Saints-Bengals Preview

THIS WEEK: Fresh off a dramatic 30-27 road victory on Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys, the Saints (8-3) will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to battle the Bengals (2-9) at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 5 at Noon CT.

TELEVISION: The game will be televised on FOX. Ron Pitts will handle play by play and John Lynch is the color analyst. The game will air in the New Orleans area on FOX 8 and in Baton Rouge on WGMB Channel 44. The game also airs on KADN in Lafayette, WDBD in Jackson, MS and WXXV in the Mississippi Coast.

RADIO: Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan will call the game on the Saints Radio Network with Kristian Garic on the Saints sidelines. The game will air live on Saints Radio Network originating on WWL 105.3 FM and 870 AM, with pre and post-game analysis. The radio pregame and postgame shows will feature former Saints Steve Korte and Bobby Hebert as well as host Deke Bellavia.

SPANISH RADIO: Saints 2010 games air in Spanish on radio station La Fabulosa, WFNO 830 AM. Emilio Peralta and Marco Garcia handle announcing duties.

SERIES: The Saints and Bengals have met 11 times in the regular season, with Cincinnati holding a 6-5 edge. The Bengals have won the last three contests. The two teams first faced off in 1970, as the Saints lost 26-6 at Riverfront Stadium. The teams did not meet again for five years, when the two teams christened the Superdome for the first regular season game, 21-0 Bengals win. Three years later, the Saints recorded their first win against Cincinnati, a 17-7 win at home. The two clubs split their next two meetings, while the Saints won the next three and then the Bengals have captured the next trio of contests including a 31-16 win in the Superdome on November 19, 2006 in a shootout where the Saints set a franchise record for most yards in a game with 595, including a franchise-record and career-high 504 through the air by QB Drew Brees and career-high 169 receiving yards for WR Devery Henderson. Four of the games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less.

LAST MEETING: Cincinnati 31, Saints 16 at Louisiana Superdome – The Saints fell to 6-4, undermining their chance at victory with three interceptions and a fumble in Cincinnati territory in a 31-16 Bengals win at the Louisiana Superdome on November 19, 2006.

QB Drew Brees set a club record with 510 passing yards, the sixth-highest total in NFL history and five New Orleans players had over 50 yards receiving. The Bengals took the lead when WR Chad Johnson caught a 41-yard touchdown on the game’s fourth play. The Saints responded with a score on their second drive when WR Joe Horn hauled in a 72-yard touchdown with Brees finding Horn after a lateral from RB Deuce McAllister.

The Bengals broke the tie game with a field goal in the second quarter, a lead they would take in to halftime. Brees was intercepted twice in the second quarter in the end zone, including with 17 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Bengals threatened in the third quarter, but LB Mark Simoneau intercepted QB Carson Palmer in the end zone to end the Bengals’ scoring chances. Following the turnover, the Saints marched 74 yards on 11 plays to set up a 24-yard field goal.

Palmer and Johnson combined twice more for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, once from 60 yards and on the next march from four yards. On the Saints’ next drive, a Brees interception was returned for a touchdown, giving the Bengals a 31-9 advantage. The Saints would add a late touchdown when WR Terrance Copper hauled in a 27-yard scoring pass. Brees would throw for 261 yards over the final two quarters, and 249 yards in the first half.

CONNECTIONS: Head Coach Sean Payton served on the staff at Miami of Ohio from 1994-95. Payton and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer served on the same staff in Dallas from 2003-05. LB Scott Shanle was tutored by Zimmer in Dallas from 2003-05...Strength & conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple played at Miami from 1983-86 and supervised their strength program from 1989-2005...T Zach Strief prepped at Milford (Ohio) High School...S Malcolm Jenkins and DE Will Smith played for Ohio State...WR Lance Moore prepped at Westerville (Ohio) South High School and starred at Toledo University...C Matt Tennant prepped at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati...Tight ends coach Terry Malone and Bengals defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle were on the same staff at Holy Cross in 1985...Director of player programs Fred McAfee and Bengals tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes were teammates in Pittsburgh from 1995-96...Bengals wide receivers coach Mike Sheppard coached in New Orleans from 2002-05, tutoring quarterbacks his first three years before being elevated to coordinator. Sheppard served on defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ staff in Buffalo as his coordinator in 2001. Williams tutored Cincinnati S Reggie Nelson in Jacksonville, where he was teammates with S Pierson Prioleau...Assistant head coach/linebackers Joe Vitt and Bengals quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese served on the same coaching staff in Green Bay in 1999...T Jon Stinchcomb and Bengals DE Robert Geathers were teammates at the University of Georgia. Geather’s uncle, James “Jumpy” Geathers played for the Saints from 1984-89...Cincinnati offensive quality control coach Kyle Caskey served as an assistant at Mississippi in 2009 and as a graduate assistant at Louisiana-Monroe from 2004-05…RB Ladell Betts was tutored by Bengals assistant linebackers/special teams coach Paul Guenther in Washington…DE Alex Brown, Bengals RB Cedric Benson and DT Tank Johnson were teammates in Chicago. TE David Thomas and Benson were college teammates at the University of Texas in 2004 and he later played with Bengals WR Quan Cosby with the Longhorns. RB Julius Jones played with Johnson and Bengals WR Terrell Owens in Dallas. Shanle and Jones also played with Bengals S Roy Williams on the Cowboys. Jones and Cincinnati S Chinedum Ndukwe were teammates at Notre Dame in 2003...QB Chase Daniel and Bengals TE Chase Coffman were college teammates at the University of Missouri...Cincinnati LB Dhani Jones went to training camp with the Saints in 2007. Jones was a teammate of TE Jeremy Shockey in New York from 2002-03. C Jonathan Goodwin played right guard as a freshman at Ohio University in 1997 before transferring to Michigan, where he was a college teammate of Jones…WR Devery Henderson, Bengals G Nate Livings and T Andrew Whitworth were college teammates at LSU from 2002-03. Livings prepped at Washington-Marion (Lake Charles) High School...S Roman Harper, Cincinnati G Evan Mathis and DE Antwan Odom were teammates at the University of Alabama...T Charles Brown, RB Reggie Bush and DT Sedrick Ellis played with Bengals LBs Rey Maualuga and Keith Rivers at the University of Southern California...K Garrett Hartley and Bengals TE Jermaine Gresham were college teammates at the University of Oklahoma.