Just when you think the Bengals are bound for their first non-sellout in nearly 50 games, somehow, someone (fans perhaps?) pull through. Local 12 Tweets that "*BREAKING NEWS* Bengals game WILL AIR Sunday at 1 p.m. on Local 12. Game is sold out!!" (via Joe Reedy's tweet because we actually don't follow local 12)

No word on how many were sold to fans, or to an area company or to a player looking to hand them out on Saturday. In fact, the team has yet to make the announcement official. We'll update as news breaks through.

But yea. Bengals. Ravens. Local 12. Time to kick some ass.

Like the other two times the Bengals were granted television extensions, we'll be waiting anxiously to see if the Bengals sellout Sunday, or if we're forced to listen to the radio and day dream of our boys in Lord of the Rings garb -- Andrew Whitworth is Sam, Carson Palmer is Frodo and Ray Lewis is Gollum. If it's like before, we'll get bits and pieces of information preceding a mid-afternoon announcement. So bit and piece #1: C Trent got a tweet that someone is going to the game "compliments of WKRC." Yea?

Sometimes you just have to appreciate right now and worry about tomorrow the next day. When Lance McAlister listed topics that are off the table when discussing the Cincinnati Bengals, WDR took exception. Lance said:

Off the table
Ever stop and consider the sports talk radio topics that are off the table with the Bengals winning?
Talk of......
1. Staging a walkout during a game
2. Banners to fly over the stadium or take into the game
3. Burning tickets
4. Boycotting sponsors
5. Firing the coach/who the next coach should be?
6. Who should they draft?
7. Billboards
8. Urinal cakes
9. The next task from Who Dey Revolution
10. What team to adopt?
11. Do you root for them to lose to embarrass Mike into change and get a better draft pick?

In response, WDR writes:

Clearly this list is directed towards WDR and its followers, seeing as how we're mentioned by name along with many of our actions towards instituting change and it correctly points out how some Bengals' fans typically stop supporting us when the team wins.

Once again, the cold-hard, un-Coors Light sponsored facts: this nice little run to begin the season, in the larger scheme, means nothing. Yes, nothing. Mike Brown continues running his organization in the same manner as he has since taking over, with methods that directly go against the "goal" of competing (like still employing only one full-time scout). Mike Brown, for the most part, put this team together using these same out-of-date, lazy and cheap methods that make reaching sustained success unrealistic.

But I ask this. Did Chick Ludwig give the quote of the day?

By not selling out Paul Brown Stadium against the Ravens, Bengals fans have spoken. You wanted a winner and finally got a winner. Now you’re turning your backs on the team. You prayed for rain. Now you’re complaining about the mud. Congratulations …

Levi Jones to start for the Redskins? Former Bengals left tackle Levi Jones signed with the Washington Redskins on October 20. In a Washington Post piece, David Elfin writes that "Levi Jones might make his first start at the position for the Redskins on Sunday at Atlanta." Jones was cut by the Bengals during the offseason:

"I have missed [18 games in seven seasons], but they label me injury-prone?" he said. "I've never been on injured reserve. To have that knock, I definitely want to get that off and show people that I'm back... and try to return to the elite status I once had."

Does one become King if they predict the future? Peter King predicts that the Bengals will lose to the Ravens by ten points.

Cincinnati is 3-1 in the past four in this series at Paul Brown Stadium. The 1: Baltimore 34, Cincy 3 last November. In this one, I say the Ray Rice Show continues. "He's better than we thought he was,'' John Harbaugh told me the other day. "He was pretty much an inside runner at Rutgers, but his blitz pickup and receiving skills are so much better than we thought.''

I rarely make predictions. It's not because I don't like it. No. It's because my crystal ball I used to see into the the future broke a few months ago after I threw my controller because a middle linebacker in Madden 10 made this impossible catch over the middle when he was twenty yards away while I was making my throw. Prick.

Who Dey Fans calls it a season sweep. Chick Ludwig calls it a three-point win.

The story of Cedric Benson fascinates. Sports Illustrated's Damon Hack chronicles Cedric Benson's return to the league as not just an effective running back, but a pretty good one.

The Bengals signed him on Sept. 30, and after two games he had earned the starting job. By the end of the 2008 season he'd rediscovered the power-running form that had made him one of the most accomplished backs in college football history—over the last three games for Cincy, Benson rushed for 355 yards. The resurgence has carried over to 2009. In Week 5 he became the first back in 40 games to run for more than 100 yards against the Ravens, pounding out 120 yards on 27 carries in a 17--14 win at Baltimore. And ultimate redemption came two Sundays ago at Paul Brown Stadium, when he gouged Chicago for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown in a 45--10 romp that improved Cincinnati's record to 5--2 and certified the Bengals as a playoff contender.

