Thumbs Up (Jones) - Thumbs Down (Rudi)

By Adam Kiefaber

Thumbs Up:

LB Dhani Jones

Jones (right) finished the game with seven tackles. Two of which were on special teams.

Jones had only practiced a couple of days with Cincinnati, but was thrown in the fire when Caleb Miller got injured. Lemar Marshall went into the game hurt and couldn’t play every snap and Ahmad Brooks didn’t play at all. Jones’ numbers were inflated because Seattle tried to pick on him, but for the most part he held his ground and played extremely well for a player in his position.

DTs John Thornton and Michael Myers

Thornton had six tackles, while Myers finished with four, including a sack and defended a pass.

Is it just me or when the rest of the defense plays terrible - Big John plays great. There were numerous plays where Thornton stuffed running back Shaun Alexander at the line of scrimmage. Myers showed some good quickness for a 30+ 300-pounder. He is a big upgrade over Sam ‘Fatty’ Adams.

QB Carson Palmer

Palmer completed 27 of 43 passes for 342 yards and threw a touchdown. However, Palmer was picked off twice.

I don’t blame Palmer on the turnovers. His first INT was intended for T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who was wide open the whole play. Palmer waited for Housh to finish his route and safety Deon Grant made a great play. The second was a bomb to Chad Johnson, you can’t blame Palmer for trying to make a play. Somehow, Palmer converted third down after third down when Seattle knew that it only had to cover two players. He is an amazing QB and without him, Cincy would have lost badly.

WRs T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson

Housh caught 12 passes for 141 yards. Johnson caught nine passes for 138 yards.

Housh makes those short catches and is a fierce competitor. Ocho Cinco complains when he can’t make the play - even when he should’ve made the play. I’m happy that doesn’t hurt Palmer’s confidence - I don’t think other young QBs could handle that. Chad, all Bengal fans love you, but you annoy us sometimes.

RB Kenny Watson

Watson (left) rushed for 60 yards on nine carries and scored a rushing touchdown.

Watson didn’t really play till past the halfway point of the fourth quarter. However, he was a key factor on both of the Bengals’ fourth-quarter scoring drives. Sure, he was fresh and Rudi Johnson was wore down, but Watson was really successful running the ball while Rudi looked as if he was running in a swimming pool. I bet we see more of Watson on Monday night.

Thumbs Down:

Rudi Johnson

Rudi finished with nine yards on 17 carries. His longest run of the day was five yards.

A Seattle reporter said earlier in the week that the Seahawks’ weakness is stopping the power back, and he went on to say that Rudi was going to have huge game. I believed him and we were both so wrong. Rudi was terrible, players like cornerback Marcus Trufant came up and tackled Rudi behind the line. Those were the types of players that Rudi had run over previously in his career. Rudi says he doesn’t eat junk food, but somebody buy him a cheeseburger. Watson should play more next week and hopefully Chris Perry will be 100% when he gets off the PUP in a couple of weeks.

Glenn Holt

Holt didn’t have a catch and fumbled the Bengals’ last chance for a win.

Holt was becoming a fan favorite after his gutty performance against Cleveland. After being crushed on a helmet-to-helmet hit by safety Brodney Pool, Holt came back and finished with five catches for 52 yards and scored a touchdown. Cincinnati put WR Skyler Green into the game as the team’s third receiver limiting Holt’s chances, but it sure would be nice to get Chris Henry (below) back.

Shayne Graham

Graham successfully made two field goals, but kicked it out of bounds in a crucial situation.

If you read Bengal Stripes on a regular basis, you know that I’m extremely hard on Graham. Honestly, I was going to give him a thumbs up after making two field goals without crying. I was even going to pretend that his weak diving attempt for a tackle on the opening kickoff - didn’t happen. After the Bengals took a 21-17 lead with 2:42 left in the game - Graham kicked it out of bounds. The ball was placed at the 40 and the Seahawks were able to score. Sure, the Bengals’ special teams might have allowed the return to go past the 40, but the momentium had changed and kicking it out of bounds just takes all that away. Graham couldn’t tie his shoe in a critical situation.

DEs Justin Smith and Robert Geathers

Smith finished with one tackle, while Geathers had two.

Everyone complains that the Bengals don’t have a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. Well, these two are supposed to be those playmakers. Geathers won defensive player of the week after the Ravens game, but has been silent ever since. Smith had a bunch of tackles in the Cleveland game, but didn’t put any pressure on Derek Anderson. Oh yeah, Smith was going up against a rookie tackle in that game. These two need to wake up.

CB Johnathan Joseph

Joseph was burned on a 42-yard touchdown to end the first half by Deion Branch.

Joseph has looked terrible the last two games. He looks slow and everyone is starting to call it a sophomore slump. I think, or I hope that his struggles stem from his minicamp injury. On June 2nd, during the Bengals mandatory minicamp, cornerback Johnathan Joseph fractured a bone in his left foot. The injury caused Joseph to miss almost all of Cincinnati’s training camp. Hopefully, he can get back to ‘06 form where he excelled as a rookie late in the season.

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