Bengals pounce on Browns' slipup for stunning win on Astini News
CLEVELAND -- Bruce Gradkowski looked up field and couldn't believe his eyes. There was nothing, just green grass and rookie receiver A.J. Green.
With a sudden snap, the Bengals had fooled Cleveland's defense, leaving them flat-footed and out of position. Now, it was up to Cincinnati's quarterback to complete the sneaky trick.
"I said, 'Oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding me'," Gradkowski, a Seton-LaSalle graduate, said.
The Browns were just as shocked.
Gradkowski caught Cleveland's defense still in the huddle and quickly lobbed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Green in the fourth quarter, giving the whatever-it-takes Bengals a stunning 27-17 victory against the Browns to spoil a sloppy debut in Cleveland's first game under coach Pat Shurmur.
"The play is designed to catch them napping," said Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who put the Browns away with a 39-yard run in the final minutes. "We caught them napping."
Green, who hadn't caught a pass all game, was left uncovered by the Browns, who were still huddled up when the Bengals lined up.
After taking a shotgun snap, Gradkowski, on in relief of injured rookie starter Andy Dalton, looked toward a wide-open Green streaking down the right side.
Green felt as if he was dreaming. "I thought, 'Ball, please get down and into my hands,'" the speedy first-round pick said.
"It's one of the slowest balls I've ever seen. It was one of the toughest catches I've ever had because I had so long to think about it. It took forever to get to me."
Green hauled it in and sprinted untouched into the end zone to shock the Browns and their fans. Cleveland fell to 1-12 in season openers since 1999.
Shurmur isn't convinced what the Bengals did was legal.
"They quick snapped us," Shurmur said. "I'll have to watch the tape, but it's my understanding they changed personnel, lined up and then quick snapped. There's rules that go along with that, so we'll see."
The play was equally surprising for the Bengals, who jumped in celebration at the improbable touchdown.
"We just got lucky," said center Kyle Cook. "I think they knew they screwed up. We just called it at the right time."
Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown thought the Bengals got away with one.
"We were still in the defensive huddle when they snapped the ball," he said. "It happened so fast, all I know there was a lot of people running wide open down the field."
Considered by some to be the NFL's worst team, and with quarterback Carson Palmer sitting out in a standoff with ownership, the Bengals somehow won their first opener since 2007.
"Every once in a while you lose a game that makes you feel sick to your stomach," Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said.
"This is definitely one of those games."
BENGALS 27
BROWNS 17
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First published on September 12, 2011 at 1:06 am
