'Pacman' pulls Bengals' defense together, sparks offense

Adam Jones talks. A lot. You see it, on the field, on the sideline. It's part of his football DNA.

But this was different.

As Kevin Huber was about to punt the ball away with 25 seconds left in the third quarter following the Cincinnati Bengals' seventh straight empty offensive possession, the ninth-year veteran called the entire defense together.

He had seen enough.

Jones looked around at that group, which looked a little battered. Thomas Rawls had gashed them for 69 yards and a touchdown to put the Seattle Seahawks up 17-7.

Then, after a Seahawks defensive touchdown made it 24-7, the defense hobbled off the field largely because a replay review deemed Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett was out of bounds when he hauled in a 39-yard pass from Russell Wilson.

"I could see it in their eyes, mother-(expletive) looking at each other," Jones said. "We ain't got time to be looking at each other. We need to be lookin' at what the hell we need to do."

Some appropriately placed expletives later, the defense found its center en route to a 27-24 overtime victory.

"He don't do that normally," safety George Iloka said. "He tried to calm everybody down and just tell us let's (expletive) go, we got this, and he backed it up with his play and so did everybody else."

On the next Seahawks possession, the Bengals forced a three-and-out.

"I know I was doing a little cussin' but I think sometimes it be needed for me to do that," Jones said with a half smile.

Jones then waited to retrieve Jon Ryan's punt, and proceeded to return it 35 yards to the Seattle 33 – a play that then ignited the offense. For the first time since the first quarter, the offense found the end zone – a 10-yard pass from Andy Dalton to Tyler Eifert.

The comeback had begun.

"First down we get, at least, points," Jones said of that return. "We're gonna get points out of that situation. Just try to do my part, man. Everybody know that I play with a chip on my shoulder. I love the game and I'm just trying to do my part when my number is called."

The fact that the defense only allowed two first downs and 62 yards of total offense after that – including the overtime session – helped complete it.

"We needed that," cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. "He just spoke life into us. I felt we were a little dead at that point. Once we got rollin' and we got our feet back under (us), guys started clicking again. Sometimes you need that. Sometimes you need somebody to give us that extra spark."

Jones finished the day with five total tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, an interception and a pass breakup. And despite coming into the game with a groin injury, he said it warmed up enough where he felt he could return kicks – so he fielded three punts, all late in the game, for 66 yards.

"It's just his heart," Kirkpatrick said of Jones. "It shows you what a great leader he is. Just where his passion lies. He loves this game and that's what we need. I'm just happy to be able to play on the other side of the guy"