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THE ENQUIRER
BY MARK CURNUTTE


NFL preseason games are little more than glorified practices that thousands of people pay a lot of money to watch.

Still, the Bengals were flat Saturday night, losing 27-19 to the New Orleans Saints before 65,227 at Paul Brown Stadium.

Coach Marvin Lewis pointed to two plays in the first offensive and defensive possessions of the game as problematic. The rest he essentially disregarded. Lewis was upset that his offense did not convert a second-and-one play. Instead, Rudi Johnson lost five yards on a stretch play to the right. After an incomplete pass intended for Tab Perry, the Bengals punted.

Defensively, the Bengals had the Saints second and 10 on their 31 when Drew Brees completed a 12-yard screen pass to tailback Reggie Bush.

“Obviously, I am not happy with how we performed tonight,” Lewis said. “We had a chance to set the tone early. We need to win those series.”

The Bengals had just 267 yards in total offense and were 1-for-4 in red zone touchdown scoring opportunities; 79 yards came on the last mop-up drive. Rookie Jeff Rowe threw 14 yards to wide receiver Skyler Green for the Bengals’ lone touchdown with two seconds left in the game.

The Bengals did have five sacks.

Bengals starting quarterback Carson Palmer played four series, well into the second quarter, and could not get in sync with his receivers.

Palmer was just 5-for-11 passing for 41 yards, producing a 55.5 passer rating. He was sacked and lost a fumble deep in Bengals territory, setting up an easy Saints touchdown on a six-yard run by Bush.

No. 2 quarterback Doug Johnson played well in relief of Palmer. Johnson led a productive two-minute drive at the end of the first half, but rookie tight end Daniel Coats and wide receiver Bennie Brazell dropped would-be touchdown passes in the end zone.

The Bengals had to settle for a fourth Shayne Graham field goal, from 32 yards with three seconds remaining.

Johnson did look considerably more comfortable in his second preseason appearance. He moved well in the pocket away from pressure and threw accurately on the run. Johnson was 14-for-23 passing in the game for 99 yards and a 70.7 passer rating.

The Bengals offense squandered two scoring chances handed it by the Cincinnati defense in the second quarter.

The Bengals forced two New Orleans fumbles in the second quarter deep in Saints territory, but the offense could not get into the end zone.

Trailing 17-3 with 10:44 left in the second quarter, Bengals defensive end Justin Smith got a clean hit on Saints wide receiver Terrance Cooper on an end around. Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko recovered on the Saints 33-yard line.
With Johnson at quarterback, the Bengals drove to the New Orleans 15. On a third-and-one play, though, tailback Kenny Watson was stopped for no gain. Graham converted a 33-yard field goal with 7:38 remaining in the half. New Orleans led 17-6.
On the Saints’ next possession, the Bengals got the ball back again on a takeaway but could not covert a touchdown on first and goal from the 3.

Bengals outside linebacker Eric Henderson forced a fumble on a sack of New Orleans quarterback Jamie Martin. Fellow linebacker Caleb Miller recovered.

Watson was tackled for a three-yard loss on the first play. A Johnson pass for Watson was incomplete on second down. A third-down pass for Tab Perry was incomplete. Perry had nine balls thrown his direction and only two were complete.
“Tab and I really haven’t had much work together,” Palmer said. “He’s an electrifying player. He’s a tailback when he gets the ball in his hands.”

Perry is expected to work as the No. 3 receiver while Chris Henry is serving his eight-game league suspension in the first half of the season.

Perry missed more than a week of training camp because of concerns about the hip injury that forced him to miss 14 games last year.

“Don’t throw me under the bus yet,” Perry said. “It’s still the preseason. I know what kind of receiver I am. I’ll be ready for Baltimore (Sept. 10).”

Graham was good from 25 yards with 5:03 remaining. The Saints’ lead was 17-9.

The Bengals scored first on a 51-yard Graham field goal with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. His long kick capped a 47-yard, 13-play drive.

The Bengals converted their first three third-down plays on the drive. They were first-and-10 on the New Orleans 32-yard line when wide receiver Chad Johnson was called for a false-start penalty. On second and 11 from the 33, Palmer overthrew Perry at the goal line. Rudi Johnson ran five times for 20 yards on the scoring drive.

Rudi Johnson finished with 15 yards on six carries on the night. He also caught two passes for eight yards.

Coats and T.J. Houshmandzadeh each had three receptions in the first half.

Bengals linebacker Landon Johnson left the game late in the second half with a lower-back strain. He fell on his tailbone awkwardly after tipping a pass. Henderson injured a wrist in the fourth quarter and did not return; he was to have an X-ray. Tailback Quincy Wilson suffered a bruised chest in the third quarter and did not return.

Lewis did say starting left tackle Levi Jones (knee) was close to returning to action.

The sloppy play continued into the third quarter.

Rookie center Dan Santucci snapped high to Doug Johnson on a third-and-10 play with six minutes gone in the third quarter. The Bengals did recover. On the next play, a Kyle Larson punt, Bengals rookie running back Curtis Brown was called for a 10-yard holding penalty.

The Enquirer - Saints 27, Bengals 19

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