If he continues at this pace, one has to believe that Benson is the leading candidate for comeback player of the year award.

If you're a Bengals fan and you don't like Chad, you kick puppies. Except for Tim, of course. As far as we know, Chad Ochocinco is 0-1 when sending gift care packages to opposing defenses the week that they play.

"I got a special package being delivered to the Ravens' secondary -- actually the whole defense," Ochocinco said. "I just want to send my condolences right now. You're welcome ahead of time."

My favorite quote in the ESPN piece is when James Walker asked Chad about the Ravens attitude after losing the first meeting on a last second touchdown.

"I can care less how they feel," Ochocinco said bluntly. "I can care less about their attitude. All of them."

That's our boy.

More, more, says Number Five.

Carson Palmer has thrown for 2,506 yards and 13 touchdowns in ten meetings against the Baltimore Ravens. Better still, he's 7-3.

It's still uncertain if Andre Smith will play this Sunday.

Robert Geathers and Michael Johnson are both looking to turn around disappointing starts to their season.

Anytime you go three for three, that's really good. Unless the subject is rejection from women. But batting 1.000 is good by most standards. So far the Bengals have had three games that didn't sellout by the deadline (the third being against the Ravens). Cincinnati was granted a 24-hour extension to sell 3,000 tickets with the new deadline being 1 PM on Friday.

Said Bengals ticket sales manager Andrew Brown in a statement: “We still have approximately 3000 tickets to sell, so it’s by no means assured we can avert a blackout. But we are pleased to have the chance for some great closing sales to keep our sellout streak alive.” 

Through seven games, Bengals ratings locally are up 36 percent with a 33.9 rating and 58 percent market share (it was 25.0/49 last year). That is the second biggest increase in the league with Arizona leading at 37 percent.

After not selling out either preseason game for the first time since 2005, the Bengals went down to the wire in order to sell out the regular-season opener against Denver when the team, Kroger and WKRC-TV (Channel 12) bought the remaining tickets.  For the Houston game, Motorola bought the remaining tickets.

Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening, we'll (TRY TO) update the practice/injury chart leading up to Sunday's game. The chart is pretty self-explanatory. If the player is listed as out, they're out for the game. If they did not participate, they didn't practice. If they were limited, then they only participated during a portion of practice (typically means missing 11-on-11 drills). If the player is listed as full participation, it simply means that they practiced fully and that the only reason they're listed is because injury was an issue the week before.

Practice

The deadline for the Bengals to sellout and have the game shown locally is Thursday at 1 PM. If the team thinks they'll sellout and the league agrees, they could be granted a 24-hour extension, similar to the one they were given against Denver and Houston.

Joe Reedy writes that the there's still 3,500 available tickets remaining.

The ticket office said that the amount of remaining seats is about the same that were left for the opener against Denver at this point but less than what was left for the Oct. 18 game against Houston. In both cases, the Bengals were granted a 24-hour extension to reach a sellout.

The fact there's so many available tickets against a division rival, with possible playoff implications and the Bengals sporting a first place 5-2 record, makes you certain that it's about the economy. If we can't sellout this game before the day of the deadline, then you have to worry about the remaining home games this year. There's probably a good chance that the team's sellout streak will end one way or another this year. I just thought it would be more likely against 1-6 Detroit on December 6 or 1-6 Kansas City on December 27.

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

21 days ago: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom (98) is taken off the field after being injured in the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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No, injuries are not an excuse. We've heard that before. But injuries do hurt a team; sometimes critically. For example, Carson Palmer's injury in 2008. There. Point made. I've never bought into the general theory that a team fails because of injury. The counter argument is that a good organization will have great depth that could replace starters when they go down. Fine. But when your starting quarterback goes down for the season, you're not going to be as good. In the Bengals case, Palmer's injury led (perhaps not directly) to a 4-11-1 season. Even though Tom Brady's injury opened the door for Matt Cassell to lead the New England Patriots to an 11-5 record, the Patriots still missed the playoffs. Then again, would have the Patriots lost by 25 points to the Dolphins, 20 points to the Chargers or 23 points to the Steelers if Brady were playing?

