Cincinnati Bengals
Final: Bengals 45, Bears 10
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted October 25, 2009 2:21 PM ET
The Benson Bowl belonged to Cedric Benson -- and the rest of the Bengal offense had his back.
Benson ran 37 times for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals' 45-10 victory.
The Bears drafted Benson with the fourth overall pick in 2005, but he disappointed there. He was released before the 2008 season and picked up by the Bengals last season.
* Cedric Benson got his touchdown -- from 1-yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Bengals a 45-3 lead.
Benson was surrounded by teammates to celebrate his plunge against the team he claimed blackballed him.
Benson has 29 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown.
* Cedric Benson has done everything but score in the Benson Bowl -- running for 28 for 152, including a 26-yard run to the 1 on the last play of the third quarter.
* First possession of the second half, another touchdown. Carson Palmer threw a 13-yard TD pass to a wide-open Chad Ochocinco on third-and-9.
Palmer is now 19 of 22 for 221 yards and five touchdowns. Ochocinco has 10 catches for 118 yards and two TDs.
Chicago's first two possessions of the half have ended with interceptions, the first by Leon Hall and the second by Chris Crocker.
* The Bears kicked a field goal as time expired to cut the lead to 28.
The Bengals and Bears traded field goals in the last two minutes, but in the previous 28, the Bengals absolutely dominated. At half, the Bengals outgained the Bears 292-141, with 70 of those yards for the Bears coming on the final drive.
* The Chicago Bears defense finally stepped up -- allowing only a field goal after a Leon Hall interception. Shayne Graham kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 31-10 with 1:10 left in the half.
Cedric Benson eclipsed the 100-yard mark and then went back below it when he was stopped for a loss of 3 yards on a third-and-1 from the 8, setting up the field goal.
* The Bengals have a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the first half.
Cedric Benson has 19 carries for 101 yards at the 2-minute warning and Chad Ochocinco has eight catches for 103 yards.
Leon Hall returned an interception 22 yards to the Bears' 17 before the 2-minute warning to give the Bengals a shot at another score before halftime.
* Four possessions -- four Carson Palmer touchdowns in the first half for the Bengals.
The fourth was on an inside screen to Laveranues Coles for 8 yards with 2:49 left in the half.
Cedric Benson appears to be winning the Benson Bowl, with 18 carries for 99 yards in the first half, while Chad Ochocinco has eight catches 103 yards. Palmer is 14 of 16 for 176 yards and four scores.
* It appears the offense the Bengals had hoped they had coming into 2009 has emerged Sunday against the Bears -- scoring touchdowns on each of their first three drives for a 21-0 lead.
Carson Palmer found J.P. Foschi for a 3-yard touchdown, Palmer's third of the day with 11:14 left in the first half.
Palmer is 10 of 12 for 135 and three touchdowns. Chad Ochocinco has six catches for 77. Benson has 10 carries for 74 yards. The total yardage is 220-24 in favor of Cincinnati.
* For a quarter, at least, the Bengals offense looked unstoppable, racking up 157 yards and converting both drives into touchdowns.
The second touchdown was an 8-yard pass from Palmer to Ochocinco with 1:07 left in the first quarter.
Palmer is 6 of 7 for 76 and two touchdowns. Benson has eight carries for 70 yards.
* The Bengals pulled out all the stops on their first drive of the game, giving tackle Dennis Roland a start at tight end, used an unbalanced line with Andrew Whitworth beside Roland, had a three-back set and the Wildcat, all leading to a 9-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Chris Henry.
Cedric Benson had four carries for 32 yards on the drive, including a 23-yard run to the 11. Palmer was 3 of 4 for 45 yards and the TD.
* And welcome to the Benson Bowl, as Bengals running back Cedric Benson takes on his old team, the Chicago Bears.
The good news for Benson and the Bengals is that Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris is not active for the game, which could really help the running game of Cincinnati.
And the rest of the inactives:
Bengals
QB Jordan Palmer (designated third quarterback)
S Roy Williams
RB Brian Leonard
LB Dan Skuta
OT Andre Smith
OT Scott Kooistra
TE Chase Coffman
WR Jerome Simpson
Bears
WR Juaquin Iglesias
RB Adrian Peterson
CB D.J. Moore
LB Pisa Tinoisamoa
G Lance Louis
DT Matt Toeaina
DT Jarron Gilbert
DT Tommie Harris
* Chinedum Ndukwe will start at SS in place of Roy Williams.
* For the Bears, Marcus Harrison will start at DT in place of Tommie Harris, Nick Roach will start at MLB in place of Hunter Hillenmeyer and Hillenmeyer will start at SLB in place of Pisa Tinoisamoa.
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, News
Tags: Andre Smith, Bears, Bengals, Brian Leonard, Cedric Benson, Chase Coffman, Dan Skuta, Jerome Simpson, Jordan Palmer, Marvin Lewis, Roy Williams, Scott Kooistra, Tommie Harris
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