Clements cherishes playoffs

Bengals cornerback Nate Clements, the former Ohio State star, will get his first taste of the playoffs Saturday in Houston.
ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Darron Cummings

Darron Cummings/AP Photo Bengals cornerback Nate Clements, the former Ohio State star, will get his first taste of the playoffs Saturday in Houston. ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Darron Cummings

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By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer 11:29 PM Sunday, January 1, 2012

CINCINNATI — There were just 36 seconds left in Sunday’s game. The Cincinnati Bengals had the ball near midfield, but they were trailing Baltimore 24-16 and the last-gasp passes of rookie quarterback Andy Dalton were mostly misfires.

Bengals cornerback Nate Clements — who at 32 is the oldest player on a team filled with youngsters — was on the sidelines wrapped up in the moment that has been so elusive to him in his career.

While he’s been in the NFL 11 years, he had never been on a team that had made the playoffs. And even though he’s new to the Bengals this season — after six years in Buffalo and four in San Francisco — every player in stripes knew his situation. That’s why coach Marvin Lewis had him speak to the team at their hotel Saturday night.

Clements is one of the most respected players on the squad because of the way he prepares himself for each game and especially for how he seems to sincerely appreciate the successes of his teammates.

And if you’ve been around the Bengals in recent years — when certain since-departed prima donnas made sure the spotlight was always focused back on them — you appreciate a guy like this.

And with 36 seconds left Clements was in true character. He was standing in front of the team bench, fully engrossed in the offense’s attempt to tie the game. And that’s when he heard the sell-out crowd at Paul Brown Stadium roar with delight.

“When the crowd went wild, I had no idea what was happening,” he said. “I asked somebody, ‘Was there a flag on that play?’

“And they were like, ‘No, Denver just lost. It flashed on the scoreboard. ... We’re in. It don’t matter what happens (out here). We’re in the playoffs.’ ”

As he stood there in front of his locker after the game — which did end 24-16 — he thought about what he had just said and quietly repeated the thought:

“We’re in the playoffs.”

He had never been able to say that before. The closet he ever got to playoffs, he said, was 2004 with Buffalo: “We lost the last game. We didn’t get in.”

The hole in his otherwise stellar resume left him with an empty feeling this time of year. That’s why he never goes to the Super Bowl.

“I only want to go if I can play in it,” he said flatly.

And the only way that’s possible is if your team makes the postseason.

He said he knows there will be plenty of critics out there who will focus on the way Cincinnati backed into the playoffs. After a 6-2 start on the season, they lost five of their last eight games to end up 9-7. They were just 2-4 in divisional play and beat just one of eight teams with a winning record.

Yet, had the Bengals won Sunday they would have seized an AFC wildcard berth outright. In losing they had to resort to the league’s convoluted tiebreaker system and that meant the New York Jets had to lose to the Dolphins and either Denver or Oakland had to lose their games.

As it turned out all three — the Jets, Broncos and Raiders — lost. And that sends the Bengals to Houston for their playoff opener on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

“Hey, as long as we got in that’s all that matters,” Clements said. “If you look back when Arizona went to the Super Bowl (in 2009), they lost four of their last five games, then caught fire and went on a run in the playoffs. Anything can happen.”

Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko agreed:

“Dude, I know there’ll be people out there who say we might not deserve to be here, but we worked hard all year and now we’ve just got to go prove to the world we belong.

“All I know is that we’re one of the last 12 teams in the league with a chance to win the whole thing and hold the Lombardi Trophy up.”

Of the dozen teams, none are any more unlikely than the Bengals, who were 4-12 last year and then saw several name players — including quarterback Carson Palmer and receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens — all leave.

This year’s Bengals were filled with rookies and the labor dispute that marred the offseason — and kept them from minicamps — seemingly prevented them from building the necessary foundation to start the season.

The prospects were so dim — and fans so fed up with the way things have been run the last few years — that many stayed away from PBS all year. Sunday — thanks in part to a 2-for-1 ticket deal — was only the second sellout this season. And the first one was because Pittsburgh Steelers fans laid claim to the place.

During the lockout in June, Peko and offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth gathered the players together for informal workouts. In the process, Clements joined the team as a free agent in August.

The former Ohio State star immediately became a quiet team leader and then Saturday night, Lewis asked him to speak out.

Although Clements wouldn’t divulge what he said, other players talked about it.

“He told us he’s been in the league 11 years and never even sniffed the playoffs,” Peko said. “’He told us now we have a chance — one you’ve got to seize whenever it comes your way. You can’t let it slip away.”

And when he found out why the crowd was roaring in those final seconds — even if it wasn’t quite the scenario he had imagined — Nate Clements knew they hadn’t.

That’s why he kept repeating that phrase:

“We’re in the playoffs. ... We’re in the playoffs.”

Next game

Who: Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) at Houston Texans (10-6)

When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday

TV: NBC (WDTN Ch. 2)

Radio: WTUE-FM (104.7)

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