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Bengals-Jets: History Says Cincinnati Wins Playoff Opener Over New York

Published: January 5, 2010

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By the time 10:30 p.m. rolled around Sunday night, most Bengals fans were stuck with three choices: overdose on Ambien and hope for death, watch Battlefield Earth (which is almost the same as overdosing on Ambien), or keep the game on.

I was out of Ambien, so I decided to watch the rest of the game.

So what does Sunday’s 37-0 loss to the Jets mean? Good question, glad you asked.

Since 1990, when the NFL expanded the playoffs to its current 12-team format, there have been nine occasions where two teams matched up in the final game of the season went on to meet again in the first round of the playoffs (Ironically, there are three instances this season).

The good news for the Bengals: The team that loses the regular season game has a 5-4 record in the playoff game.

Even better, there have only been two teams since 1990 involved in the exact same scenario as the Bengals, that being, you go on the road to face an opponent in the regular season finale and then turn around and host that same opponent in the first round of the playoffs.

So lets take a closer look at those two instances.

Example One

Regular Season

Dec. 27, 1992: Buffalo at Houston

In the final week of the 1992 season, the Bills had everything to play for. With a win, they would clinch the AFC East and a first-round bye in the playoffs. With a loss, they would be stuck playing Houston in the Wild-Card game the following week.

For the Oilers it was simple: Win, and you’re in (sound familiar Jets fans?). Even though they were playing to win an AFC East title, the Bills, playing all of their starters, came out and laid an egg. Quarterback Frank Reich threw for only 99 yards to go along with two interceptions. The Bills were down 20-3 at halftime.

Outcome: Houston would clinch a playoff berth with a 27-3 win over Buffalo.

The Rematch in the Playoffs

Jan. 3, 1993 Houston at Buffalo (The Famous Bills Comeback)

After treating the Bills like Charlie Sheen treats his ex-wives, the Oilers were cocky and confident going into the rematch. Even with Buffalo’s starters playing, Houston had dominated the week before.

The first 33 minutes of the playoff game looked to be the same as the regular season as Houston jumped out to a 35-3 lead. Yes, you read that correctly, it was 35-3 in the third quarter.

So how is this good for Bengals fans, weren’t the Bengals and Bills in the same position?

Lets cue Frank Reich, the Buffalo offense and the best comeback in NFL history.

Over the next nine minutes, Reich throws four touchdown passes (three of them to Andre Reed) and combined with a one-yard Kenneth Davis TD run, Buffalo actually took the lead in the fourth quarter.

The game would go to overtime, but I wouldn’t be telling this story if the Bills lost.

Bills kicker Steve Christie hits a 32-yard field goal in the extra period.

Outcome: Buffalo rides the unbelievable 41-38 win all the way to the Super Bowl.

Example Two

Regular Season

Jan. 2, 2005 Indianapolis at Denver

For Denver it was simple: Win, and you’re in (sound familiar Jets fans?). For the Colts it was also simple: Do whatever the hell you want.

The Colts knew that if they lost, they would definitely play Denver. They also knew that if they won, Denver would be eliminated and they would face a Jaguars team that had already beat them this season (Ironically, the Bengals knew if they beat the Jets, they would play a Texans team that had already beaten them handily).

Let’s make a long story short, Peyton Manning sat and all other Colts starters played at least a half.

Outcome: the Broncos qualify for the playoffs by beating the Colts 33-14.

The Rematch in the Playoffs

Jan. 9, 2005, Denver at Indianapolis

In the first round of the playoffs the Broncos got an unhealthy dose of Peyton Manning. Everyone’s favorite MasterCard spokesman threw four touchdown passes and it was 35-3 Colts by halftime.

After trashing Indy one week earlier, the Broncos all of the sudden looked like a blind kid trying to take a written version of the SAT. They had no answers as the Colts rolled to a 49-24 win.

So what does of all of this mean? Well, on one hand it means absolutely nothing.

However, on the other hand, we’re merely pointing out that no team has ever won a playoff rematch on the road after winning the regular season game at home a week earlier.

For your reading pleasure, here are the results of all nine matchups involving teams playing in consecutive weeks since 1990. Regular season game in orange, playoff game in black.

Team that loses in regular season is 5-4 all-time in consecutive week rematches:

1991
Chiefs 27, Raiders 21
Chiefs 10, Raiders 6

1992
Oilers 27, Bills 3
Bills 41, Oilers 38 Overtime

1993 (Two Examples)
Lions 30, Packers 20
Packers 28, Lions 24

Raiders 33, Broncos 30 Overtime
Raiders 42, Broncos 24

1997
Patriots 14, Dolphins 12
Patriots 17, Dolphins 3

2000
Rams 26, Saints 21
Saints 31, Rams 28

2001 (Two Examples)
Jets 24, Raiders 22
Raiders 38, Jets 24

Eagles 17, Buccaneers 13
Eagles 31, Buccaneers 9

2004
Broncos 33, Colts 14
Colts 49, Broncos 24

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Celebrating a Cincinnati Bengal: Chris Henry’s Top Five Games

Published: December 17, 2009

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As Bengals fans mourn today, lets take a look back at the times when hearing Chris Henry’s name put a smile on our faces. Here are my five favorite games from Henry’s career.

Games are in chronological order.

The Coming Out Party (Oct. 9, 2005 at Jacksonville)

It was Sunday night football for the Bengals and rookie Chris Henry showed a national television audience just how how talented he was.

The former West Virginia Mountaineer caught three balls for 85 yards. Henry’s final catch of the night was a 25-yard fourth quarter touchdown pass from Carson Palmer that cut the Jaguar lead to 23-20. Henry also had a 47-yard catch in the game.

Cincinnati would lose the game, but Bengals fans and players alike knew that they had a lethal weapon on their hands.

The Playoff Game (Jan. 1, 2006 vs. Pittsburgh)

After a 15-year absence from the NFL playoffs, Bengals fans were clamoring for a win when the hated Steelers came to town for a Wild Card game.

This wasn’t a necessarily a big game for Chris, but for Bengals fans across the country, this is his stand out moment. The one he’ll always be remembered for. On the first play from scrimmage, a play 15-years in the postseason making for Bengals fans, Carson Palmer unloaded a 66-yard bomb down field to his rookie wide receiver.

Henry, like he had done all season, hauled in the long ball and the stadium went crazy. That is, until everyone looked back and saw Palmer on the ground. To this day, Bengals point to this Henry-to-Palmer play and ask, “What if?”

Tearing Up the Steel Curtain (Sep. 24, 2006 at Pittsburgh)

In the second quarter of this bitter rivalry game, Chris Henry gave the Steeler defense a third Bengal receiver to worry about.

As the Steelers keyed in on T.J. Houshmanzadeh and Chad Johnson, Carson Palmer found a new favorite toy. Palmer hit Henry with two second quarter touchdown passes. The first one, from 16-yards out, tied the game at seven. The second one gave the Bengals a 14-7 lead.

Cincinnati would need each and every score that Henry provided as the Bengals would only hold on to win 28-20. Henry finished the game with five catches for 69 yards and the two touchdowns.

New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31, 2006 vs. Pittsburgh)

With the Bengals fighting for their playoff lives in the 2006 season finale, Chris Henry came to play.

Once again the Steeler defense keyed in on the Bengals’ two biggest playmakers, Housh and Chad. And once again, Henry exploited it. This time to the tune of 124 yards. The biggest play of the day for Henry was a 66-yard touchdown pass from Palmer that gave the Bengals a 10-7 fourth quarter lead.

Unfortunately for Henry and Bengals fans, the 124-yard, four-catch effort would be in vain as Pittsburgh would win 23-20 in overtime.

Henry’s Importance to the Offense (Oct. 11, 2009 at Baltimore)

For the past six weeks, Bengals fans have been wondering where the offense has gone. This October 2009 game against Baltimore proves all you need to know about Henry: he was vital to the team’s air attack.

In a game where he didn’t score, Henry hauled in three catches for 92 yards. More importantly, it was Palmer’s biggest passing day of the year. It’s probably not a coincidence that Palmer’s most productive day came on Henry’s biggest.

Favorite Chris Henry memory, share it below.

(For more on Chris Henry, check out It’s Never Sunny in Cincinnati )

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Bengals-Raiders: Bo Knows Raiders Have Dominated This Series

Published: November 20, 2009

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Bengals and Raiders fans: grab a five hour energy drink, your favorite fur coat, and an eye patch and get ready to relive the most exciting three games in series history.

