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| CAR at NO | CHI at HOU | CLE at PIT | DAL at PHI | DEN at SD | DET at GB | JAX at BAL | KC at CIN |
| MIA at NYJ | NE at BUF | NYG at MIN | OAK at TB | SEA at ARI | STL at ATL | TEN at IND | WAS at SF |
Week 17 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 6, Cincinnati Bengals 16
What you need to know
| Kansas City Chiefs |
The Chiefs fell behind in this one, and couldn't get enough offense going to come back against the Bengals in the final game of the season. Tyler Thigpen completed 19 of 36 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown. Tony Gonzalez was the recipient of that touchdown, to go along with five catches for 53 yards, but was not Thigpen's top target in this game. Dwayne Bowe turned in an impressive second half to finish with ten receptions for 103 yards against the Bengals defense. Mark Bradley added 21 yards on two grabs, while Devard Darling mixed in two additional receptions for fourteen yards.
Larry Johnson got off to a slow start, and with the Chiefs falling behind, had very few opportunities to get things going. Johnson finished with just 18 yards on ten carries. Backup running back Jamaal Charles picked up nine yards on three attempts, while Tyler Thigpen gained four yards on two official carries.
| Cincinnati Bengals |
The Bengals finished the season with three wins in a row against the Redskins, Browns and Chiefs with a significantly different offense than the Bengals had showed for most of the season, one which heavily featured the run. Cedric Benson gained 111 yards and scored a touchdown on 25 carries. The Bengals got rookie wide receiver Andre Caldwell involved in all phases of the game, as Caldwell received four rushes for 49 yards. Additionally, backup running back James Johnson added fifteen yards on three carries and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was credited with 29 yards on seven attempts.
In the passing game with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson both inactive, Ryan Fitzpatrick spread the ball around in the victory, finishing 18 of 30 for 129 yards. Through the air, rookie Andre Caldwell paced the Bengals with five receptions for 34 yards. Wide receiver Chris Henry added nineteen yards on two catches, while Glenn Holt picked up ten yards on his only reception. Fitzpatrick got his running backs involved, with James Johnson gaining 20 yards on three catches and Cedric Benson picking up 19 yards on a pair of receptions. The Bengals also utilized three different tight ends in the receiving game, with Nate Lawrie adding 11 yards on two catches, Reggie Kelly nine yards on a pair of receptions and Ben Utecht picking up a single catch for seven yards.
What you ought to know
| QB Tyler Thigpen, Pass: 19 - 36 - 191 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 4 - 0 |
Thigpen finished with a passer rating of 68.2 by completing 53 percent of his passes for an average gain of 5.3 yards. Thigpen struggled to come from behind in this game, perhaps due to the Bengals focus to stop Tony Gonzalez and keep Dwayne Bowe from getting down the field, the two players which Thigpen was focusing upon.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 10 - 18 - 0 (2 targets) |
Johnson gained just four yards in the first half on four carries, but didn't do much better in the second half as the Chiefs were forced to play from behind, averaging 1.8 yards per carry on the afternoon against the Bengals.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 10 - 103 - 0 (15 targets) |
Bowe was heavily targeted in this game, but was unable to get behind the secondary for a big play or get open in the end zone. On his longest play from scrimmage, a 32 yard gain, the Chiefs challenged that he had broke the plane, however were unsuccessful. Later on the same drive, Bowe caught a would be touchdown pass that was taken off the scoreboard when it was ruled Bowe was guilty of pass interference on the play. Bowe averaged 10.3 yards per reception in this game.
| WR Mark Bradley, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (6 targets) |
Despite the Bengals shifting their focus to Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe, a hobbled Bradley was unable to take advantage of the defense, catching just 33.3 percent of passes thrown his way and averaged just 10.5 yards on a pair of receptions.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 5 - 53 - 1 (13 targets) |
Gonzalez was quiet until adding a late touchdown to cap off his 2008 season. He was targeted previously on the same drive in the red zone, but defensive pass interference prevented the touchdown at that point. Gonzalez was also targeted on the two-point play. Facing blanketed coverage much of the afternoon, Gonzalez averaged 10.6 yards per reception against the Bengals, leading the Chiefs on the afternoon.
| PK Connor Barth 0 - 0 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 0 points |
Barth did not attempt any kicks on the afternoon, as the Chiefs elected to go for two while down 16-6 in the fourth quarter.
| KC Rush Defense |
The Chiefs gave up 126 yards to traditional running backs, but a total of 204 yards on the ground once rushing yardage from Andre Caldwell and Ryan Fitzpatrick were added in.
| KC Pass Defense |
As the Bengals led much of the game, and didn't pass much with TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson both out, holding the Bengals to 129 yards in a loss was somewhat unimpressive as they failed to come up with any interceptions and had just one sack.
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Pass: 18 - 30 - 129 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 7 - 29 - 0 |
Fitzpatrick completed 60 percent of his passes, but averaged just 4.3 yards per attempt with TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson inactive to finish with a passer rating of 70.0.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 25 - 111 - 1, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (2 targets) |
Benson ran hard and topped 100 all-purpose yards for the third week in a row, all of which were Bengals victories in which he also received twenty carries. Benson averaged 4.4 yards per attempt in this game, and by finishing the season as strongly as he did, may have turned his career around as a former top draft pick.
| WR Andre Caldwell, Rush: 4 - 49 - 0, Rec: 5 - 34 - 0 (7 targets) |
The rookie receiver out of Florida was very active in this game with TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson both out. In addition to his 34 receiving yards to pace the Bengals, he also added 49 yards on the ground on four attempts and 17 yards on one kickoff return to get to 100 total yards on the afternoon.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (5 targets) |
Henry was a secondary option in the passing game and averaged just 9.5 yards per catch on the afternoon.
| TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (3 targets) |
Utecht had just the one catch, but shared tight end receptions with Nate Lawrie and Reggie Kelly in this game.
| PK Shayne Graham 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Graham was perfect on the afternoon, connecting on field goals of 30, 38 and 43 yards in addition to converting his extra point successfully.
| CIN Rush Defense |
The Bengals shut down Larry Johnson, limiting him to just 18 yards, and all Chiefs rushing plays to 31 yards in the season finale.
| CIN Pass Defense |
By shadowing Tony Gonzalez over the middle of the field, and playing the safety over the top on Dwayne Bowe's side, the Bengals shut down the Chiefs passing game and limited them to just 191 yards and one touchdown with the Chiefs throwing almost exclusively in this game.
