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Bob Hunter commentary: Bengals uncover gem in Leonard
Monday, September 28, 2009 3:07 AM
By Bob Hunter
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CINCINNATI -- After eight straight losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paul Brown Stadium, it seems odd that the Bengals would break the streak the way they did.
Fourth-and-10 from the Steelers' 15-yard line with 36 seconds left. Bengals down 20-15 and down to one play. Carson Palmer drops back to pass, one failed play from another double-shot of heartache. He goes through his progressions until he finally gets to the last one, on that play and maybe on the roster.
Running back Brian Leonard, who by his own admission had only been in on "four or five offensive plays" all day, catches the pass short of the first down, gets hit and lunges the last 3 yards to keep Cincinnati alive.
"I was a checkdown," Leonard said. "Obviously, Carson went through all of them and found me last, and I'm getting the first down."
After a spike to stop the clock, Palmer hits Andre Caldwell, who caught 11 passes all last season, on a 4-yard TD pass and then Leonard -- again -- for the two-point conversion
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Meet the new Bengals, 23-20 winners over the Steelers and a team Marvin Lewis likes because they're "a bunch of castoffs" and "grinders." And in this group, Leonard, who played all of two games for the St. Louis Rams last year, might just be the biggest grinder of them all.
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