Saints 15
Bengals 30
summary
^^^^^^^
Four second-half turnovers caused the Saints to lose to Cincinnati and drop
to 0-3.
play-by-play
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The game seemed to get off to a good start when Mark Fields stopped Ki-Jana
Carter for a 6 yard loss on the first play from scrimmage. However, a
shouldn't-be-legal block on the play knocked Rufus Porter out of the game.
An 8 yd Carter run and a 9 yd Pickens catch moved the sticks. Bieniemy
then ran for big chunks of yardage on consecutive 3rd down situations-
for 10 on 3rd & 5, then for 11 on 3rd & 7. A Carter catch and a Carter
run gave Cincy a 1st at the NO 15. The Saints caught a break when the
refs failed to flag Richard Harvey for an obvious pass interference call,
and two additional incompletions followed. The Bengals settled for a
33 yd FG.
Jim Everett hit Torrance Small for the needed yardage on 3rd & 7, then one
play later connected with Michael Haynes for 31. The team failed to gain
another 1st, but Doug Brien came on to make a 51 yarder and tie the game.
A good special teams tackle by Brian Jones and an illegal block forced
the Bengals to start the ensuing drive from their 16, but Blake hit Pickens
on consecutive 3rd down situations- for 9 on 3rd & 5, then for 18 on
3rd & 9. A Battaglia catch, a pair of runs by Carter, and a Scott catch
gave Cincinnati a 1st at the NO 25. One play later Scott worked himself
open and caught a 24 yd TD throw.
Tyrone Hughes returned the kickoff to the NO 37, but the O couldn't manage
a 1st. The Bengals moved the chains once before having to boot the ball
back, but the punt went out-of-bounds at the NO 3. Lorenzo Neal immediately
got the team out of the hole by taking a swing pass 21 yds. Two plays
later, Haywood Jeffires caught a ball for just enough yardage on 3rd & 10.
On the next play, Haynes caught a great Everett throw for 47. Everett's
next three throws were poor, though, so Brien kicked a 37 yarder.
The Bengals again converted a 3rd down situation when a Blake throw to
Scott ended two yards past the 1st down marker. Good help by Greg Jackson
prevented a deep reception on the next play, but on the play after that
McGee caught a pass for 12. One play later Pickens made a 14 yd reception,
and on the following play Carter ran 31 yds untouched for a TD. The PAT
made the score 17-6 Cincy with 1:43 left before halftime.
Everett hit Haynes for 16 on the next play from scrimmage, then found
Jeffires (his go-to guy) on 3rd down for the needed 5 yds, thus giving
the O a 1st at the Bengal 49. The team called timeout with 23 seconds
remaining, but for some reason the clock started running again before the
next snap (costing about seven seconds). Everett wound up trying an
unsuccessful Hail Mary on the final play of the half.
Hughes returned the second-half kickoff to the Cincy 43, and Everett soon
lobbed a ball to Irv Smith down to the 3. Ray Zellars powered the ball
into the endzone on the next play. Small dropped a catchable ball during
the try for 2, so the margin remained at 5.
Brien's kickoff went out-of-bounds, so Cincy started from their 40. A 12
yd Carter run put the home team into Saints territory, but three incomplete
passes and a touchback followed. Everett handed to Zellars for 3 and hit
Haynes for 16, then handed to Zellars three more times for 9, 8, and 1.
The momentum was killed when a deflected ball was intercepted at the
Bengal 35.
Cincinnati moved the sticks once, but the drive seemed to stall three
plays later. A very questionable roughing-the-kicker call against Small
(if he touched the punter at all, he was blocked into him) gave the Bengals
new life at the NO 33. Wayne Martin sacked Blake for a 3 yd loss, but
a Pickens catch and a 6 yd Carter run on 3rd & 5 reset the line of
scrimmage. On the next play Cincy moved to the 5 via a catch by Scott
(him *again*- that's a whole lot of Aztec). Each team nearly made a big
play (on 1st Pickens caught a ball while standing on the endline, on 3rd
a potential INT glanced off of Anthony Newman's hands) before a 21 yarder
was kicked. The Saints were down 8 with 2:55 to go in the third quarter.
Everett hit Small for 4 on 3rd & 1, but on the next play another tipped
ball was intercepted and returned to the NO 18. Renaldo Turnbull sacked
Blake on 3rd & 6, so the homeys again had to settle for a FG, this one
from 34 yds out.
The O shot itself in the foot once more when Everett fumbled away the next
snap. The D gave up one 1st before stiffening. A 27 yd FG was good, but
a holding call forced a re-kick. The second try was barely wide, so the
deficit was still 11.
On the next play Lee DeRamus made his first reception of the season a
good one (a 20 yd pickup). One play later Everett hit Haynes with another
long one, good for a 1st at the Bengal 6. The team couldn't punch it in,
though, so Brien kicked a 25 yarder to cut the Bengal lead to 8.
The D did its job and forced a 3 & punt. On 3rd & 9 Jeffires held onto a
15 yd throw despite being walloped. A sack on the next play moved the
team back 9 yds, though, and on 3rd & 19 an apparently-unseen Bengal
received an Everett gift and took the ball to the NO 34. The team's
chances pretty much ended when Eric Allen was flagged for pass interference
on a 3rd & 4 play- an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was tacked on when
Allen complained. On the following play Mark Fields got involved in a
frustration-induced fight and was ejected from the game. On 3rd & goal
from the 5 Bieniemy dove into the endzone. The PAT made the score 30-15
Bengals with 4:00 left. The Saints failed to gain a 1st, and Cincy ran
out the clock.
stats (from my notes, not official)
^^^^^
....runnin'....../......throwin' & catchin'....
jim Everett
5- 1 mario Bates 1- (1)
1-(1) Derek brown 2- 2
7-23-1 ray Zellars
lorenzo Neal 1- 21
michael Haynes 5-156
1- 3 torrance Small 3- 16
haywood Jeffires 4- 34
lee deRamus 2- 25
Irv smith 2- 42
hendrick Lusk 1- 4
incompletions 15
interceptions 3
14-26-1 21-39-299-0-3
yardage histogram (player marks are as in stats above- B=Bates, etc.)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Z S <--runs
ZBZ
B ZDBBBZ ZZ
*****************************************************************************
- 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained
5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------
*****************************************************************************
B D SS S J JH RN H I HH
D JJ H
LI <--passes
R
comments
^^^^^^^^
* Everett and Haynes are finally connecting on deep balls, but we're losing
* I hope Zellars has replaced Bates permanently
* Molden participated, but I didn't see much of him
* Lusk injured his ankle while making his only catch
* we're now entering the first "easy" part of our schedule- let's hope we
don't embarrass ourselves further
*******************************************************************************
Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu