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Cincinnati Bengals

Notes: Joseph nearly ended it

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted September 13, 2009 6:12 PM ET

The last play of Sunday's 12-7 Bengals loss to the Broncos was obviously the biggest, but it nearly didn't happen - and at least one Bengal thought it shouldn't have.

The play before Leon Hall tipped a Kyle Orton pass and Brandon Stokley caught it for the game-winning touchdown, Johnathan Joseph was sure he'd intercepted Orton. Joseph jumped in front of Brandon Marshall, lept and came up with the ball. He was ruled out of bounds.

"Absolutely," Joseph said when asked if he thought he came down with both feet in bounds. "I had it and felt I came down with both feet inbounds. I thought they were going to review it, but that's not my decision to make. ... I was sure I caught it."

No review was called for, and the Broncos scored on the next play.

Orton said he thought Joseph intercepted the first pass of the drive, as well. When asked if he was worried about Hall intercepting the second pass, Orton said, "I thought the first play on the drive was a pick anyway and the game was over."

HENRY ABSENT - Few players in the NFL had as good of a preseason as Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, but on Sunday he managed just one catch for 18 yards and was thrown to twice.

"They weren't going to let the ball go over their heads," said Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. "They played two deep safeties - as deep as a safety as I've ever seen. Their mindset was to not let us throw the ball downfield. We tried to a number of times, but you just can't force it. We had Chris on a number of deep routes, but if he's double covered ... You just have to take your shots when the shots are there. You can't take shots just to take shots.

"They came in with that mindset and they did a good job. They have two really good cover corners and an experienced safety in (Brian) Dawkins. They lined up 25 yards deep and started backpedaling. They weren't going to let the ball go over their heads. They wanted to keep the ball in front of them and they did a good job."

When Marvin Lewis was asked about Henry's day, he had a different opinion on the matter: "I think one ball and one catch is a pretty good day," Lewis said. "You can't tell who is going to get the ball thrown to them. They're playing the coverage and the quarterback is going to deliver the ball based on coverage. You aren't going to be able to dictate the number of balls a receiver is going to catch in a day."

2 SACKS FOR ODOM -- On obvious passing downs, the Bengals often put rookie Michael Johnson at defensive end opposite Robert Geathers and moved Antwan Odom from end to tackle. Odom recorded two sacks, each from the new alignment.

"I like it. It's a good change-up," Odom said. "To me, I like to get up field, and I can get up field pretty quick from (inside the tackle)."

Odom's second sack came with seven minutes left in the game and knocked the Broncos out of field position, which gave the Bengals a chance to drive for the go-ahead touchdown.

"Any third down is a big play," Odom said. "We talked all off-season about getting to the quarterback and making them punt on third down. I felt like we did a good job as a defense."

The Broncos converted only three of 12 third-down plays, a 25 percent success rate. Bengals opponents converted nearly 43 percent of third-down plays into first downs.

SPECIAL, AND NOT -- Rookie punter Kevin Huber punted seven times for an average of 39.7 yards per kick. He dropped five of them inside the Denver 20-yard line.

Rookie punt returner Quan Cosby averaged 9.8 yards on five punt returns, including returns of 14 and 13 yards.

But longtime long-snapper Brad St. Louis misfired on a field goal attempt in the first quarter, costing the Bengals a shot at three points. The offense drove to the Denver 10 and set up for a 28-yard field-goal attempt, but St. Louis's snap sailed past Huber, the holder.

It was the second straight bad snap against the Broncos. The Bengals also botched a point-after attempt at the end of a game in Denver on Dec.24, 2007.

"I should have caught the ball," Huber said. "I took my eyes off too soon and the ball got passed me. I can't have that happen."

NOTABLE -- Left guard Nate Livings left the game in the first half because of a left knee injury and did not return. Evan Mathis replaced him. ... Andre Caldwell led the Bengals with six catches. ... Roy Williams had a team-high six solo tackles and nine total tackles. Leon Hall broke up three passes. ... Rookie Bernard Scott lost six yards on his only carry.

 CNATI reporter Scott Priestle contributed to this report.

 

Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, Featured Stories, News

Tags: Antwan Odom, Brandon Marshall, Brian Dawkins, Carson Palmer, Chris Henry, Johnathan Joseph, Kyle Orton