(Writer’s note: males are only allowed to wear fur coats if they are crazy, old, have dementia, or are near death, all of which describe Raiders’ owner Al Davis, pictured below).

And when I say get ready to relive the three most exciting games in history, I’m slightly exaggerating.

These two teams never play in exciting games against each other. It’s like watching two blind people play tennis, only less fun.

However, after a week of looking, I think I’ve found three fun games.

Fact to impress drunk people with: Bengals all-time leading scorer Jim Breech spent 13 of his 14 career NFL seasons in Cincinnati. The one that wasn’t in Cincinnati: Breech’s rookie year of 1979, which he spent with Oakland.

All-Time Series: Raiders lead 17-8 in regular season (will be 17-9 after Sunday) and 2-0 in the playoffs.

Lets get to the countdown:

3. Sept. 13, 1992, at Cincinnati

Bengal legends Harold Green and Derek Fenner (pictured) both scored touchdowns in this game, but it almost wasn’t enough for the win.

A one-yard touchdown run by Marcus Allen late in the fourth quarter tied the game at 21 and sent it to overtime.

Most teams hate overtime, but not the Bengals, because their kicker at the time was Mr. “NFL record for overtime kicks” Jim Breech.

Breech nailed a 34-yard field goal in the sudden death period, sending the Bengals and rookie head coach Dave Shula to 2-0.

And yes, you read that correctly, Dave Shula started a season 2-0. And it would have been 3-0 if not for this game, involving this person that I really want to do this to.

Result: Bengals 24, Raiders 21

2. Dec. 28, 1975, at Oakland

The Bengals traveled to Oakland in 1975 for only the third playoff game in franchise history. The mighty Raiders had gone 12-2 in the regular season, but Bengals fans had high hopes for this game. Why? Because one of the Raider’s two losses came at the hands of Cincinnati.

Not to mention, the Bengals themselves had finished the regular season with the highest winning percentage in team history (.783) with an 11-3 record.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, for three quarters, the Bengals looked a lot like the 2009 Cleveland Browns

Early in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati found themselves trailing 31-14.

Game over? Not so fast, my friend.

Ken Anderson threw fourth quarter touchdown passes to Issac Curtis and Charlie Joiner to cut the Raider lead to 31-28.

On Oakland’s next possession, JaMarcus Russell wasn’t the quarterback—or born yet for that matter—but the Raiders still executed a Russell-like drive by going three-and-out.

The Bengals then got the ball back with a chance to win or tie.

Or neither.

Cincy would go four-and-out and watch their franchise playoff record fall to 0-3.

Result: Raiders 31, Bengals 28

1. Jan. 13, 1991, at Los Angeles

This game put Tecmo out of business and ruined Nike’s sweetest ad campaign ever.

And we have Kevin Walker to thank.

In the second half of a tantalizingly close game, Walker ended Bo Jackson’s football career with a tackle that damaged Bo’s hip.

This game was also exhibit A for why Bo was unstoppable in Tecmo Super Bowl. In the three quarters preceding the injury, Jackson had racked up 77 yards on six carries.

We can probably all agree that if Bo doesn’t get injured, Tecmo Super Bowl would have sold six billion copies, and the Madden franchise would have never started.

No Madden means Playstation 2 would have never existed, which means Playstation 3 wouldn’t be here, which means that X-box would be a cool name for a dog, but not a video game machine, and everyone in the world would be dead. So, Kevin Walker single-handedly stopped the apocalypse, amazing.

Lets get back to the game though. After Jackson went out with his team up 10-3, the Bengals came back and tied it in the fourth.

However, the Raiders would score 10 more points to win the game.

The most embarrassing part of the loss is that Jay Schroeder was the Raider quarterback at the time.

Say that again: “Jay Schroeder.”

There are paper plates with more talent than Schroeder.

Result: Raiders 20, Bengals 10

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Cincinnati Bengals’ Post-Bye Schedule Has Playoffs Written All Over It

Published: October 29, 2009

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Five-and-a-half months ago, I put together this AFC North preview.

In case you’re too lazy to click on it, I had the teams finishing like this:

Pittsburgh 12-4
Cincinnati 10-6
Baltimore 8-8
Cleveland 6-10, 4-12 (I predicted six wins, but then I couldn’t find six wins on Cleveland’s schedule, so a day later, I lowered the prediction to four.)

Now that the Bengals are headed into the bye week, it’s time to do two things: 1. Pat myself on the back for being so smart; 2. Predict the rest of the schedule.

Before I look at the Bengals’ nine remaining games, I have some good news and some bad news.

The Good News: Marvin Lewis has a 15-9-1 career record in November—although I still believe that the tie should have counted as two wins for the Bengals, mainly because Ryan Fitzpatrick was our quarterback, plus it came against a playoff team.

The Bad News: Lewis is 1-4-1 coming off a bye week. There is a silver lining to the bad news though. The one win off the bye just happened to come in 2003 against—you guessed it—the same team the Bengals play coming off the bye this year, the Ravens.

So are the Bengals going to make the playoffs? Do they have any shot at the Super Bowl? Let’s look at their remaining schedule.

(By the way, does the Super Bowl logo at right look orange and black to anyone else? Is this a good thing? Can the Bengals just have the Lombardi Trophy now?)

Nov. 8 and 15: Ravens and Steelers

These two games are lumped together for one reason: The Bengals are not going to lose both of them.

Dustin Diamond will win an Academy Award for playing Screech Powers in a movie about the Holocaust before the Bengals lose both of these games.

This team is too good to lose two games in a row. Will they lose to the Steelers? Maybe. Will they lose to the Ravens? Possibly—but they will not lose to both of these teams. Bengals record on Nov. 16: 6-3.

Nov. 22: Bengals at Raiders

The problem for the Raiders is that if Helen Keller were still alive and they signed her, she would be an upgrade at quarterback. Bengals improve to 7-3.

Nov. 29: Browns at Bengals

If Browns coach Eric Mangini was a hostage negotiator, everyone would be dead in under three minutes. Bengals up their record to 8-3.

Dec. 6: Lions at Bengals

Raise your hand if you know when the Lions last beat the Bengals. We’ll give you a hint: Barry Sanders scored a touchdown, and Beverly Hills 90210 was our favorite show on TV. If you guessed Nov. 22, 1992, slap yourself for knowing too much. Bengals claw their way to 9-3.

Dec. 13: Bengals at Vikings

Brett Favre should be just injured enough by week 14 to be absolutely useless (just ask the 2008 Jets). Bengals hold All-Day Adrian Peterson to 68 yards and improve to 10-3.

Dec. 20: Bengals at Chargers

Putting the Bengals on the West Coast is like putting a mail bomb in Ted Kaczynski’s hands and asking him not to blow anyone up. The Chargers are always desperate for a win by this point in the season. Bengals fall to 10-4.

Dec. 27: Chiefs at Bengals

Larry Johnson is a f@g. Well, actually he called someone that and now he probably won’t be playing football the rest of the season, but you have to admit, that’s a pretty cool way he’s sporting his hat in the picture below. Bengals win and improve to 11-4.

Jan. 3: Bengals at Jets

It’s the last regular season game ever at the Meadowlands. If the Bengals can’t improve their playoff positioning and this game has no meaning, then they’re going to lose. It’s that simple. Let’s drop them to 11-5.

Oh, and the rest of the AFC North: The Steelers are going to go 12-4 or 11-5. The Ravens are going 9-7 or 8-8, and the Browns—well, who cares what the Browns do, although I think we can all agree that their win total won’t go above four.

And Bengals fans, flights to Miami aren’t getting any cheaper.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

The Five Most Gut Punching Cincinnati Bengals Losses Of All Time

Published: September 16, 2009

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(Most Bengals fans would love to knock the smile off of Joe Montana’s [pictured right] face)

For most NFL fan bases, losing a game on an 87-yard tipped touchdown pass would probably be the low point in franchise history.

Not in Cincinnati though. Nightmares happen here more often than on Elm Street.

The truth is that no Cincinnati fan over the age of six actually thought the game was over after Cedric Benson’s touchdown.

With 38 seconds left in the game, I swear to David Klingler I had this exact thought:

“I bet Orton throws a high liner for Marshall that Leon Hall tips into the air, it will be caught by Brandon Stokely, who hasn’t had a catch all day and he’ll scamper 87-yards for a touchdown.”

OK, so I didn’t think that. I was thinking more along the lines of, “I bet Matt Prater makes a 68-yard field goal left-footed with no shoe on.”

Hopefully you get the point here, Bengals fans have very active imaginations when it comes to ways to lose a game.

Anyway, let’s get to the five most gut punching losses ever. Please get out the puke bucket because your stomach is going to get queasy….

Honorable Mention

Sept. 19, 1976 at Baltimore—28-27

Maybe the Bengals should just forfeit weeks one and two to make things easier on the fans. In week two of 1976, the Bengals watch their 27-21 lead disappear late in the fourth quarter on a Roosevelt Leaks two-yard touchdown run.

Cincinnati would finish 10-4 and out of the playoffs. The Colts would go 11-3 and be the last team in.

Jan. 24, 1982, Super Bowl XVI

The Bengals first foray into the big game almost turned into embarrassment when they found themselves down 20-0 at halftime. However, the Bengals came within inches of a miraculous third quarter comeback.

On first-and-goal from the one, Cincinnati had four chances to punch the ball in for a touchdown that would have left the 49er lead at 20-14.

However, this is the Bengals, so we all know what happens. Bengals don’t get in, 49ers end up winning 26-21.

Sept. 13, 2009 vs. Broncos—12-7

You know what happened. The immaculate deflection. Lets just say that historically, the Bengals do not respond well to adversity. See the past 18 seasons for reference.

Sept. 12, 1999 vs. Tennessee—36-35

On opening day 1999, the Bengals managed to blow a 35-26 lead in the fourth quarter. Al Del Greco hit the game winner as time trickled down.

Dec. 31, 2006 vs. Pittsburgh—23-17, OT

Mr. Almost Always Automatic Shayne Graham goes wide on a 39-yard attempt that would have put the Bengals in the playoffs. This is probably just as painful as game number five on the list, but number five shows off Bengal ineptitude, which no other franchise can match.

5. Dec. 24, 2006 at Denver

99 percent of Bengals fans had a flashback to this game on Sunday.

Either you did it after Brad St. Louis botched the snap on the first half field goal. Or you kept saying to yourself after Cedric Benson’s touchdown, “They’re going to screw up the extra point, I just know it.”

We all remember this Christmas Eve classic. St. Louis and holder Kyle Larsen look like they’ve never held or snapped a ball in their lives. Blah, blah, blah, read this post for the rest of the story.

Bottom line: this game costs Cincinnati a playoff spot, Bengals lose 24-23.

4. TIE: October 30, 1994 vs. Dallas and October 20, 1996 at San Francisco

I think you’ll notice that the 49ers are on this list 17 times.

Anyway, in the Dallas game, the 0-8 Bengals are 17-point underdogs to the defending Super Bowl champs.

Jeff “Shake n” Blake comes out firing and hits Darnay Scott with two long touchdown passes (67, 55) as the Bengals shoot out to a 14-0 lead. Um, lets see, how does this game end again?

How about Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol hitting a late fourth quarter field goal for a 23-20 Cowboys win.

The 49ers-Bengals game also involves a bomb or two to Darnay Scott. Only this time the Bengals would jump out to a 21-0 lead.

Then Steve Young, who, if you believe the announcers, was dying of cancer in the second half, made a miraculous comeback.

49ers win 28-21 with a fourth quarter touchdown, Young is called a hero, a trooper, and he probably would have been named Pope if he wasn’t Mormon.

3. September 20, 1987 at Cincinnati vs. San Francisco

Former Bengals kicker Jim Breech is going to love this list because three of the five losses listed cost him fame, fortune and probably his own Cessna.

In this game that most fans don’t remember and pretty much is the equivalent of getting hit in the face with a tire iron, Breech hit four field goals (23, 42, 41, 46) including two in the fourth quarter that gave Cincy a 26-20 lead.

With six seconds showing on the clock, the Bengals had the ball on their own 31.

Coach Sam Wyche didn’t want to risk a blocked punt, so he had running back James Brooks run a sweep. The thought being that the speedy Brooks could run out six seconds.

But this is the Bengals, so we all know that didn’t happen.

Brooks loses six yards and is tripped up at the 25-yard line with one second left.

That turns out to be all the time Joe Montana needs to hit Jerry Rice for a game-winning touchdown.

Ray Wersching’s extra point means the 49ers escape Riverfront with a 27-26 win. If you’re looking for a gut punching last second loss where there is no time left on the clock, this is it.

2. September 20, 1992 at Green Bay (Sept. 20 must be cursed. This game, the game above. None of this bodes well for this Sunday’s game.)

I won’t go into detail here about this game because I’ve written about it here on b/r. Let’s just say Bengals kicker Jim Breech hits a 41-yard field goal to give Cincy a 23-17 lead with 1:11 showing on the clock.

The ensuing kickoff leaves the Pack at their own 8-yard line.

What do the Packers have going against them?

Top receiver Sterling Sharpe goes out one play into the drive thanks to an injury. Starting quarterback Don Majkowski had already gone down in the first half, so Green Bay needed their backup quarterback (a second year castoff from Atlanta) to drive them 92 yards which is the equivalent of putting a homeless guy in a chemistry lab and asking him to cure AIDS.

What do you think happens? It’s the Bengals, and it’s the game that makes Brett Favre a legend. Packers 24-23.

Even more heartbreaking, the Bengals were 2-0 going into this game. They would finish the season 5-11.

1. Super Bowl XXIII (I’ll let YouTube explain this one)

But lets just say, Jim Breech makes his cameo appearance with 3:16 left in this game when he hits a 40-yard field goal to put the team up 16-13.

Bengals fans get happy.

Bengals fans realize they will probably lose.

Bengals fans knew this was coming, so crying was kept to a minimum.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Hit with Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Published: July 21, 2009

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If bad news keeps following him around after Super Bowl victories, Ben Roethlisberger may not ever want to win another Lombardi Trophy.

Everyone remembers Roethlisberger’s motorcycle accident in the offseason following Super Bowl XL. This offseason has brought a new surprise: a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Pro Football Talk (an NBC affiliate) has confirmed that a casino employee in Nevada has levied five charges against Roethlisberger. The Steelers’ QB was served with the suit this weekend while playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada.

The two-time Super Bowl winner is being charged with one civil count of assault, one civil account of sexual assault and battery, one civil account of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, and one civil account of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The complainant, Andrea McNulty, claims that in July 2008 she was called up to Roethlisberger’s room to fix a television. While she was up there, McNulty claims Roethlisberger forced her to have sex with him.

Roethlisberger’s lawyer David Cornwall vehemently denied the allegations in this statement that was released late Monday night:

“This weekend Andrea McNulty served Ben Roethlisberger with a civil complaint accusing him of sexually assaulting her in July 2008. Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct.

“If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated. Ben will not be baited into a public discussion about his personal life, but we will defend him vigorously. The limited value that Ms. McNulty derived from public disclosure of these viciously false allegations is the only value she will ever receive from Ben in this case.”

Cornwall makes a solid case for the innocence of his client. The first and most obvious question is: If Roethlisberger is actually guilty, why didn’t McNulty file criminal charges? Why go straight after his money?

Keep in mind, these are civil charges. This means that if Roethlisberger was found guilty, the court could only financially punish him, and there would be no jail time.

Details of the allegations became available Tuesday morning and they go as follows:

McNulty claims that Roethlisberger was walking a woman out of his room to an elevator. After the girl reached the elevator, Roethlisberger chatted it up with several Harrah’s employee’s, including McNulty.

Roethlisberger allegedly told McNulty that the sound sysytem on his TV wasn’t workin. McNulty told Ben that she would send someone to fix it, but he asked that she do it.

When McNulty couldn’t find anyone to send to the room to repair the television, Harrah’s staff allegedly told her to go so that Roethlisberger would have no comlaints about his stay.

McNulty says that Roethlisberger was in a T-shirt and athetic short and that after she tested the TV and sound system, she found nothing to be wrong.

The suit then says that as McNulty tried to exit the room, Roethlisberger, “grabbed [her] and started to kiss her.”

McNulty says that Roethlisberger fondled her, pushed her into the bed and then did the deed. She claims she “communicated her objection and lack of consent.” She even says she told him, “you don’t want to do this.”

