Receivers Johnson and Houshmandzadeh continue to put up big numbers — but the Bengals remain 1-2.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh came within one catch of tying Carl Pickens' club record for receptions in a game.  Instead of hitting the lucky number 13, Houshmandzadeh had to settle for the unlucky 12.  His 12 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown weren't enough to lead Cincinnati to victory. Neither was Chad Johnson's nine catches for 138 yards.

The Bengals sure know how to rack up superlatives in defeat.  "They (the Seahawks) thought their corners could play us man-to-man," Houshmandzadeh said. "They realized that wasn't the case. So they started playing us 'Cover-2.'

"I wouldn't say it caught us off guard. They just got smart. When they were going man-to-man, it was very easy. That's why they got out of it. That's why their coaches get paid to do what they do. If they stayed in man, we might have scored 100. But they knew they couldn't cover us and they did what they had to do."

Cover-2 is a scheme in which the two safeties help the cornerbacks cover the wide receivers. Instead of hanging corners Marcus Trufant and Keith Jennings out to dry in man coverage, the safeties roll over and help with double-teams.  "Yeah, it's hard to look at the stat sheet because you figure if you move the ball up and down the field like that, we'd score more than just 21 points," Houshmandzadeh said. "But at the end of the day, they made the plays and we didn't.

"These are two games (Cleveland and Seattle) we felt we should have won — two games we felt we're better than the team we played. Instead of being 3-0, we're 1-2 and we've got probably the best team (New England) coming in to play us next week. So it's going to be tough."

Houshmandzadeh doesn't like the term "snowball." As in, the Bengals are rolling downhill — fast.  "That's media talk to me," he said. "We're not going to be out there playing against New England thinking, 'We just lost the last two games, so we're going to lose this one.' No, we're going to get ready to play and we'll see what happens."

Dayton Daily News

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bengals/2007/09/24/ddn092407benside.html