The Bengals are on a three-week non-losing streak. That sound good and all, but I like the sound of Undefeated in November! Not that it should be too surprising; after Sunday's tie, Marvin Lewis squads are 15-7-1 in November. Spin is good and all, but that'll make you dizzy.

It's nice that we made the Eagles road to the playoffs a hell of a lot harder. We have the Steelers, Ravens, Colts and Redskins as teams and fans to piss off for the next four weeks. We're spoilers now, with our past two opponents on the very edge of missing the playoffs because they couldn't get past little ol' us. Don Banks said, "It's hard for me to consider the 5-4-1 Eagles a serious playoff contender at this point." Thanks to the Bengals. "That ghastly four-turnover performance by Philly quarterback Donovan McNabb in Cincy might end up being the Eagles' Waterloo in '08."

Since six years passed between ties in the NFL, I don't think it's really worth complaining about it. Disappointing sure. However, it's not a monthly occurrence, and I can't remember the last time anyone spoke of the possibility since. Over-reaction about one thing in the past six years is something politicians do well, throwing Montgomery Burns type of cash at the "problem". That's exactly what the NFL is doing with fines right now. We don't need any more over-reactions, and I'll bet another 40 years goes by before the Bengals have their next tie. But if the NFL is going to work on their overtime procedure (which we think they should), then this should be addressed. The bigger worry is why Donovan McNabb didn't know that ties even existed.

Antonio Chatman's X-rays were fine and he had movement in his arms and legs. He's staying overnight at an area hospital for observation.

Andrew Whitworth has a sprained ankle. "I think it's a pretty bad high ankle sprain, but I don't really know yet. I had the foot planted and I think someone swung around after making a tackle and landed on the back of my legs. It rolled up pretty good, so we'll see."

The Bengals didn't convert on their opportunities. The Bengals also went 0-1 on fourth down.

"Marvin had said we were in four-down territory," said offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski when the Bengals ran at midfield with eight minutes left in overtime on third down, "What we had was a run-pass audible. So, if they were pressuring us, we were going to throw it, if they laid back in a zone, we were going to run it with the thinking if it’s four-down territory and you get four yards, it makes it fourth-and-3 and we’re going to go for it on fourth down." Nothing about that makes sense. Why have a run audible, and why in the world would midfield be fourth down territory? If that were the case, we lose the game and have one win, instead of 1.5 wins.

We learned about Chris Crocker after Chinedum Ndukwe hurt his foot in the first quarter. He had four tackles, a quarterback sack and an interception where he faked underneath zone coverage and then sprinted alongside L.J. Smith picking off a pass that Donovan McNabb thought would be wide open.

When I first heard "a tie is like kissing your sister" this afternoon, I was really unsettled. Then I was embarrassed to learn that my Paul "Bear" Bryant historical quotes knowledge was sorely lacking. Bear Bryant was once asked if he considered kicking a field goal when trailing by three points. His Coors Light response was: "Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!" So, yea. We also have muff punts and sacks. This is a total guy sport.

I'll let everyone else coin the phrase, instead just saying those damned Bengals didn't win another damned game that they had every damn opportunity to win. Damn it.

Dave published his weekly Dearly Departed. A few notes on this.

• I wonder if Landon Johnson regrets leaving Cincinnati -- where he's still be a starting linebacker.
• Rudi Johnson is about as awful in Detroit as he was in Cincinnati. Though that's a bit unfair. Going from Cincinnati to Detroit isn't like you're improving the guys around you.
• If Justin Smith would have lowered his price to what it took to sign Antwan Odom, I would have done it in a heartbeat.