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The
Bengals are 4-0 this season when running back BenJarvus
Green-Ellis carries the ball at least 25 times. Photo
courtesy of bleacherreport.com
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Bengals' Green-Ellis ready to carry load
bleacherreport.com
CINCINNATI- BenJarvus Green-Ellis is no stranger to the NFL postseason,
having played in four playoff games with the New England Patriots,
including a start in last year’s Super Bowl.
The Bengals running back channeled his inner-Bill Belichick this week
when asked what he learned from his former coach about how to approach
the playoffs.
“Just go out there and play ball, basically,” Green-Ellis said.
That simple?
“That’s about it,” he said.
Green-Ellis did not play in the Bengals’ last regular season game after
feeling a twinge in his hamstring during pregame warm-ups. Limited in
practice the past two days, the team’s leading rusher hopes to be
healthy enough to play against the Texans in Saturday’s AFC Wild Card
game at Reliant Stadium.
The Bengals carry the momentum of a 7-1 finish into the game as they
try for the franchise’s first playoff victory since 1991.
“We just want to get back to playing good football and have our running
game and our passing game both going good on the same day,” said
Green-Ellis, who rushed for a career-high 1,094 yards on 278 carries
during the regular season.
The Bengals hit a lull offensively in December, scoring seven
touchdowns over their last five games, and the run game fizzled in the
final two weeks.
The Steelers held the Bengals to 14 total rushing yards on Dec. 23. Not
only was it a season-low for the Bengals, but it was the second lowest
rushing total in team history. Without Green-Ellis in the lineup this
past Sunday, the Bengals finished with 47 yards on 21 carries against
the Ravens.
“We have a good run plan going in, but Houston’s a good run defense as
we all know,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said this week. “It’s
going to be important for us to try to force the issue.”
For the Bengals, the magic number could be 25.
They won each of the four regular season games in which Green-Ellis ran
the ball at least 25 times and are 35-2 under head coach Marvin Lewis
when a running back gets at least that many carries.
“It’s obviously one of the things that we want to be able to do,”
Green-Ellis said of running the ball effectively in the postseason. “We
want to be a complimentary game offensively, throwing the football and
rushing the football. Not leaving our defensive on the field for long
periods of time.”
The Bengals opened the season with three new starters on the offensive
line and Green-Ellis in his first season with the team.
A slow start eventually gave way to a five-game stretch that saw him
top 100 yards four times and the Bengals average 168.2 rushing yards
and 33 carries per game.
“I think that we’ve made strides throughout the year and made it
better, and we’ve had ups and downs with it, but I think that’s the
nature of the NFL,” Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “I think
every week every team has ups and downs with it."
For more Cincinnati Bengals, click here
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