Don Banks and Andrew Perloff are the only NFL writers at Sports Illustrated predicting that the Cincinnati Bengals will beat the Houston Texans this Saturday. Not that it's a big deal. Even with a third-string rookie quarterback, the Texans have one of the league's best rushing offenses and overall defenses. So we an understand their reasoning. However when those that predicted the Texans realize their mistake around 8 p.m. on Saturday, we'll be more than forgiving in their roles to make Cincinnati a greater underdog this weekend.

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The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a popular week for vacations, and it looks like the fact-checkers at CBS Sports are among those who decided to take some time off. How else to explain this this howler from CBSSports.com columnist Ray Ratto, who claims Hamilton County is on the hook for the cost of all the tickets that the Cincinnati Bengals gave away as part of their buy-one-get-one-free deal for the upcoming game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The taxpayers of Hamilton County will pay for it, since they have to buy the tickets that don't get sold as part of their deal with the Bengals when the stadium plan was devised. This is proof that citizens should never allow themselves to allow such a shameful hostage deal. If an NFL team cannot find money to do its own construction project, the owners deserve to perish, or be forced to sell. I mean, they're all essentially billionaires now anyway.

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If the Cincinnati Bengals win next weekend, they will be in the playoffs sealing the sixth seed. If the Baltimore Ravens win next weekend, they could finally secure the second seed, the AFC North title and a first round bye. With all of that at stake, the Bengals and Ravens stood an outside shot of being flexed into NBC's Sunday Night Football.

However things played out differently.

With the New York Giants beating the New York Jets (Eli Manning, FTW!) and the Dallas Cowboys losing by 13 to the Philadelphia Eagles, it sets up the scenario in which the Giants and Cowboys will determine the NFC East champion during their regular season finale this weekend.

That being the case, it was only a matter of time before the NFL flexed that game into the Sunday Night Football game next weekend.

The NFL did move the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens to the late afternoon game with a 4:15 kickoff on CBS, alongside the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.

As we already know, anyone living within the Cincinnati market, or roughly a 75-mile radius from Paul Brown Stadium, won’t be able to sit with their beautiful families to watch the Cincinnati Bengals host the Arizona Cardinals on Christmas Eve. As a small token of generosity, Fox is offering the New York Jets and Giants in Cincinnati, which could have massive implications for the Bengals playoff run. As for the Bengals game, it won’t be on many television sets this weekend.

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One benefit with the Cincinnati Bengals playing in St. Louis this weekend is that fans within Cincinnati's market won't have to deal with choppy internet streams that offer limited quality. Nope. This weekend Bengals fans from nearly across the country can plant their collective butts onto the seat of their couches as the Bengals square off against the Rams this Sunday with a 1 p.m. kickoff time. Check the506.com television coverage chart to see if you're market is showing the Bengals -- and most of you will be able to.

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For the fifth time in six games this year, Cincinnatians (Hamilton County residents specifically) that approved a sales tax increase so that the Cincinnati Bengals (and Reds) could play in state of the art facilities that would offer competitive professional teams, will not be able to sit on their collective couches to watch the hometown football team host the Houston Texans in a game that could define the rest of the season. Though the more industrious users have their bookmarks storing available streaming options (we’re kind of really good at that), some Bengals fans across the nation – across at least 18 states – will have the game available to them.

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Monday morning was dreary. A soaking rain blotting out the sun with a piercing and disorienting alarm clock banging away like an uncoordinated drummer in a band that hasn't touched an instrument their entire lives. A little extra coffee in the morning should do the trick. And it does wake up the tired zombie that is myself, but it doesn't preach patience or the expectation that Monday is just going to suck no matter what.

Driving down death highway (aka, I-75) on my way into Dayton early this morning, traffic patterns change while others refuse to pay attention to the road, colliding in the fast lane and causing thousands upon thousands to be late for their own jobs Monday morning. iTunes on my computer keeps shutting down.

It's a grand way to start the week, especially after a 35-7 thrashing by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon.

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+You can call this weekend's game whatever you want. Rumble in the Burgh. Collision of the blue collar city monsters. Must-win. Game that will drop your soul into a pit of demon's blood selling your eternal life to the devil (Tim Tebow will be of no help in Minnesota this weekend). Whatever name of great importance you want to label this weekend's contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the truth is that the game will factor heavily into the AFC North playoff picture.

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