Here is the thread for the next to last regular season week of our Cincinnati Bengals player pick 'em contest.  In a change of format, I'm posting early this week, and requesting people to rec this thread so it will stay up all week and I can dispense with that messy "reminder" temp thread.  The original plan was to end with the regular season, but if we make the playoffs (which unfortunately still isn't yet guaranteed) and people want to continue I probably will do so.  Anyway, 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 – FriarBob – 106 pts
2 – The Dealio – 87 pts
3 – CincyMike56 – 82 pts
4 – brandone – 78 pts
5 – Richard L – 74 pts
6 – supergrover – 72 pts
7 – ZJiff30 – 70 pts
8 – Deisel2405 – 60 pts
9 – Danimal – 56 pts
10 – Vman in Germany – 54 pts
11 – jsl413 – 50 pts
12 – WHYUS!! – 44 pts
13 – Carsonorbust – 43 pts
14 – Mr. X – 39 pts
15 – Bengals FTW – 36 pts
16 – ritalin – 28 pts
17 – Greener’s eyes – 20 pts
18 (tie) – IFChris – 19 pts
18 (tie) – featherman – 19 pts
19 – Kabash – 32 pts
20 (tie) – JohnnyK – 15 pts
20 (tie) – indesignkat – 15 pts
20 (tie) – Purple City Middie – 15 points

This week we at least saw some rather significant signs of life from the offense.  Some of the time at least.  That's a start.  And the defense played pretty good for much of the game.  Not great, but pretty good.  That's a start.  If we keep that up, we'll at least be competitive in the playoffs, and that's a LOT better than things looked a week ago.

Well up next we have the Kansas City Chiefs, who apparently have decided that tackling is optional.  Of course we've looked like that from time to time this year as well, but they have to come to our house.  The only team to beat us in our house this year was the Texans, who while inconsistent have a LOT more talent than KC does.  So we sure have a good chance to win this and finally get this "will we or won't we" crap over with about the AFC-N.  And if our guys can play as hard and determined as they did in their good moments yesterday, we might even win by more than 3 points.

Time to place your bets.  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:

I said above in my preview comments that "I’d be happy if we just look halfway competitive for a change this week"… and we were. So I’m happy. Mostly. It’s sad that we came so close but failed in the end, but it was a LOT better than it could have been, and that’s a start. Now if we can just play that hard next week against KC, who apparently has decided that tackling is only for other teams, then we’ll at least finally clinch the AFC-N. What we do after that nobody knows, but it’s a step in the right direction. And cleaning up the idiotic penalties would help too.

With 16 participants this week there are a max of 15 "uniqueness" points available. Chad Ochocinco, Laveranues Coles, Johnathan Joseph (x2) and Keith Rivers (x2) score points for their fans this week. Unfortunately nobody picked Rivers so he doesn’t help anybody.

So here is our weekly scoring only:
Danimal – 28 points (Johnathan Joseph)
supergrover – 28 points (Johnathan Joseph)
Kabash – 15 points (Chad Ochocinco)
Bengals FTW – 15 points (Laveranues Coles)

This leaves us with an twelve week leader board of:
1 – FriarBob – 106 pts
2 – The Dealio – 87 pts
3 – CincyMike56 – 82 pts
4 – brandone – 78 pts
5 – Richard L – 74 pts
6 – supergrover – 72 pts
7 – ZJiff30 – 70 pts
8 – Deisel2405 – 60 pts
9 – Danimal – 56 pts
10 – Vman in Germany – 54 pts
11 – jsl413 – 50 pts
12 – WHYUS!! – 44 pts
13 – Carsonorbust – 43 pts
14 – Mr. X – 39 pts
15 – Bengals FTW – 36 pts
16 – ritalin – 28 pts
17 – Greener’s eyes – 20 pts
18 (tie) – IFChris – 19 pts
18 (tie) – featherman – 19 pts
19 – Kabash – 32 pts
20 (tie) – JohnnyK – 15 pts
20 (tie) – indesignkat – 15 pts
20 (tie) – Purple City Middie – 15 points

If you see any problem with the scoring above please speak up ASAP.

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.