This is much closer to when I intended to get last week's thread up.  Sorry again about the mistake.  Anyway, here is the thread for week #8 of our Cincinnati Bengals player pick 'em contest.  (We didn't start until week 3 – and then the BYE week screws it up even further – for those of you curious about the mismatched numbers.)  To see the full write-up of the original rules see here.  Last week's scoring results and a summary of the rules are repeated below the jump.  Here are the current score standings:

1 (tie) – brandone – 78 pts
1 (tie) – FriarBob – 78 pts
2 – CincyMike56 – 67 pts
3 – Deisel2405 – 60 pts
4 – Vman in Germany – 54 pts
5 – ZJiff30 – 53 pts
6 – The Dealio – 44 pts
7 – Carsonorbust – 43 pts
8 – Mr. X – 39 pts
9 – Richard L – 30 pts
10 (tie) – jsl413 – 28 pts
10 (tie) – ritalin – 28 pts
11 – Bengals FTW – 21 pts
12 – Greener’s eyes – 20 pts
13 (tie) – IFChris – 19 pts
13 (tie) – featherman – 19 pts
14 – Kabash – 17 pts
15 – WHYUS!! – 16 pts
16 (tie) – JohnnyK – 15 pts
16 (tie) – indesignkat – 15 pts
17 Danimal – 13 pts

Last week nobody scored any points in this game, and I doubt a single one of us truly cared.  We beat the Steelers.  In their own house.  I'm still half-giddy over it.  Well OK, maybe not quite, but it was a great blast reading all those "concession speech" quotes from Steeler players in the AP recap article.  We'll probably face them again in the playoffs, but hopefully we'll manage to pull it out for the three-peat.

Next up, the absolutely moribund Raiders.  Are there words that can be repeated in polite company to properly describe just how awful these guys are?  This is a game we should probably be favored by 14.  Or maybe even 21.  Just yuk.  Then again, we have won quite a few games we were the underdog in, but so far we haven't managed to blow out an inferior and we need to do so to prove we really belong with the top teams.  All things considered I think the Cardiac Cats were buried when the Texans exposed them, but just in case I wouldn't recommend anybody sell their pacemakers just yet.  Every team in the NFL has talent and ability, and if they can actually come together and focus they could give us a real hard time.  Especially if we treat them like we did the Browns a few weeks back.

Time to place your bets.  Do you expect an offensive shootout?  We've got plenty of WRs and RBs to pick for the scores here.  Do you expect a defensive slug-fest?  We've got some secondary players who can catch INTs and linemen who can force fumbles now, so maybe they are the way to go instead.  Either way, pick your player to hang your hat on, and best of luck to all.

The scoring recap post from last week is repeated here as well:

Well this week will be a bit weird for us with this game. Only two players would have scored points for the people who picked them (Frostee Rucker x2 for his INT and Bernard Scott for his TD) but nobody picked them. JJoe did force a fumble, but it was recovered by Pittsburgh and is valueless to the standings. As a result, the standings are unchanged from last week.

On the other hand, our boys in black and orange beat the mustard and ketchup boys black and blue, and I that’s a heck of a lot better than the alternative. So enjoy your parties and happy dreams tonight folks, and hope our boys can light up the Raiders next week for some better fun and points in this game.

If you haven't played yet, here is a brief recap of the rules:

1) Pick one player (Make it easy on me, make him the title of your post.  Both first and last name please.) who is NOT officially listed as a QB, P, or PK on the roster.
2) An offensive score is worth one point per participant who did not pick your player.
3) A defensive player is worth 3/2/1 point per participant who did not pick your player based on if he 3) actually scored, 2) gained possession of the ball for the team but didn't actually score, or 1) allowed the Bengals to gain possession by causing a fumble (or blocking a kick) that another Bengals player recovered.  Sacks or tackles behind the line of and by themselves are not worth anything unless they are a strip-sack (1 point if we recover) or they are also a safety (3 points).
4) You score the maximum possible points for your player but only one time.  So a defensive player who forces an opponent's fumble that Cincinnati recovers and recovers another opponent's fumble at a different point in the game is worth 2x points (not 3x cumulative).
5) Keep commentary to the bare minimum please.
6) Predictions on how they will score are not required, and if you provide one they don't net you any bonus if you are right nor do they detract if you are wrong (so long as they do actually score by game rules).
7) Try to be original yet still pick somebody you think has a realistic chance to score or cause a turnover.
8) Only ONE (1) player entry per contestant, per week is allowed.
9) Deadline for player entries each week is THIRTY (30) minutes prior to kickoff.