When Roethlisberger asked if there were cameras in the room and McNulty answered, “Yes,” Roethisberger allegedly became stern, telling her, “If anyone asks, you fixed my television. You fixed my television, now go.”

The alleged incident is said to have taken place on Friday, July 11, 2008.

According to Washoe County’s web site, the charges were filed Friday, July 17 at 3:55 p.m., the summons for Roethlisberger was issued three minutes later.

The eight other defendants in the case are: Debbie Neall, Mike Rosenow, Dave Monroe, Mark Masters, Guy Hyder, John Koster, Stacy Dingman (former director of hotel operations at Harrah’s), and Bryan Casuscelli (marketing staffer at Harrah’s).

The big questions for Steelers fans is: If Ben is innocent, will the charges mess with his head as he trains for the upcoming season?

Bengals Kicker Shayne Graham Vents Contract Frustrations on Facebook

Published: July 17, 2009

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It looks like Chad Ochocinco isn’t the only Cincinnati Bengals player utilizing social networking services. Kicker Shayne Graham is getting in on the action too.

Since being hit with the franchise tag back in February, Graham has been relatively quiet as he and his agent Rob Roche have attempted to negotiate a long-term contract with the Bengals.

Back in May, Graham talked to the Cincinnati Enquirer about his one-year, $2.483 franchise deal: “It’s a lot of money for one year, but having that certainty of a long-term deal gives you a little more security.”

Graham, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, has not spoken with the Enquirer about the situation since then.

Earlier this month, Graham gave Bengals.com a short quote on his frustrations with how the negotiations were going.

“There hasn’t been any progress since [last year],” Graham told the team’s official website. “I’ve given up making predictions. I never thought I would be the franchise player, but it will work itself out.”

Graham may have been spinning things for the Bengals website, because only two hours after the 4 p.m. July 15 deadline passed for teams to lock up tagged players, Graham had this to say via Facebook (suggesting things might not work out):

“How can a team give you the franchise tag showing your value to them, but not agree to a long-term deal because they want a discount. Makes no sense. Uugggghh.”

Over 20 of Graham’s 850 friends commented on the situation, and one even said, “sounds like this is your last year in cinci.”

The friend’s comment wouldn’t be relevant except that Graham didn’t deny anything his friends suggested.

His response to many of them [and I’m paraphrasing all of his comments into one here] was, “I’ll play out this year and we’ll see what happens.”

Graham is obviously unhappy with his situation.

Historically, the Bengals have been kind to kickers, as they’ve only had four since 1981 (although there were instances, like during Graham’s injury last season, where another kicker played for a game or two).

However, the team seems unwilling to give Graham the contract he wants.

The Bengals have a history of shortchanging everyone from players to fans to N’Sync (they tried to charge the boy band for some messed-up grass after a concert earlier this decade).

It’s hard not to be on the side of the Bengals’ red-headed rightie.

**Update: Citing two anonymous sources and not Shayne Graham, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Joe Reedy claims that this profile is fake. I strongly disagree, Graham has several of his high school friends on this profile and one girl that we both know. I am 99.9 percent sure this is a real profile. **

**Update II: I exchanged emails with Joe Reedy from the Cincinnati Enquirer. He feels strongly about his sources, I sent him some evidence, the bottom line is we both agreed that the other person could potentially be correct, Reedy changed his headline to ‘Shayne Graham Facebook Rumor.’ He was very professional and I’ll still be following him as he covers the Bengals for the Enquirer this year.**

(The picture above is the screen grab from Graham’s profile. To see it more clearly and to read about how his negotiations with Bengals management may have gone, you can check out my blog. Click on the picture in the blog to see it clearly.)

Wipe Away the Tears, Please: CBSSports, Bleacher Report Got It Right

Published: July 15, 2009

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If you’ve been making your away around b/r over the past two months, chances are you’ve probably heard the combination of the following three words used together a few times: CBSsports, Correspondent, and NFL.

Back in May, b/r announced that they were teaming up with CBSsports to form the NFL Correspondent’s network. The plan, in theory, was that CBSsports was going to hire 32 b/r writers to fill these positions.

What actually happened?

CBSsports hired 16 b/r writers and 16 qualified individuals from outside of the b/r network. Of the 16 from b/r, only 14 were able to accept the job due to personal circumstances.

