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Carson Palmer

Posted: 3:50 a.m.

SAN DIEGO - Even the ridiculously focused and unflappable Carson Palmer found himself thinking about Chris Henry now and again during Sunday’s titanic game with the Chargers in the Qualcomm quagmire of sound in which he very nearly engineered his fourth fourth-quarter comeback of the year for the kid from the land of the Fourth Quarter and the Bengals’ second AFC North title in five seasons.

Palmer even tossed the ball in the air with Henry’s signature underhand flip after scoring the first two-point conversion of his career on a quarterback draw that drew the Bengals within 24-21. 

But if it’s one thing the Bengals have learned in this extraordinary season of heroics and heartbreak, it is how quickly life and football can change in the blink of a computer click. On Sunday it was Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers using the last 57 seconds to manufacture Nate Kaeding’s 52-yard field goal with three seconds left that eliminated overtime and the Bengals’ bid for a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.

It was riveting stuff.

Two postseason teams battling for a bye with two Pro Bowl quarterbacks playing like it.

The Bengals’ Shayne Graham, the fourth-most accurate kicker of all time, tying the game with an ice-cold clutch 34-yarder with 57 seconds left, only to see Kaeding, the NFL’s most accurate kicker ever, drill a 52-yarder to win it with three seconds left.

One of Henry’s mentors, Chad Ochocinco, played with his heart on his sleeve before leaving it on the field after scored the first Bengals touchdown with his longest touchdown catch in two years (49 yards) and he set up the other touchdown with the longest run of his career (26).

But it wasn’t enough. To a man, the players thought they were going to overtime for Henry.

“It sucks. It sucks to lose. It sucks to lose a teammate,” said Palmer, sapped after his best passing day in two years brought his team to the brink under the most difficult of circumstances. “There’s not a right way or wrong way to put it. We’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to move on.”

Now the clock is ticking louder and louder for the 9-5 Bengals, who have been a win away from the playoffs for two weeks. They get their third shot for the 10th win that secures the division next week at Paul Brown Stadium against the 3-11 Chiefs.

“We wanted to get it done today. Now we’ve got Kansas City coming in and I saw the score of their game,” said Palmer of the shootout the Browns beat the Chiefs. “They’re going to come in hungry trying to knock us off. We want to win the division in front of our fans, celebrate at home, and get ready for the Jets.”

First the team must attend Henry’s funeral in New Orleans on Tuesday, but The Ocho already honored him after scoring the touchdown when he dropped to his knees into the end zone and said what they always said to each other.

“I was just saying what we would always say before practice or a game,” The Ocho said. “Eighty-five plus 15 equals 100 ways to be great.”

The only thing standing between the Bengals and greatness Sunday was themselves. A horrific third quarter in which the offense committed its obligatory five penalties (three straight before one snap), wide receiver Andre Caldwell’s costly fumble when the Bengals were driving for what could have been a go-ahead touchdown, and cornerback Leon Hall’s lapse at the hands of one of the NFL’s most lethal quarterbacks aided the Chargers’ ninth straight victory.

“That quarter we had all the penalties really hurt us,” Palmer said. “It was a big game for us, a big game for them. But we’ve been pretty good eliminating distractions, blocking out distractions. I thought we were very focused all day. We had one big series where we lost focus ... that definitely hurt us. But we dealt with the situation and we were able to focus on our jobs.”

The emotions were varied but they were electric in the postgame locker room as this team continues to weave a season worthy of the Great American Novel.

Ochocinco was crestfallen.

“We played pretty good, but we still have to play near perfect to win in big games like this,” The Ocho said after not getting a catch in the second half.

After keeping Shawne Merriman away from Palmer long enough to help him post his second highest passer rating of the season (97.3), left tackle Andrew Whitworth was amazed at how his team keeps responding. There have been the sudden deaths of Henry and the wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, as well as the miscarriage suffered by Whitworth’s wife. And yet the Bengals seemingly grind and pound and never go away just when it seems like fate, not to mention the schedule maker, have it in for them.

“I feel a little sad, but I feel real good about this football team and the adversity we've been through this year,” Whitworth said. “We've really grown not only on the field but off it. I think we feel good. We needed to play a good game today and we did on the road against a great team like San Diego, just like we're going to have to do in the playoffs. Now we've got to move on and win the division.

"The main thing we want people to realize is that Chris turned his life around and this team did the same thing. He signifies what we are. He turned his life around when nobody thought he could. And nobody felt this football team could go from (4-11-1) to where we are now.”

After outpitching the NFL’s hottest quarterback (Philip Rivers’ 308 yards and 92.9 were only close), Palmer kept adding up the mistakes.

“We didn’t make enough plays to win the game and we should have,” he said. “I’m not satisfied. Not at all.”