The Bengals have had critical injuries already this year. Reggie Kelly is one; not for his pass catching skills, rather his blocking, leadership and tremendous mentorship for Chase Coffman (then again, he still could be mentoring Chase... we just haven't heard lately). I never thought that Ben Utecht was that big of a loss -- what exactly has he proven?

The one injury that could turn out to be big is Antwan Odom. Feels like forever since he went down, doesn't it? It's only been a game and a half.

Through the first two games of the season, Odom sacked the quarterback seven times -- including five against the Green Bay Packers. He recorded only one sack in the following four games. But his presence was known. The Bengals had a defensive player that the opposing offense had to account for -- how many times have we had someone like that? Just as Bengals lore goes, against the Houston Texans, easily the worst combined effort by the Bengals in 2009, Odom gets carted off the field after rupturing his right Achilles' tendon.

The Bengals have recorded at least one sack in eight straight games dating back to December 21, 2008. In six of those eight games, the Bengals recorded two sacks or more.

After moments of cursing, which included a Hudson-like over-reaction in Aliens ("WTF are we going to do now, we're in some really pretty............"), the Bengals had to figure a way to replace their best pass rusher of the season. Do they change philosphy? Do they blitz more? Do they rely on someone stepping up to the plate and crushing a fastball? Jonathan Fanene is a likely candidate, who has already recorded a career high three quarterback sacks -- two of which that came in two of the last three games. Behind Fanene is Frostee Rucker. The thing about Rucker isn't so much his talent -- we know he has it -- it's depending on him to stay healthy for the rest of the season. And he looked good against the Bears, didn't he?

Then you ask, where's Robert Geathers? Since recording 10.5 quarterback sacks in 2006, Geathers has recorded 6.5 sacks in the 34 games since. If there's someone that needs to produce, one would be justified to point at him now.

I like what I saw out of Rucker and I've always liked the way Fanene plays. However, effort and health, while critical, will need to be followed up with results. And against a team like Baltimore, whose offense can put points together in a heart beat, the Bengals need to rattle Joe Flacco, who recorded a season-low 70.1 passer rating thanks to a season-high two interceptions the last time the Ravens played Cincinnati.

While Bengals fans might not be buying into the team after seven games this season, one Washington Post blogger isn't convinced of Cincinnati. Why? Mostly trust issues.

It's a fine story now, but Cincinnati is one of those teams you just can't trust. The Bengals have disappointed so many times that you're almost waiting for them to collapse. This is, after all, an organization that has had two winning seasons in 20 years.

Can we really blame him for thinking this way? Most of us have and probably still do. Aside from a struggling economy that has blue collar fans -- the heart of the Bengals fan base -- penny pinching, trusting the Cincinnati Bengals has been a difficult thing to maintain. An accurate reminder of trust issues could be traced back to 2006, when the Bengals went into a Monday Night Football game on December 18 against the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals were 8-5, riding a four-game winning streak with wins over the Saints, Browns, Ravens and Raiders -- three of those four wins were won by 15 points or more and the Bengals beat the Browns 30-0.

It was simple, if the Bengals win just one their last three games, they make the playoffs. With a win over the Chiefs and a potential win over the Broncos during week 16 (game #15) the Bengals would own tie-breakers against two competing teams that were vying for the final wildcard spot. It seemed so easy. Win one, you're in. Maybe not as good as they were in 2005, these Bengals were still good.

The Bengals went 0-3 in the worst possible way.

Peyton Manning threw four touchdowns passes in a 34-16 route. Brad St. Louis made a poor snap that cost the Bengals an extra point that would have tied the Denver Broncos with 46 seconds left in the game. And in the final game of the year, the Steelers and Bengals battled into overtime when Ben Roethlisberger completed a 67-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to end the Bengals season. Consider for a moment that the Bengals lost 23 of their next 35 games after beating the Oakland Raiders on December 10, 2006.

However, I believe the issue of trust shouldn't factor into whether you buy into this team this year. The Bengals are different. How much? Carson Palmer isn't putting up the passing stats he did in 2006. Then again, he's winning football games on last minute drives. Cedric Benson is on pace to equal Rudi Johnson's 12 touchdowns that year; his 1,645 yards rushing he's on pace for will shatter the club record. Offensively the Bengals are worse than that year. Defensively, they're far stronger. All around, the depth is better.

