C. Trent Rosecrans, the Bengals' official Twitter account and Joe Reedy (in that order) confirm that Maurice Purify is indeed joining the 53-man roster today.  To make room for Purify, safety Roy Williams was/will be placed on season-ending Injured Reserve.

And I was really looking forward to having Roy back to scramble some Steelers' eggs on Sunday, too. 

Want to offer an official a one dollar "bribe" so maybe he'll make a call in your way -- or just to do so in a playful manner? That'll cost you. A lot, in fact.  Just ask Chad Ochocinco, the proud new owner of a $20,000 fine, courtesy of King Roger Goodell and his band of enforcers.  Apparently, when Ocho used the word "bribe" to describe his actions, his fate was sealed.

Granted, the bribe was just another shenanigan in a long line of Chadisms, something he acknowledges by saying, "I was just being me. I wasn't going to do it for real."  Obviously, that matters little to Goodell and company, who plainly don't want anyone to think NFL referees are anyway influenced by players or particular game situations.

With that in mind, does anyone know the spread for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh?

One more note about Chadwick's fine -- apparently, he knew about it before today and was told not to tweet about it, which brings up a follow-up question:  Why the subterfuge?  What does Goodell have to gain by telling Ocho not to say anything about his fine?  Why is it so important the league office breaks the news?  Seems like a case of excessive micromanagement to me.

by Ed Reinke - AP

about 1 month ago: Cincinnati Bengals receiver Andre Caldwell (87) catches a four-yard touchdown pass against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Farrior (51) in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won the game 23-20. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

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The last time we played the Steelers, we dealt Ben Roethlisberger his first loss in Ohio in his pro career. This week, Carson Palmer will look to improve upon his 2-2 record against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Here's a quick look at what the national media are saying about the Bengals this week.

• Pete Prisco heaps praise onto the Bengals, as they're up to #5 in the CBS Sports power rankings, one spot ahead of divisional rival Pittsburgh. This weekend's contest obviously is extremely important given the identical records of these two clubs and the division implications. Bengals win, and the division is theirs to lose.
• ESPN hails two big games this week, the Bengals game and the NE-Indy game. Both are certainly high-hype games, but you've got to love the divisional rivalry at Heinz this weekend. Even ESPN ought to know that. We're up to #4 in their rankings.
• Don Banks at SI.com gives the Bengals some props. First, he acknowledges that the AFC North is the best division in football. Then, he calls the Bengals the bounce-back team of the year, and even goes so far as to claim that Marvin Lewis is the mid-season coach of the year. Hard to argue with that - this turnaround is even better than the first year under Lewis, when the Bengals went from 2-14 to 8-8. Banks also acknowledges that Chad Ochocinco is a good teammate!
  

• Joe Kay of the Enquirer writes that the Bengals are in "beast mode," sub-head "Team running, playing D like AFC North foes." The last time the defense was this good was 2001. The running game has arguably never been so effective. The Bengals have the second-best rush defense in the league!

• C. Trent wrote a nice piece about Maurice Purify for CNati.com. Purify says he loves to block, and thinks of himself of a possession receiver. Sound like anyone we know? If you wanna watch Purify blow up Roy Williams, read this story.
• Have I mentioned how much I love Mike Zimmer? In case you aren't, or if you just want to read about our beloved defensive coordinator (that I hope we lock up for 5 years), here's another bit from C. Trent highlighting his awesomeness. A snippet: "That's how the Bengals have played on defense - fast, furious and smart. And that goes back to their leader. "ZIm's the greatest, he's one of the best coaches I've been around," Ndukwe said."

Enjoy, Jungle. Happy humpday!

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

Back on the Marvin Lewis bandwagon? I mean, we've been spoiled lately, what with only a couple losing seasons under Lewis. The man's worked wonders in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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The Bengals are national media darlings again after completing the season sweep of the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, moving to 6-2  for the first time since 1988. I talked a lot about the game yesterday. Here's what the national media said late last night (I don't include Peter King's MMQB because, amongst other reasons, it's not up yet). Here are post-game quotes. Here are many stories of national media heaping praise onto our beloved pumpkin cats.