Hall, the San Diego product, also had a bucketful of emotions after his first NFL game in his hometown. He’s having a Pro Bowl-type season, but he had his worst game of the year in giving up two touchdown passes even before the snap before the winning field goal. That’s when he let Chargers receiver Malcom Floyd do exactly what he wasn’t supposed to let him do: Get 15 yards on the sidelines to stop the clock with eight seconds left. Never mind that safety Chinedum Ndukwe’s blitz was only about a whisker late.

Hall said he was playing inside when Floyd made his break to the outside.

“I was playing the inside. I know when I look back on the film I should have had a better break and I've got to contest the ball," he said. “What was it? At the 35, 40? We didn’t want to give him that because we know they’ve got a good kicker.”

After Palmer threw a pick when he led The Ocho too far across the middle at the Bengals 40 in the ugly third quarter, Rivers went after Hall on the second snap after the turnover with wide receiver Vincent Jackson. Hall reacted as if he was going to have some safety help behind him as let Jackson off the line, but Ndukwe was blitzing and Tom Nelson was on the other side of the field.

“I just have to keep sinking on that. I kind of hurt myself early on,” Hall said. “But I was still in position that I kind of had a play on the ball and it’s cut and dried, I have to make the play.”

Hall called it “bittersweet.”

“I was able to see my family yesterday and I’m going to see them now and that’s nice, but the scoreboard said we lost,” Hall said. “It’s tough. We wanted to win the game for the team and for Chris, too, but unfortunately we didn’t.”

The most demanding part of the week may still be on the way. Palmer called the last four days “eerie,” and there is still the Bengals charter flight to Henry’s funeral Tuesday.

“It’s almost surreal. I almost don’t believe it until I see him Tuesday,” Palmer said. “I think it will really hit home for myself and a number of other guys because you’re so far away from it. Your mind really doesn’t grasp the situation until Tuesday when we’re in New Orleans and we pay respect to his family and Chris and the life he lived. It will hit home. At least for me.”

Did Tito Ortiz's return lead to Dan Henderon's possible UFC departure?

With his vicious knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, Dan Henderson

 fulfilled the terms of his previous contract, and a new one doesn't seem likely.
After butting heads with UFC president Dana White, who said

 Henderson's contract demands were "unrealistic," the veteran fighter could sign with a rival organization, most notably Strikeforce.
But when discussing the series of events as an in-studio guest on MMAjunkie.com Radio(www.mmajunkie.com), White pointed to a potential and surprising culprit for Henderson's decision: Tito Ortiz.

Over the past couple months, Henderson (25-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC), a former top UFC middleweight and light heavyweight contender (who also simultaneously held two PRIDE belts), has remained in a state of limbo. Although White declared earlier this month that he was positive Henderson had signed with Strikeforce, no deal has been announced.

And while White said he and Henderson have discussed a potential new contract with the UFC, the executive said "Hendo" hasn't been serious.

"Dan is in I-don't-want-to-make-a-deal mode," White said on the Nov. 20 edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio. "There are some deals in which you go in and negotiate and make a deal. You know you want to make a deal. ... Dan Henderson knows he does not want to make a deal."

That's when White pointed to Ortiz, who recently ended a 16-month holdout and re-signed with the UFC, as a potential reason for Henderson's alleged stance.

"The [expletive] that Dan came in and said in my office and what he wants, it's unrealistic, and he knows it," White said. "And it's basically based off of, 'I heard this guy is making this, and I heard this guy made (this much).' Basically, what everybody gets pissed off about is Tito. 'Oh, I heard Tito is making all this money, and Tito is this and that.' And it's because Tito likes to go out there and stay stuff like that or somebody in his camp did. 

"That's how [expletive] gets started. "

While no deal no seems imminent, and though Strikeforce officials have expressed interest in signing Henderson, White isn't shutting the door on getting a deal done – with Henderson or any other fighter, including Fedor Emelianenko.

"Doors are never closed," he said. "I'm in the fight business. We put on fights. Doors never close.

"Never say never. Dan could call me tonight. Fedor could call on three-way with him. We could sign them both up tonight if they want to call."

Underground iPhone App

Starting about a year ago, several UG members asked for an iPhone app. I said I would look into into development costs, and and when I did, I saw a big bag of money, on fire. Eventually we talked it through, had the thing built at a God awful expense, sent it off to Apple for approval, and today it debuted in their store! All iPhone users are invited, okay begged, to please check out

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=336474791&mt=8

Please tell me below what you like and what you hate and what you want? This thing was built because someone from the Hawai’i Ground emailed me and said I should. Suggestions you make will determine the form of version 2.0.

The BlackBerry version is in the final stages (I think the graphics are being tweaked a little but that is it). Should be submitted next week for approval, which takes a week or two.

Android version is in the early stages of development.

E.James (RB, SEA) has been released by the team.

J. Delhomme (QB, CAR) left Sunday's game with a chest contusion. It is not serious according to NFL.com

09 Stats:

Passer Ratings: 59.3

Passing Yards: 1,262

TD/INT: 5/13

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