The Bengals’ season ended with the big thud in the Jungle earlier today.  The Bengals just got too far behind to keep running the ball which they were doing very well which took them out of any kind of rhythm they had on offense.  Carson Palmer couldn’t get anything going throwing the ball as he completed 18 of 36 passes for 146 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Cedric Benson had one of the best games of his career against the Jets’ solid D with 21 carries for 169 yards (8.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 12 yards (4.0 avg).  Laveranues Coles led the way in the passing game for the Bengals today with 6 grabs for 48 yards (8.0 avg) with a TD grab but he also lost a fumble early in the game in the red zone which the Jets recovered.  Chad Ocho Cinco was pretty much taken out of the game by Jets’ CB Darrelle Revis as he only caught 2 passes for 28 yards (14.0 avg) today.  The Bengals finished up with 281 total yards on offense (171 rushing, 110 passing) in this game as they had the ball for 26:58.

The Bengals’ D got pushed around by the Jets’ O-Line and shredded by rookie QB Mark Sanchez.  Safety Chinedum Ndukwe led the way for the Bengals on D today with 10 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Linebacker Dhani Jones pitched in with 7 tackles.  The Jets finished up with 353 total yards in this game (171 rushing, 182 passing) in this game.  The Bengals were also really hurt by kicker Shayne Graham who missed field goals from 35 and 28 yards today.  This loss really hurts but the Bengals still had a pretty good season as they did win the AFC North.

The Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) played awful and were shut out by the New York Jets (9-7).  It was the first time the Bengals have been shut out since the 2001 season.  The Bengals were already in the playoffs, but they have lost three of their last four and are not looking their best heading into the postseason.  Carson Palmer went 1/11 for 0 yards and an interception.  J.T. O’Sullivan at least got some positive yardage, going 3/8 for 31 yards.  Cedric Benson didn’t play, and the Bengals managed to get only 72 rushing yards.

Defensively, the Bengals weren’t much better than the offense.  They let the Jets run all over them, giving up 257 rushing yards.  Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez barely had to throw the ball, going 8/16 for 63 yards.  This win got the Jets the final spot in the AFC playoffs, and they looked good.  The Bengals on the other hand, looked out of sync and not much of a playoff team.  Granted they were resting some of their key players, but they still are not looking very good heading into the playoffs.

The Bengals clinched the AFC North division title with a hard fought victory over the Chiefs yesterday in the Jungle.  Carson Palmer managed the game by completing 17 of 25 passes for 139 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Cedric Benson was outstanding once again yesterday with 133 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 7 yards.  Laveranues Coles (3 rec, 43 yards, TD) and Chad Ocho Cinco (4 rec, 31 yards, TD) both had decent games for the Bengals yesterday.  The Bengals finished up with 274 total yards on offense (144 rushing, 130 passing) in this game.

The defense played very well for the Bengals yesterday.  LB Dhani Jones (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed) and CB Jonathan Joseph (7 tackles) led the way for the Bengals’ yesterday.  CB Leon Hall (4 tackles, 4 passes defensed, interception) and safety Chinedum Ndukwe (4 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 interception) also had very solid games for the Bengals yesterday.  The Chiefs finished up with 295 total yards on offense (123 rushing, 172 passing) in this game.  The Bengals are now 10-5 on the year.

The Cincinnati Bengals (9-5) played inspired football against the San Diego Chargers (11-3), which was fueled by the tragic death of their teammate Chris Henry.  Unfortunately, the Bengals fell just short of beating the hottest team in the NFL, as Chargers’ kicker Nate Kaeding hit a 52-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to beat the Bengals.  Down by 11 going into the 4th quarter, the Bengals played their hearts out and outscored the Bengals 11-3.  Carson Palmer played well for the Bengals, passing for 314 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 27/40 passes.  One of Palmers’ touchdown passes was a 49-yard pass to Chad Ochocinco in the 2nd quarter.  Ochocinco, who was in tears before kickoff, had a rare quiet touchdown celebration, getting down on his knees and looking up towards the sky in honor of his former teammate and friend Chris Henry.

Although the Bengals picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers twice, he still found a lot of success against the Bengals’ secondary.  Rivers threw for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24/38 passes.  They had a hard time covering Vincent Jackson, who caught 5 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The defense did do a good job stopping the run, holding them to 70 rushing yards as a team.  This was a tough and emotional loss for the Bengals, and they still need one more win to clinch the AFC North.

The Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) had 11 penalties for 85 yards and got less than 100 yards passing in their loss to the Minnesota Vikings (11-2) on Sunday.  Carson Palmer was almost shut down, throwing for only 94 yards on 15/25 passes.  He did find the endzone once when he hit Chad Ochocinco for a 15-yard touchdown pass.  Ochocinco didn’t do much else though, finishing the game with only 3 catches for 27 yards.  They did get 96 yards on 16 carries from Cedric Benson, but he failed to find the endzone.  For the first time in his career, Benson reached 1,000 yards in a season in this game.

On defense the Bengals let the Vikings build a 10-0 lead, but they did a pretty good job against Brett Favre.  Favre found the endzone once in the second quarter, but the Bengals held him in check most of the game.  He finished with 192 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception on 17/30 passes.  The Bengals did their best against Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson, but they could not keep him out of the endzone.  Peterson rushed for 97 yards on 26 carries (3.7 avg) which is well under his season average (4.5), but he scored twice.  With all of the penalties and the lack of execution on offense, combined with the defense giving up a season high 30 points, the Bengals didn’t give themselves much of a chance in this one.