This club is like no other club Cincinnati has had during the Mike Brown era. There's unity. There's pride. There's ambition. There's a genuine lack of me-first personality. I can understand Gene Wang's point in the Washington Post. But having watched all the Bengals teams in the past, and immensely focused on this team now, I have to say that trust issues and recent history bear no relevance to the 2009 Cincinnati Bengals.

Game: Baltimore Ravens (4-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
Series Leader: Baltimore, 15-12
Streak: Bengals have won four of the past six meetings
Coaches vs. Opponent: Lewis: 8-5. Harbaugh: 2-1.
Broadcast: CBS (1:00 PM ET): Dick Enberg, Dan Fouts. Westwood One Radio: Kevin Kugler, Mark Malone. SIRIUS: 129 (Bal.), 123 (Cin.).  XM: 105 (Cin.). 
SB Nation: Baltimore Beatdown
NFL.com: Game Center
Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 64 degrees and light winds. [Weather.com]
Uniform: Black
Television Coverage: Ohio, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, most of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Colorado [506] Note: Since the game isn't sold out yet, the Bengals could be blacked out in the Cincinnati market.

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More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Ed Reed is upset because his team is going to lose to our favorite team this week. Again. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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So after a week off and me completely forgetting that it's football season, the Bengals are actually doing something this weekend, so I have something interesting to do for you guys on Wednesday morning. Without further ado, here are some quite varied pop-ups of "Cincinnati Bengals" in the news.

• Power rankings! ESPN leaves the Bengals at number 6. That's, of course, going to change after the next two weeks. After we beat the Steelers and Ravens, we'll be 3 or 4. Heh. Michael Silver also leaves the Bengals at 6, wondering if Hard Knocks is going to turn into one of the first blessings (rather than curses) in sports.
  
• Big Willie Anderson talked to Mr. Hobson at Bengals.com about the upcoming Bengals-Ravens game. I really miss that guy.
• Some guy (TJ Jenkins) tries to defend Hines Ward as a clean, legitimate, not dirty football player in the face of a 296 player poll that voted Ward the dirtiest player in the NFL. I think it's hilarious, and that guy is clearly in denial. 
• A couple of predictions on this week's game. First up, Sports Odds breaks down the various gambling components of the game. The Ravens are -3 favorites, which is good, because the Bengals are undefeated as underdogs. Bleacher Report highlights the Bengals-Ravens game in its Week 9 WhatIfSports.com simulation explanation. 
• Dayton Daily News has news on a tight end not named Foschi or Coats! Our boy Coffman apparently is "making progress," whatever that means, says Carlos Holmes.

We have had as many posts about fullbacks on Tuesday as we have had all of last season. So that just means we need to update our Tight End position file for the 20th time since August. Here's the quick background version. Reggie Kelly and Ben Utecht injured for season, Daniel Coats becomes starter, J.P. Foschi signed off the street. Coats disappoints and Foschi becomes the team's first team Tight End.

And of course, there's Chase Coffman.

Like the team's fullbacks, Coffman was a major storyline on Hard Knocks. And it wasn't very endearing. In fact, it was down right embarrassing for the rookie. Even though he made the 53-man roster, Coffman has yet to make his NFL debut; largely because he's still developing his blocking skills -- something that Coffman rarely did as a tight end with Missouri.

Dayton Daily News' (yes, they have a Bengals story) Carlos Holmes writes that Coffman's "long awaited pro debut could be on the horizon." Holmes believes that the Bengals could insert Coffman sooner rather than later because the position hasn't been very productive.

Coffman has used his time wisely working on becoming a better all-around player. The tight end hits the weight room religiously each day and continues to study hard in an effort to improve his overall game. The one area he is working the hardest to improve is his blocking skills.

Coffman struggled with blocking assignments throughout training camp and the learning experience has been humbling.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” he said. “I think it kind of surprised me because it’s not as easy as one may think. There’s nothing easy about playing at this level. There is a lot of technique involved along with everything else.”

Several weeks ago, Marvin Lewis said "I’ve got to make sure those guys who suit up on Sunday can fulfill covering those kicks and doing all those things Chase didn’t do a whole lot of at the University of Missouri." What Lewis, who likes Coffman's progress, is pointing out is that he still needs to work on things he didn't do with Missouri -- like everything other than running, catching, breathing and watching South Park reruns.

So we find it hard to believe Holmes is speaking with any authority; merely pointing out speculation based on disappointing play of the team's tight ends.

Once he gets his blocking technique down, there's still high hopes for Coffman, who could add a frighteningly new dimension to a Bengals passing offense that's only ranked 18th in the league.