Who Deys Flush Browns in Toilet Bowl

With the weather the way it was you knew this would be a defensive struggle.  With the weather the way it was you knew that Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ken Dorsey would be handing the ball off the entire game.  With the weather the way it was you hoped that Cedric Benson would have a better game than Jamal Lewis.  With the weather the way it was you figured two scores would win it.  WIth the weather the way it was you figured that if you could get a defensive score you would be in good shape. 

The Bengals dominated the game on the ground, Fitzpatrick made one throw (the only one the Bengals needed) and Leon Hall caught three passes from Dorsey and returned them for 81 yards as they blanked the Browns 14-0.  Cleveland, which extended its streak without an offensive touchdown to 20 quarters, was also shut out by the Bengals at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Nov. 26, 2006.

The Bengals responded to the smash-mouth conditions by feeding the ball to running back Cedric Benson 22 times in the half for a season-high 118 yards, as well as a career-high. It was the first time since Dec. 11, 2005 against the Browns (when Rudi Johnson had 124 in Cincinnati) that the Bengals had a 100-yard rusher in the first half.

As the clock ticked under six minutes left in the game, Benson had 163 yards on 34 carries, the most since Johnson had 169 that day against the Browns back in ’05. That increased the chances the Bengals would increase their record 21-1 in the last 22 games they’ve had a back carry at least 25 times.

Hall had three more catches than T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who did not make one reception on the game.  Houshmandzadeh was trying to extend his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 56.

So with the weather the way it was the Who Deys have now won two in a row and look to make it three next week at home against Kansas City. 

Once again the Bengals look to provide all of us with false hope in 2009.  Benson looks like he might be a legit option at running back.  The young defense looks to be maturing.  Demato Peko and Pat Sims look like beasts.  Brandon Johnson has been a stud in Keith Rivers’ absence.  Next season you get Rivers back.  You get Carson back and it looks like there is hope. 

False hope.