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Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh isn't afraid to admit he'll be studying the scoreboard on Sunday. A Bengals' victory over Pittsburgh, coupled with a New York Jets' loss to Oakland, gives Cincinnati a playoff berth. There's one other way the Bengals can reach the postseason: The combination of a Bengals' win and losses by Denver and Jacksonville. "I'm not going to lie," Houshmandzadeh said. "When I'm on the bench, I'm going to be looking up at the (scoreboard). I'm just being honest. I do it all the time, so why wouldn't I do it this Sunday?
"It's just human nature. The coaches will tell us, 'Don't do that,' but they'll probably do it themselves." Self-grading system Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer gave himself a B-minus grade for this season. He's suffered back-to-back sub-70.0 passer rating performances — a 69.9 in a 34-16 loss at Indianapolis and a 63.4 in a 24-23 loss at Denver. It's the first time since a four-week stretch in 2004 — career starts Nos. 2-5 — that Palmer has had consecutive games with a passer rating of less than 70. "It's tough to grade, but B-minus is pretty average," Palmer said. "I feel like I played average. I feel I played good in games and bad in some, but throughout the year pretty average." Counting on Eric Center Eric Ghiaciuc will start his 13th game in place of Rich Braham, who retires Sunday after a 13-year career. "We're not going to worry about the future (with Ghiaciuc) yet," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "The future is Sunday. We've got to have Eric Ghiaciuc play his pants off and play well — our whole front group. It's going to be quite a challenge. "Eric's gone in there, and we've held up. We've won games he's played. He contributes. He's a tough guy. He's a very hard worker. He's all of those things Richie is. He's just got to gain the experience Richie had." Injury report Bengals right offensive tackle Willie Anderson (foot), left defensive end Bryan Robinson (foot) and free safety Madieu Williams (thigh contusion) are seeing limited practice time this week. But the three are probable for Sunday's game. Quote machine "There's no question about it. They're going to come ready to play. They went up to Buffalo when they had everything wrapped up (in 2004) and beat the Bills (29-24). We'll get everything they've got. So we've got to be ready. It's going to be a big game." — Marvin Lewis on the Steelers. Dayton Daily News http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bengals/2006/12/28/ddn122906bennotes.html |
