Raiders-Bengals Preview

[redlegsfan21]

By DAN BURCH
With their recent play and a little help from two other teams, the Cincinnati Bengals have taken control of their playoff destiny.

The Bengals (7-5) look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host the lowly Oakland Raiders (2-10) on Sunday.

Cincinnati appeared to be playing its way out of contention when it dropped three in a row to fall to 4-5, including an embarrassing 49-41 loss to San Diego on Nov. 12 in which the Bengals blew a 28-7 halftime lead at home.

Since that defeat, Cincinnati has turned it around on both sides of the ball, winning three straight and putting itself in the postseason hunt.

The Bengals beat Baltimore 13-7 last Thursday, then watched as Kansas City and Denver, teams they trailed for AFC wild-card spots, both lost Sunday.

Cincinnati is in a five-way tie with the Chiefs, Broncos, Jacksonville and New York Jets for the final two playoff spots. If the season ended today, though, the Bengals would earn one of the spots thanks to a 5-3 conference record.

"We've been talking about controlling our own destiny since the second half of the season has been here," receiver Chad Johnson said. "If we win these next four, we're going to be in there anyway."

It won't be easy. After playing Oakland, the Bengals visit Indianapolis and Denver before closing out the season at home against Pittsburgh.

Still, both the offense and the defense are making plays for Cincinnati, giving the team plenty of reason for optimism.

Carson Palmer has thrown for 1,224 yards and 10 touchdowns in the last four contests, while Johnson has made 32 catches for 664 yards in those games and leads the NFL with 1,146 receiving yards.

The Bengals beat Cleveland 30-0 on Nov. 26, the team's first shutout in 17 years, and the seven points allowed in two games is the fewest a defense has allowed in back-to-back games in franchise history.

The defense is improved and the Bengals are getting healthy just as they prepare for their most important games of the season. Right guard Bobbie Williams is expected to play this week, while center Rich Braham and left tackle Levi Jones are questionable with knee injuries but expected back soon.

Perhaps the main focus right now for Cincinnati is avoiding looking ahead - something coach Marvin Lewis doesn't foresee happening.

"There shouldn't be a letdown," he said. "We've just got to keep playing. If I was worried about that, I would have worried about us looking past Cleveland to play Baltimore, and I don't think that occurred, either. Every time you go out there, you've got an opportunity to lose a game if you don't play well enough. That's the way it's supposed to be."

The Raiders have played well enough on defense to have more than two victories, but the team has been unable to score enough points to make that happen.

Oakland has dropped five in a row, its second five-game losing streak this season, and has scored 14 points or less in five straight games for the first time in team history.

The Raiders have scored 146 points, fewest in the AFC and only one better than Tampa Bay, which is last in the NFL.

Even though the offense is struggling, the defensive players are refusing to point fingers.

"The defense is going to set the tone for the rest of the team and how we're going to be for the next several years," safety Stuart Schweigert said. "You need a start somewhere, and we've started on the defensive side of the ball. Now it just takes a couple guys here on offense to step up or to get a couple of free agents to come in or something. Then, you see what happens."

Despite being tied with Detroit for the worst record in the NFL, Oakland ranks third in the league in total defense and set a franchise record by holding Houston to minus-5 yards passing in a 23-14 loss Sunday.

"The thing is, we just always look at it as, we still have a lot to play for," Schweigert said. "Even though we're not making the playoffs and all that stuff, we want to finish in the top three in overall defense and we want to finish number one in pass defense. Right now we're doing that, so we want to continue doing that for the next four weeks."

Oakland has lost nine straight road games and 27 of its last 31 away from home.

This is the Raiders' first visit to Cincinnati since a 20-17 victory on Nov. 5, 1995. Oakland beat Cincinnati 23-20 at home on Sebastian Janikowski's winning 39-yard field goal in 2003, the teams' only meeting this decade.

The Raiders lead the series with the Bengals 17-7.

http://sports.myway.com/news/12062006/v5198.html

[redlegsfan21]

By JOE KAY

CINCINNATI (AP) -Only a month ago, the Cincinnati Bengals looked like they were on the verge of imploding. The defending AFC North champs were openly pouting and regularly losing.

