Skip to main content
Advertising

Quick hits: Hall INT keys turnaround

!

[internal-link-placeholder-0]» Head coach Marvin Lewis and his players agreed that cornerback Leon Hall's 44-yard interception return with 5:58 left in the third quarter was the key play of the game.

"Leon Hall's phenomenal interception turned the game around and gave everyone a lift," right tackle Andre Smith said.

It was Hall's first interception in more than a year and came off a long ball down the left sideline intended for Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

"It was an awkward formation. It was flipped to the boundary," Hall said. "I thought something was going on and they a deep ball down the side nd I just stopped when he underthrew it."

» A.J. Green ended his three-game scoring drought with a five-yard touchdown catch off a fade to close the scoring with 12:47 left.

"It's the first time I've seen single coverage in that area for a while," Green said. "I'm glad to get off of 10 (TD catches)."

» Andy Dalton struggled to a 13-of-27 night passing for his worst game as a pro.

"We sucked. We've got to get better," he said. "They gave us some new looks that we haven't seen but we still have to hold up better. The one thing the rush did is it allowed me to run and we took advantage of it."

» Safety Chris Crocker on the game: "That was ugly, but sometimes it's going to be like that. With those turnovers I've never seen anything like that, anywhere. But we hung in there. I've got a good feeling about this team."

» Bengals defensive tackle Wallace Gilberry continued to spark the Bengals with his play off the bench as the man who came off the street at the end of September has found a home. He scored the first NFL touchdown of his five-year career on a 25-yard fumble return caused by defensive tackle Pat Sims working on rookie running back Bryce Brown that gave the Bengals a 24-13 lead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter. Gilberry said it was his first touchdown since high school.

"I was a tight end and I caught a (crossing) pattern for a touchdown. I was wide open. I had no choice," Gilberry said.

» Gilberry told Hall he was going to get the interception the snap before he got it.

"Something came over me," Gilberry said. "But he's that kind of player. He's a big-play guy."

Here's a backup playing on a defensive line with big names stealing the nationally-televised game on NFL Network.

"Pat Sims was doing his job and put a good one on the running back and on TV you could see it bounced perfectly and I was able to pick it up," Gilberry said. "They gave me a good opportunity and I thanked them for it. To play with guys like Pat Sims and Geno Atkins, and Michael Johnson and Robert Geathers, it's a great group with a lot of energy. It's a lot of fun."

» BenJarvus Green-Ellis on his fourth 100-yard game in the last five weeks: "We have a massive offensive line and we felt like we could smashmouth it a little bit and slow down their pass rush. We played good complementary football. Today the run helped out the pass and sometimes it's the other way around."

» Green-Ellis shrugged about how quickly the game turned.

"That's the way football is," he said. "One minute you're sad, the next minute you're smiling. The big thing is we get out of it with a W."

» Special teams also overcame some struggles but came up with two big plays that turned into 10 points. Rookie running back Daniel Herron disrupted his second punt in four days and recovered it at the Eagles 11 in the middle of the first quarter. Actually, Eagles wide receiver Marvin McNutt blocked the punt because Herron pushed him into punter Mat McBriar.

"That's what I was thinking he might do because he kept backing up," Herron said.

» Then the Bengals finished off the barrage by getting their fourth turnover in a span of eight minutes when kicker Josh Brown popped up a short kickoff on purpose and if was muffed by the Eagles and recovered by Cincinnati's Taylor Mays at the Eagles 33 to set up the final Bengals touchdown.

» Left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who left the game in the fourth quarter, is going through protocol for a concussion. Initial indications about fullback Chris Pressley weren't as positive. It's feared his knee injury has taken him out for the rest of the season.

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.
Advertising