains and allowing the Bengals' defense to rest for long stretches of time. He did however fumble the ball on a 46 yard run when he was caught from behind early in the game.
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh got only one target from Fitzpatrick, who only threw the ball nine times. No receiver was especially successful, but Chris Henry did catch a 20 yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick.
| Cleveland Browns |
QB Ken Dorsey played very poorly. He looked like he had no clue what he was doing out there passing the ball. He threw into coverage often and gave up a touchdown on an interception on his first passing attempt. He was benched in the fourth quarter for Brad Gostkowski, who did not look much better.
RB Jamal Lewis methodically rushed for 76 yards, but really was not all that consistent. He did not move the pile and it did not seem like he was getting that extra half yard every rush that is so important in the NFL.
WR Braylon Edwards was targeted ten times, but only caught four passes. Three of those ten targets were intercepted, and none of them were his fault. The balls were thrown into coverage.
What you ought to know
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Pass: 5 - 9 - 55 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 10 - 0 |
Fitzpatrick did not look good but did make one good throw on the day that ended up being a 20 yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry. He only threw the ball nine times, and really did not do much with those passes with the exception of the Henry touchdown. A couple of his passes could have been intercepted but were not.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 38 - 171 - 0 |
Benson was extremely effective running the ball against the Browns. He carried the bulk of the offense -- getting 38 carries and accumulating 171 yards. He did not receive any targets but he was able to move the ball consistently against the Browns who have been decent against the run this year.
| RB James Johnson, Rush: 3 - 10 - 0, Rec: 3 - 27 - 0 (3 targets) |
Johnson came in to give Benson a rest and the Bengals were willing to throw the ball to Johnson, who caught all three balls thrown his way.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 1 - 20 - 1 (2 targets) |
Henry caught the only offensive touchdown of the day for either team. He had single coverage and beat his guy on a stutter-step go route. Fitzpatrick's pass was right on and they scored a touchdown. Henry was only targeted one other time.
| WR Andre Caldwell, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Caldwell caught one of the two receptions by Bengals' wide receivers for eight yards. He split time with Glenn Holt as the third receiver.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (1 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh saw only one target on the day as the Bengals were able to dominate the Browns via the run and felt there was no reason to pass the ball. Houshmandzadeh suffered because of this, but the Bengals ended up winning regardless. The Browns did shade their safeties to his side and cut off most of the underneath routes on press coverage due to safety help. Chad Johnson being sidelined may have been part of the reason Houshmandzadeh did not see more targets.
| WR Glenn Holt (2 targets) |
Holt saw time as the third receiver for the Bengals, but was unable to catch either of the passes thrown his way.
| WR Chad Johnson |
Johnson did not play week 16 due to a hamstring injury.
| TE Nate Lawrie (1 targets) |
Lawrie was the only tight end for the Bengals to receive a target.
| PK Shayne Graham 0 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Graham missed his only field goal attempt, which was from 48 yards.
| CIN Rush Defense |
The Bengals were not amazing against the run, but they did not need to be. The Browns gained 138 yards on the ground but they could not move the ball through the air. Most of their runs were for short gains combined with a couple of longer runs that boosted the Browns yardage total but not really their offensive consistency.
| CIN Pass Defense |
The pass defense for the Bengals was good, but mostly because Ken Dorsey was terrible. Dorsey panicked and threw floaters often and really just had no shot of being productive.
| QB Ken Dorsey, Pass: 10 - 17 - 68 - 0 TD / 3 INT |
Dorsey was abysmal against the Bengals. He threw three interceptions including a pick-6 on his first attempt of the game. He could not do anything with the offense and really was inaccurate and did not have enough power on his passes. It was not a pretty sight.
| QB Bruce Gradkowski, Pass: 2 - 5 - 8 - 0 TD / 1 INT |
Gradkowski came into the game for the Browns when they benched Dorsey in the fourth quarter. He was not effective either, throwing an interception and two completions on five attempts.
| RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 16 - 76 - 0 |
Lewis managed to gain 76 yards on the game, but he failed to impress as he could not consistently move the chains. He did gain his 10,000th yard of his career in the game. After the game he said he was happy he got it because it was one of his goals all year. Lewis did not seem too disappointed that the Browns lost, though. He has not been moving piles like he used to and it seems like he has lost a step. There were good holes for him to hit and that is why he gained as many yards as he did on the day.
| RB Jason Wright, Rush: 7 - 30 - 0, Rec: 6 - 33 - 0 (8 targets) |
Wright caught six passes out of the backfield -- most on dump down passes from Ken Dorsey who did not go downfield often. Wright showed decent running ability on the day as he weaved through the defense for 66 total yards on the day.
| RB Jerome Harrison, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Harrison did not see many plays and only received one rushing attempt on the day.
| WR Josh Cribbs, Rush: 5 - 32 - 0 |
Cribbs ran the ball from the wildcat formation five times and was quarterbacking it a handful of other times. He did not attempt a throw. It seems like he has lost his role as a third or fourth receiving option for the Browns.
| WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (10 targets) |
Edwards caught all the balls he could on Sunday. The ball was often forced to him on well covered routes. He did not have any drops. Three of the passes thrown to Edwards ended up as interceptions, but none of them were really his fault.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Stallworth did not have any success against the Bengals, yielding only two targets and making only one catch for four yards.
| WR Steve Sanders (1 targets) |
Steptoe saw some action at wide receiver on the day, but was only targeted once. He was playing behind Donte Stallworth in this game.
| TE Darnell Dinkins, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Dinkins split time with Martin Rucker at tight end, and ended up being targeted twice with one reception for four yards.
| TE Martin Rucker (1 targets) |
Rucker had only one target on the day and was unable to bring it in. He split time with Darnell Dinkins.
| PK Phil Dawson 0 - 0 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 0 points |
Dawson had no extra point attempts or field goal attempts as the Browns could not move the ball.
| CLE Rush Defense |
The Browns could not stop Cedric Benson. It seemed like they gave up on the season or something because allowing 171 yards to Cedric Benson is a very poor performance. They did hold the Bengals to only one touchdown but really allowed the Bengals to control the game with field position as Benson strung together many first downs.
| CLE Pass Defense |
Cleveland's passing defense was okay on the day, holding Fitzpatrick to 55 yards passing and one touchdown. They missed a couple of opportunities to intercept Fitzpatrick.
