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Bengals Notes
Chargers' McCree apologizes for fourth-quarter hit on Houshmandzadeh
Monday, November 13, 2006
CINCINNATI — San Diego free safety Marlon McCree apologized for his hit on Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh that drew a pass-interference penalty and sent Houshmandzadeh to the sidelines with a concussion with 9:33 to go.
"It was a bad play on my part," McCree said. "I was going for the ball and lost it. It was a blind spot. I couldn't see the ball for a split second. I went for an interception the first series of the game and missed it by a hair. As opposed to going for the interception and missing it again, I figured I'd just go for the hit and jar the ball out. But in my aggressiveness, I was a second too soon.
Extras
"I apologize to (Houshmandzadeh). I'm going to pray for him and I'm going to call him (today) and make sure he's OK because the last thing I want to do is to end a guy's career on some cheap shot. I'm not a cheap player. I've never played this game to be dirty or to hurt anybody."
L.T. is the man
Chargers tailback LaDainian Tomlinson put on a clinic — 22 carries for 104 yards and four TDs, and six receptions for 54 yards.
"The superlatives about him are sometimes hard to come up with," coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "I stand in amazement on the sideline. Some of the things he does are remarkable. It is a great tribute to the young man. If there was ever a consummate team player, it is LaDainian Tomlinson."
A video game
Tomlinson darted, danced, dipped and dived all over the field.
"When you're playing a video game, there isn't much emotion," he said. "This game was so real. Being involved in this game was almost like a cartoon — it was animated or something. But it was very emotional.
"This is a very resilient team. The difference in the second half is we controlled the game. We just picked up the tempo."
Big-time blocker
Chargers left guard Kris Dielman, a graduate of Troy High School, said blocking for Tomlinson is pure pleasure.
"He can't make that job any easier than having him as a running back," Dielman said. "He's unbelievable. We tell him to come over our side. We take a lot of pride in our run blocking and being a physical line up front. L.T. knows we're going to get our blocks most of the time. We don't have to give him much room. We've just got to give him some."
On the bench
Bengals tailback Rudi Johnson was benched to start the game after being late for a Saturday team meeting. He entered the lineup at 6:03 of the first quarter on the club's second drive.
The benching cost Johnson (18 carries, 85 yards) a shot at a 100-yard game.
"I didn't think it would turn out to be a shoot-out because we were up by three TDs and getting the ball back after halftime," he said. "Where we go from here, who knows?"
Last drive
Facing fourth and 10 at the Chargers' 15-yard line on the Bengals' final drive, quarterback Carson Palmer misfired toward wide receiver Glenn Holt, who doesn't have a catch this season.
"It's tough because (the Chargers) are all sitting across the goal line," Palmer said. "I'm thinking either throw the ball up in the air like a Hail Mary to Chris Henry or try to find a seam. I was trying to find a seam in there to Glenn."
Why not design a play for Chad Johnson, who had 11 catches for 260 yards?
"He's always an option," Palmer said.
"But not when he's over-covered."
Halftime speech
McCree said Schottenheimer's halftime speech fired up the Chargers.
"You did not want to be in here at halftime, trust me," McCree said.
"He ripped us another butt hole and we responded. Our offense carried us."
Quick hitters
• The teams combined for 90 points — the second-highest total in Bengals history next to the 106 scored in Cincinnati's 58-48 win over Cleveland on Nov. 20, 2004.
• Tomlinson's four rushing TDs in one game tied Chuck Muncie's Chargers record.
