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People's Choice: Backstage
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals made history Saturday night, Aug. 23.
Not good, memorable history.
Bad, forgettable and regrettable history.
For the first time in the franchise's 41 years, the Bengals were shutout at home in a preseason game.
The final: New Orleans Saints 13, Bengals 0, in front of an announced crowd of 65,043 at Paul Brown Stadium.
If you thought last week's 27-10 loss to Detroit was bad, this was worse. Much worse.
Starting quarterback Carson Palmer was knocked out of the game with a bloody nose and busted lip, and the Bengals looked tired, fatigued and disinterested on both sides of the ball.
One pressbox observer said loud enough for everyone to hear as time ran out: "The Bungles are back!"
New Orleans won the total yardage battle 458-165, bashing the Bengals by air (313-127) and land (145-38).
The only thing the Bengals got established was the punt. They generated only 10 first downs and punted a whopping 10 times in 11 miserable possessions.
Kyle Larson was Cincinnati's most active player — 10 punts for a 41.9 average.
Bloody face
This was the scene at halftime:
Palmer walked off the field with a towel draped around his head, covering a face full of blood, as the scoreboard lights twinkled "Saints 10, Bengals 0."
The Bengals' medical staff described Palmer's injury as a bloody nose and cut lip. Sideline observers said Palmer's nose appeared to be broken.
Palmer completed 11-of-16 passes for 105, but got sacked three times for minus-25 yards.
Saints free safety Kevin Kaesviharn, an ex-Bengal, got a sack and a half against Palmer, and was responsible for bloodying Palmer's nose on a hard hit at 0:50 of the second quarter.
An understatement
Saints quarterback Drew Brees was 14-of-22 passing for 199 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ronnie Ghent, an ex-Bengal.
While Brees picked Cincinnati's secondary apart, the Bengals couldn't get anything going. Their only positives were an interception by safety Corey Lynch and a fumble recovery by cornerback Johnathan Joseph.
"We've got work to do," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "No question, we have to play sharper."
Banners bash Brown
Two banners inside the stadium protested the Bengals' re-signing of Chris Henry by owner Mike Brown.
One banner — "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me six times, shame on Mike Brown" — was taken down with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
Another sign read, "Hey, Mike: You can't be serious. Please tell me Chris found Jesus." It was removed with
9:23 left in the first quarter.
Not dressed or ready
Thirteen Bengals didn't dress. They were wide receivers Chris Henry, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Andre Caldwell; tailback Rudi Johnson; center Dan Santucci, tight end Matt Sherry, strong safety Chinedum Ndukwe; defensive ends Antwan Odom and Eric Henderson; linebackers Dan Howell and Rashad Jeanty; and defensive tackle Pat Sims.
Father-son reunion
Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer faced his son, Adam, a defensive assistant for the Saints.
"He's smarter than me," Mike said. "He's got a degree in finance. I got it in PE."
