[Underdog]

Bengals Receiver Impressed By Dallas Secondary


IRVING, Texas - Carson Palmer is a former No. 1 overall pick, and his two wide receivers may form the best tandem in the league. Those guys are good, even if things haven't gone their team's way this season.

There's no shame in allowing Palmer to throw for 217 yards and a couple scores. T.J. Houshmandzadeh had big fantasy numbers with seven catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. But, how big of an impact did he really have?

And where was Chad Johnson during the game? Three catches for 43 yards and no scores - with a game like that, the midfield star he threatened to smooch might not have kissed back.

Some things could have been better, but in the end, the Cowboys can't really complain much about their pass defense. Palmer was just 23-of-39, and threw an interception on the first play. An 80.8 quarterback rating is nothing special, and the pass rush finally got to him twice on Cincinnati's final drive. But the main thing the secondary did right?

No big plays. The Bengals biggest gain through the air was a desperation 25-yarder to Houshmandzadeh on their last drive. Where was the receiver running free behind the defense, though? Braylon Edwards, DeSean Jackson, Donald Driver and Santana Moss all got open long against the Cowboys in successive games, but on Sunday there was nothing deep.

The team's defensive coaches have taken plenty of criticism for being unwilling to man up the superior athletes the team has at cornerback and press opposing receivers, but Houshmandzadeh said the Cowboys were better off allowing he and Johnson to have as much room as they did.

"Pressing a receiver has its pluses and its minuses," Houshmandzadeh said. "If you press them and you do well, it's a great job. If you press them and you get beat for a touchdown, why are you pressing them?

"If they would have pressed us, that's what would have happened."

Both Bengals receivers expressed a lot of love for Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart during the week leading up to the game. Stewart tried to recruit Houshmandzadeh to Missouri when the receiver was coming out of junior college and the two have kept in contact since they both reached the NFL. Stewart's contacts at Oregon State have kept him in contact with Johnson for years.

Stewart, Wade Phillips and the Cowboys defensive staff have maintained all along they were better off running multiple coverages, and Houshmandzadeh agreed.

"A lot of teams kind of play the same coverage," the receiver said. "Stew's smart enough to where he's going to mix it up and that's what they did, and when you have the kind of defensive players they have, you can do that."