Minutes after the results were announced, people on this site began to cry like a teenage girl who had just seen Titanic for the first time.

People were acting like CBSsports went Tonya Harding on them and ruined their writing future.

One article even states that b/r applicants were burned by CBS.

Here’s the bottom line: everyone that’s not bitter about losing should be happy right now. The network that owns the rights to televise AFC football games almost hired you. Your work was looked at by a staff of professional writers.

For anyone that’s still fuming about this, let me put this as succinctly as possible: You have absolutely no sense about the current state of journalism/sports journalism in this country.

Let me fill you in quickly.

Newspapers are closing their doors at record rates. This means that the market is being deluged with sports writers that are better than you, better than me, and better than most.

I’m a 27-year-old sports editor for a suburban Atlanta paper. When we put a job posting on an Internet board recently, we had over 100 applications before we even knew what was going on.

I was interviewing guys with way more experience than myself and this was for a job that was only going to pay $475 a week.

Now what happened here is product of this supply and demand chain. I can almost guarantee you that CBSsports had no idea that so many qualified journalists would be willing to work for $400/week. As we all know, that’s just not a lot of money.

Originally, CBS probably said to themselves, “Let’s team with b/r, find some fans that write well and will work for $400 and we’ll probably get some good publicity in the process.”

Now here is where CBS went wrong. The market is saturated with great writers right now. Had CBS known this, I doubt they would have even done this competition and NO ONE at b/r would have gotten a job. CBS obviously realized their mistake and told b/r that they wanted to go a more professional route.

It seems that b/r understood, to an extent.

I believe b/r probably negotiated that half the writers be from b/r and half be professional. In this instance, both companies win. The 16 writers hired from b/r are guys that probably would never had a chance to cover an NFL team in their lives.

The only people that have reason to be mad are the two finalists for each team where a professional was hired. Unless you were a finalist (finalists got an e-mail June 8 and returned a contract that week), you should have no bone to pick.

The crazy thing here is that b/r thought of this, they knew some of their best writers were going to get snubbed (this may explain the delay in the announcement of who won). The b/r brain trust probably said, “Wow, people are going to be pissed that CBS is giving 16 jobs to professionals, how do we rectify this so that we don’t alienate some of our best writers?”

What does b/r do? They offer a $500 check to any finalist that was displaced by a professional writer. This means if you were going for the Falcons job and a b/r writer got the position, you don’t get a check because you lost fairly.

If you were going for the Bills job and a CBS guy got the post, then you got a check.

This is all written in an e-mail by b/r CEO Dan Kelly that was sent out by Rory Brown on July 14.

For those of you that think you were at a disadvantage because you didn’t apply directly through CBS like the professionals, you’re wrong.

Let me tell you this. CBS would have thrown your resume right out the window if you had no journalism experience, and trust me when I say your college newspaper would not count.

Your masters in English would have meant something if they wanted you to review the next Harry Potter movie, but it wouldn’t help you get a beat writing job.

Thanks to b/r, guys with little or no experience at least had a shot at these jobs.

And trust me, this would have been a great job for anyone on this site. As a beat writer, you make invaluable connections and sometimes even better friendships.

The CBSsports winners that do a good job this season will surely be hired for future projects.

Now, it may have been intern pay, but this was not a glorified intern job, that’s the reason so many pros applied, it’s the real deal. NFL beat writer is one of the hardest jobs in the country to land.

And for anyone that has a complaint because CBS changed the rules; it’s their competition, they’re signing the paychecks, they can do what they want.

Think about it, if you (the entrant) viewed this as a job application, then you can’t be mad that CBS hired the best person available.

If you viewed it as a contest, let me just say that the lottery is a contest too, no successful person has ever planned their life around winning a contest, why? Because there is too much chance involved.

Let me sum this up as nicely as possible: If you’re still mad, go change your diaper, wipe away the tears and get on with your life.

(In case you’re wondering, b/r did not give me a car, a free hooker, and or a lifetime supply of ShamWows to write this. I applied for the Bengals position, I was a finalist. I am 100 percent content with the way the contest/job application process went.)

One final note, I do disagree with the fact the b/r has deleted a lot of the criticism pertaining to the competition, I read many of them and that’s actually what compelled me to write this.