Cincinnati Bengals
Notes: Fanene scores
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted December 6, 2009 4:08 PM ET
Bengals defensive end Jonathan Fanene was a quarterback and tight end in high school, so the end zone isn't exactly virgin territory for him. However, before Sunday, it had been five years since he'd scored in a football game.
With the Bengals trailing 7-0 in the second quarter on Sunday against Detroit, rookie defensive end Michael Johnson tipped a Matthew Stafford pass and Fanene picked it off and ran 45 yards for a score, his first touchdown since his senior season in college.
"When the ball was in the air, I just grabbed it and took off," Fanene said. "I wasn't worried about slowing down or anyone trying to tackle me, I just tucked that thing and started to run."
Running toward the south end zone, Fanene looked up at the scoreboard to see if anyone was gaining on him.
"I looked up and saw nobody was in the back of me, so I put my hand up and thanked God for the touchdown," Fanene said.
Fanene said he wasn't worried about going 45 yards -- he returned an interception 76 yards for a score at Utah against Utah State in 2004. That play, he said, was exactly like the one on Sunday, a tipped ball that he caught and took to the house.
It was Johnson's fourth deflected pass of the season.
"(Johnson) made a heck of a play," Stafford said. "We were tyring to throw a screen pass. I played against that guy in college and he always did that -- he puts on the breaks and jumps. He's a good player when it comes to that. ... I think he's 6-foot-7, you just cut it loose and hope it misses him."
All season long, defensive line coach Jay Hayes has stressed to his defensive linemen the importance of getting their hands up when they can't get to the quarterback.
"Every day in practice we do a drill where we get our hands up and it's carrying over to the game," Johnson said. "It's muscle memory. If you're not sacking anybody or getting close, you want to try to get your hand up in the throwing lane just to disrupt him. We were able to do that today. I got my hand on the ball and Fanene made a great play."
Johnson said he didn't pick the ball up after he hit it, and by the time he saw the ball, Fanene was running in for the score.
"Any time you can get a defensive score, it's big, because it's a lot of momentum," Johnson said. "I was glad we had 11 to the ball, because that's what we've been preached to all week long."
NELSON IN -- Johnson wasn't the only rookie to contribute, as safety Tom Nelson replaced an injured Chris Crocker and picked up his first interception as a pro.
"He got my interception. I'm a little jealous," said Crocker. "He was ready. Hell, the guy took more practice reps than me anyway. He was ready."
Crocker left the game with a right ankle injury in the first quarter, returned for one play -- a 54-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson -- and didn't play the rest of the game. Crocker said he didn't know the extent of the injury and wouldn't comment on it further.
Nelson had played in seven games coming into Sunday, but most of that had been on special teams. He had two tackles, two passes defensed and the pick.
"I feel like I've been ready to go all year," Nelson said. "I've taken a lot of reps in practice. Coach (Kevin) Coyle and coach (Sigismondo) Cioffi Do a great job of getting me ready. It's the same with Crocker and Chinedum (Ndukwe) and the rest of the secondary guys. I feel like any of us at any given time can make plays out there."
TIME SHARE -- Nate Livings and Evan Mathis split time at left guard. Livings started and played the first and third quarters. Mathis played the second and fourth quarters.
"That shows we have tremendous depth," Mathis said.
Evan Mathis
He said the plan all week was to split the playing time close to 50-50. Mathis has mostly recovered from a sprained ankle, but Livings played well in his absence -- just as Mathis played well earlier this season when Livings was sidelined by a knee injury.
"That's one of the cool parts of this team," tackle Andrew Whitworth said. "Everybody who dresses has a role. Everybody is good enough to play."
LB CHORUS - Perhaps the highlight of the game came late in the fourth quarter when the big scoreboard showed a video of the Bengals linebackers signing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," featuring a falsetto Abdul Hodge.
Abdul Hodge
Hodge was serenaded several times in the postgame locker room from teammates. The video was shown after the Bengals had the game in hand.
"As soon as that went up on the scoreboard, I put on my helmet," said Hodge.
Keith Rivers said the linebackers "LP is dropping on Tuesday."
There's no word yet if it's made it to YouTube, but when/if it does, it will certainly be a popular video among Bengal fans.
THIS AND THAT -- Cedric Benson's fifth 100-yard game of the season ties a team record, as does the seventh 100-yard rusher for the team. ... Marvin Lewis earned his 55th win, which matches Paul Brown for second-most among Bengals coaches. Sam Wyche holds the club record with 64 wins. "Any time your name is next to Paul Brown's name, that's a great thing," Lewis said. ... FOX mistakenly said this was the first time a team had three different 100-yard rushers in consecutive games. That is not true. In 2006, Green Bay had three, albeit with a bye week mixed in. The three different Packers to run for more than 100 yards in consecutive games were Noah Herron, Ahman Green and Vernard Morency. The 1993 Seahawks were the last team to have three different 100-yard rushers in three consecutive weeks. Those three were Chris Warren, John Vaughn and John L. Williams. ... Former Bearcat and current Lions defensive back DeAngelo Smith was penalized twice for illegal touching on punts. ... With Domata Peko out of Sunday's game, Crocker took his spot as defensive captain for the opening toss.
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Abdul Hodge, Andrew Whitworth, Calvin Johnson, Cedric Benson, Chris Crocker, Evan Mathis, Jay Hayes, Jonathan Fanene, Keith Rivers, Matthew Stafford, Michael Johnson, Nate Livings, Tom Nelson
Comments (0)