Look at them now.

Carson Palmer threw for a pair of touchdowns and Rudi Johnson ran for two more on Sunday, setting up a well-rounded 27-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders that strengthened Cincinnati's playoff chances.

"We're peaking at the right time," receiver Chad Johnson proclaimed.

The Bengals (8-5) have won four in a row, moving to the forefront of the AFC wild card race. At the moment, Cincinnati is positioned for one of the two spots, with pivotal games coming up the next two weeks at Indianapolis and Denver.

It's all coming together for a team that's piling up franchise records on offense and defense these days.

They had a pair of 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher Sunday, a combination they've never had before. And, the defense had another record-setting performance - Cincinnati has given up only 17 points in the last three games, another first.

They've come a long way from that 4-5 start that left them with no margin for error.

"We've been in this position for the last month," said Rudi Johnson, who ran for 117 yards. "Our backs have been against the wall. We've been coming out fighting and clawing. We definitely understand our situation."

The Raiders (2-11) understand theirs, too.

It keeps getting worse.

The defense keeps them in games, and the offense gives them away. Oakland's first three drives ended this way: fumble, missed field goal, interception. None of it was new.

"We need a win badly," coach Art Shell said. "I keep saying that every week. They're trying. We're just not getting it done."

Oakland has lost six in a row, failing to score more than 14 points in any game. The Raiders were simply outclassed in this one.

Carson Palmer threw a season-high three interceptions, but did more than enough to get the win. His touchdown passes of 8 yards to Chris Henry and 20 yards to T.J. Houshmandzadeh helped the Bengals rolled ahead 27-3 in the third quarter.

Houshmandzadeh had eight catches for 118 yards against the NFL's top-ranked pass defense. Chad Johnson had five catches for 101 yards, setting a Bengals career record with his 21st triple-digit game.

The Bengals didn't play their best game on offense - they had four turnovers in all - but won going away against a defense that likes to play man-to-man coverage. They didn't even have to punt.

"We knew if they were going to play man-to-man, we were going to move the ball a lot," Houshmandzadeh said. "Minus the turnovers, we'd have probably had 200 (yards) each."

Oakland dropped its safeties into deep coverage more than usual, but still couldn't keep up.

"That offense is loaded," said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who had two interceptions. "When you call a man-to-man defense, they start throwing the ball all over the place. And the right side of that line is just a bunch of beasts. They know what they want to do."

By contrast, Oakland is still at a loss for what to do.

The Raiders hit their low point a week ago, a 23-14 loss to Houston that featured three fumbles, two interceptions and three missed field goals. They were at it again Sunday, looking like the old Bungles - or, the recent Raiders - with every miscue.

Sebastian Janikowski missed three field goal attempts against the Texans - two of them off the left upright - and hit the left upright again Sunday on his first try.

Aaron Brooks' 5-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Curry in the fourth quarter amounted to a breakthrough: The Raiders hadn't scored in the fourth quarter of their last eight games. The offense now has 17 points in the final quarter all season.

"We've got to get points on the board," Brooks said. "I think we have a chance every time we hit the field, especially with our defense. We've just got to take care of the ball better." ^

Notes:

Bengals CB Deltha O'Neal was inactive, a day after his arrest for drunken driving. Coach Marvin Lewis declined to talk about the benching. O'Neal is the eighth Bengal player arrested this year. ... Janikowski is 14-for-21 on field goals this season, when he's had back problems. ... The last time the Bengals had a pair of 100-yard receivers in the same game was Dec. 5, 2004 at Baltimore, when Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson both topped the mark in a 27-26 win. ... DE Robert Geathers sacked Brooks twice, leaving him with 10.5 this season. He's the first Bengal with a double-digit sack total since Alfred Williams in 1992. ... Chad Johnson topped Isaac Curtis' career record for 100-yard games.

http://sports.myway.com/news/12102006/v0749.html