Bengals-49ers Preview

SCOUTING REPORT

Palmer and his WRs will be too much for the 49ers' secondaryWhile this isn't the most exciting matchup of the week, it is the only NFL game on Saturday night, which is ample reason to watch. San Francisco is at the bottom of the league by a substantial margin with a minus-141 point differential and was dominated at home last week by the Vikings. Needless to say, the 49ers have not lived up to expectations this year. The same can be said for Cincinnati, who has been riddled with injuries throughout the season, but injuries alone do not excuse the Bengals' 5-8 record. However the Bengals did win last week over the Rams and remain a very dangerous passing offense. The 49ers only have one win at home and the Bengals only have won once on the road, so something has to give.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
CIN	7-9	380	385	5-3	2-6	3-3	6-6
SFO	5-11	219	364	3-5	2-6	3-3	4-8
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Cincinnati Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Palmer 61.5 2217 14 8

San Francisco Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Smith 61.3 1035 9 7 Hill 56.1 943 5 2

Cincinnati Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Benson 205 859 4.2 6 Scott 50 214 4.3 0

San Francisco Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Gore 112 610 5.4 6 Coffee 75 198 2.6 1

Cincinnati Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Ochoci... 50 735 14.7 5 Coles 29 355 12.2 3

San Francisco Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Davis 51 601 11.8 8 Morgan 24 305 12.7 1

Full Player Stats: Cincinnati | San Francisco

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	CIN	348.0
	SFO	237.0
Yards Passing	CIN	250.8
	SFO	145.0
Yards Rushing	CIN	97.3
	SFO	92.3
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	CIN	348.8
	SFO	346.2
Pass Yds Allowed	CIN	230.4
	SFO	227.7
Rush Yds Allowed	CIN	118.3
	SFO	118.5

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
Series tied 1-1
Dec 14, 2003	CIN 41, @SFO 38

Once linked for meeting in two Super Bowls, the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals are linked this season for being major disappointments.

They'll meet Saturday night when the 49ers host the Bengals in a matchup of teams eliminated from postseason contention.

San Francisco won Super Bowls over Cincinnati in 1982 and 1990, but 2007 has clearly been a year to forget for both franchises.

The dismal year for the 49ers (3-10) took a turn for the worse when news broke this week of a reported rift between coach Mike Nolan and quarterback Alex Smith, who separated his shoulder in a loss to Seattle on Sept. 30 and hasn't played since another loss to the Seahawks on Nov. 12.

Smith criticized Nolan in comments to the San Jose Mercury News on Monday, just hours before he opted to undergo season-ending surgery on the shoulder. Smith said Nolan had tried to "undermine" him in the locker room, telling players the top overall pick in the 2005 draft was using his injuries as an excuse for poor play.

The two met Tuesday and Smith apologized to his teammates on Wednesday for creating a distraction. Nolan, who is 14-31 in his third season with the 49ers, said he wants to put the drama behind him.

"I really don't feel it," Nolan said. "You don't want the truth to stand in the way of a good story, but I'm just telling you there's nothing between us."

Smith also attempted to downplay his comments from Monday.

"It was a brief exchange," he said. "I initially reacted out of frustration based on the questions that were being asked, but the article does not reflect how I truly feel."

With backup-turned-starter Trent Dilfer suffering a concussion in last week's 27-7 loss to Minnesota, Shaun Hill will make his first career start Saturday. The 49ers also signed Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke on Wednesday to serve as Hill's backup.

Hill completed 22-of-27 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown in relief of Dilfer, but the 49ers failed to overcome five turnovers in their fifth straight home loss.

"I thought Shaun Hill gave us a spark in the second half coming in, did a nice job moving the ball down, we got a score," Nolan said. "But again, we did turn the ball over I think three times since after he came in."

Cincinnati (5-8) can relate to San Francisco's difficulties.

The Bengals endured controversy earlier this season when Carson Palmer was forced to apologize to teammate Chad Johnson for yelling at the receiver during an Oct. 1 loss at New England. It's been a rough 2007 season for Palmer, who has 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions -- one shy of his career high set as a rookie three years earlier.

"At this position and with where we are as a team, I need to play great every week, and I haven't been great every week," Palmer said. "As far as I'm concerned, I just want to give us a chance to win.

"Of course, I want to throw a bunch of touchdown passes and throw the ball all over the field, but at this point in the year with where we're at, we need wins."

The Bengals' bigger problems have been on defense, but they've shown signs of improving recently. They did not allow a touchdown for the second time in three weeks in a 19-10 win over St. Louis on Sunday.

Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis blamed no one other than his own team for being eliminated from postseason play for the 16th time in 17 seasons.

"We put ourselves in this situation," he said. "It shows how important each and every win is. There are some games that we probably should have won and had not won that is a big difference in this situation."

The Bengals' much-maligned pass defense has yielded 24 touchdowns through the air to rank third-worst in the league in that department. However, Cincinnati also took advantage of facing inexperienced Brock Berlin last week and get to see Hill on Saturday.

This is the Bengals' first visit to San Francisco since 1996, and they have lost their last four games there since a 21-3 win in 1974. Cincinnati scored an average of 42.5 points in winning its last two home matchups with San Francisco in 1999 and 2003.

FBO: Week 11 Quick Reads

Football Outsiders apply their metrics to Week 11. Findings: Even when Wes Welker doesn't find the end zone, he's historic; Mark Sanchez isn't ready; DeAngelo Williams needs the rock more; and T.J. Houshmandzadeh may have saved Minny's season.

Bengals' fumble hands Raiders last-second win

Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard tying touchdown pass to Louis Murphy with 33 seconds left and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal after Andre Caldwell fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the Raiders a 20-17 victory Sunday.

Raiders' Seymour out with lower back injury

Defensive lineman Richard Seymour left Oakland's game against Cincinnati with a lower back injury and will not return.

Packers prevail, but Harris and Kampman hurt

Aaron Rodgers made San Francisco pay for a draft-day snub in 2005 and the Green Bay Packers survived a second-half surge by the 49ers for a 30-24 victory Sunday.

Chad Ochocinco: I will be at Bengals minicamp

Besides warmer weather, what is another sure sign that Bengals minicamp is drawing closer? Talk about a wide receiver not at the team?s OTAs starts to dominate the conversation.

Palmer: We still need Chad

Carson Palmer has always been about loyalty, which is why during the past two weeks he has talked about the progress of the receivers who are participating in the Bengals offseason program.

Bengals' Hall pleads guilty to reduced charge in DUI case

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in his drunken-driving case Monday, allowing him to avoid jail time.

Odom: I know I have to play better

You would expect when someone adds 28 pounds, that it would slow a player. Not in the case of Antwan Odom.

Bengals counting heavily on Henry

This time last year, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was entering a dark period of his NFL career.

Santa Clara approves financing plan for 49ers stadium

Nearly three years after Santa Clara's hopes of landing an NFL stadium came to life, the City Council early this morning carried that dream over yet another key hurdle ? approving a long-awaited financing plan with the San Francisco 49ers.

CB Bly blows into camp

"My instincts are still very instinctive," he said. Good to know. When Walt Harris tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee two weeks ago, the 49ers were in need of a top-flight cornerback.

Newsom to Santa Clara: Don't build stadium

The Santa Clara City Council may decide tonight to bless a $937 million stadium project for the San Francisco 49ers.

Sharing stadium not such bad idea

THE ONLY ABSOLUTE about a sports team seeking a new home is the presence of anger.

Singletary's 'intensity' could be rallying point for middling 49ers

The new uniforms bring to mind the San Francisco 49ers of the championship years.