DaytonDailyNews.com

HOUSTON — Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph played tag football for one play, and it cost him and his team dearly.

Joseph thought Houston wide receiver Kevin Walter was down by contact. No such luck for the Bengals.

Walter scored on a 39-yard reception at 6:30 of the third quarter as the Texans romped to a 35-6 victory at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 26.

"You've got to get him down," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "Sometimes when you're calling plays offensively and defensively, you get things matched up exactly and then we don't make the play. That's really disappointing."

Walter, who played for the Bengals from 2003-05, sprinted down the right side of the field, cut sharply to the sideline, caught a perfectly-thrown pass from quarterback Matt Schaub and then fell.

By the time Joseph arrived, Walter was back on his feet. Joseph pushed him with two hands, but Walter kept his balance and dashed into the end zone.

"(Joseph) got pushed off the route a little bit," Lewis said. "Kevin gave him a little shove. But you've got to get there and get him down. That's part of football, professional football. He gets there and Kevin's already back on his feet. You've got to make the tackle. It's a lack of finishing the play."

Joseph faced the media afterward and didn't exactly accept responsibility for his mistake, saying he wanted to see the film.

"It's one of those plays where I was there and I thought I had tagged him down," he said. "If I didn't think he was down, I would have tackled him. But (the refs) said he was up. I guess it's continuation. I'd like to have it back, but obviously you can't take nothing back once it happens. You've got to move on."

Joseph didn't appreciate getting lit up by the CBS broadcasting crew, which called his tackle attempt lazy. Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker announced the game for CBS.

"That's the guy on CBS," Joseph said. "He wasn't out there."

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