CINCINNATI (AP) -The roll call is impressive: Greg Jennings, Braylon Edwards, Derrick Mason. All of them faced the Cincinnati Bengals’ secondary this season. None of them caught a pass.
Not even one.
The Bengals (4-1) have taken control of the AFC North because of their shutdown defense and their endgame confidence. They’ve won four in a row, all in the final 22 seconds. A victory on Sunday over the Houston Texans (2-3) would give them their first five-game winning streak since 1988, when they went to the Super Bowl.
To do that, they’ve got to add Andre Johnson to the list.
“We’ve got a good one coming up,” safety Chinedum Ndukwe said. “That guy gashed us big-time.”
He’s not exaggerating.
Last year, the teams played in Houston and the reeling Bengals got their comeuppance. Johnson caught 11 passes for 143 yards – the most receptions and yards by any opposing receiver last season – during a 35-6 win that dropped Cincinnati to 0-8.
ay against a depleted and discouraged defense, one that’s itching to face him again now that the Bengals have turned themselves around.
“He had a field day,” Ndukwe said. “He’s a big receiver – fast, physical, great hands, a complete package. Basically, I’m excited. We’ve played some good guys so far, but I think Andre Johnson last year was definitely the best guy we faced.”
The Texans need him to be good again, and right away.
Similar to the Bengals, the Texans have taken their time to get going on offense. Unlike the Bengals, they’ve lacked the knack to pull games out at the end. They fell behind 21-0 in the first half against Arizona on Sunday, but had a chance to send it to overtime. They failed on three plays from the Arizona 1-yard line in the final minute.
Two weeks earlier, the Texans had a similar chance to pull even late in a game against Jacksonville, but fumbled at the goal line.
“We had two games, right there on the 1-yard line where we should have scored a touchdown and we didn’t do it,” Johnson said. “That’s the NFL. You can look at Cincinnati and say they’re a tipped ball away from being 5-0, so this is a crazy league.”
the Cardinals. He threw for a season-high 371 yards and two touchdowns – to Johnson, of course.
It’ll be more of a challenge in Cincinnati, where rookie Antoine Caldwell is expected to start at right guard in place of Mike Brisiel, out with a season-ending foot injury. Houston also is missing left guard Chester Pitts for the rest of the season.
With all that’s happened, the Texans need to get off to a good start.
“As an offense, we’ve got to get started quickly,” left tackle Duane Brown said. “Coach (Gary) Kubiak threw out the stat – last year, we scored on 10 out of 16 of our first drives. We haven’t done that this year. So we’ve got to come out strong, and I think that will give us momentum throughout the game instead of coming out and trying to feel our way through the defense and gradually improving.”
Cincinnati doesn’t mind waiting until the final minutes to finally do something.
Palmer led the Bengals on a last-minute scoring drive in the opener against Denver, only to have a tipped pass give the Broncos a touchdown and the win. He led a tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter at Cleveland, then a drive to the winning field goal in the closing seconds of overtime. He also led winning touchdown drives against Pittsburgh and Baltimore that left the Bengals 3-0 in their division and gave them a sense that this could be their season.
rt to look at the playoff picture and home-field advantage and first-round bye or whatever,” Palmer said. “It’s obviously way too early to be looking at that. We’re worried about this team (Houston). It’s an AFC opponent, and that gets thrown into the playoff picture at the end. It’s an important game to win.”
The Houston game starts a favorable four-week stretch for the Bengals, who have home games against Houston, Chicago and Baltimore along with their bye. The second half of the season includes games against Oakland, Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City.
If the Bengals can come out of the next four weeks in first place, the playoff talk will begin.
“If you’re not first, you’re last,” receiver Chad Ochocinco said. “So it feels pretty good. They key for us is staying there – being consistent, winning the games we should win against teams we should beat. I think that’s our next step.”
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