• SI.com's Don Banks loves him some Bengals, devoting about 25% of his snap judgments to props for Carson, Cedric, and Mike Zimmer. Man, I love me some Zimmer.
• James Walker, who appropriately dubbed the Bengals a darkhorse in the AFC this summer, writes (again?) that the Bengals are no (longer a) joke. The best thing about this season is that the remaining schedule is pretty easy, with 4 games coming against teams with 2 or less wins (Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Oakland), and winnable games @Pittsburgh, @Minnesota, @San Diego, and @New York Jets. It's a shame none of the tough 2nd half opponents are coming to PBS, but 11-5 (dare I say 12-4) sure looks doable.
  
• CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel similarly advises football fans to "take off the blinders." It's time to believe! He's really in touch with the Bengals fan base that has a really hard time buying into Mike's Bengals, but isn't it about time we lock ourselves into our front-row seats on the band wagon?
• NFL.com's Vic Carucci writes that the Bengals, who have several significant wins this season, are silencing more and more critics every week (there's also a cool video recap of the game. Jonathan Joseph's pick was insane). Our defense really has a lot of believers after shutting down the Ravens twice.

Speaking of defense, Geoff Hobson sings some mighty praise for Zimmer's boys.

"And the Ravens had just 180 yards before running back Ray Rice churned out a classic garbage-time 35 yards on the last play of the game on a checkdown pass that underscored just how much Cincinnati dominated the game with the coverage of cornerbacks Leon Hall and Johnthan Joseph, as well as rookie nickel back Morgan Trent."

• CNati.com's Scott Priestle writes that the victory over Baltimore was another step toward the playoffs. That's right, folks, the playoffs are looking more and more reachable every week. Also from Priestle: praise for Joseph and Hall. These guys have GOT to be headed to the Pro Bowl, right? Along with Domata Peko, Whitworth, Carson and Chad? Am I forgetting anyone?
• Joe Reedy has his excellent-as-usual recap of the gamee at Cincinnati.com, where (also) Chick Ludwig reports that Carson wants Purify to replace Henry, rather than "one-dimensional" Simpson. Powerful words.
• Paul Daugherty calls these Bengals the "New Same Old Bengals." Worth a read!
• Tom Ramsetter writes that Predric Benson shut up Ray Lewis. John Eradi reports that Ray Rice says the Bengals are a stout defense.

By now, it's probably noon, and you've accomplished absolutely nothing at work today. If that's the case, then I consider it a job well done. Happy Monday!

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.

I love you #9! via images.cbssports.com

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I like to browse the internets, particularly in the national sports media area, to see what the big famous heads have to say about my football team. Interestingly, they have a lot to say this week. Here are some discussion points.

• Carson Palmer is awesome. So awesome that he's CBS Sports' top story today! Pedro, where are you? He's finally using his legs to make plays instead of standing in the pocket like a statue. He's doing like Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger - extending plays by moving around behind the line of scrimmage to give receivers time to get open. He's picking apart zones with pinpoint accuracy. He's thrown 7 picks or something, but I'd expect that number to stay low for the rest of the season given his performance against Chicago. Is Carson back to 2005 form? Is he better? Can we call him an elite NFL quarterback again? (By the way, Shutdown Corner doesn't think so. These rankings are absurd.)
  
• Playoffs. Yahoo is doing a lot of absurdly premature playoff looks. MJD is particularly excited to watch the next Steelers-Bengals game. Can you blame him? That definitely has the makings of a marquee match up, something that's been sorely lacking in the NFL this year. In other playoff news, AccuScore thinks the Bengals improved their playoff hopes by almost 20% last week, beating the Bears. Are the Bengals a playoff team? Let's think about the competition - Pittsburgh (division), Jets, Texans, Jaguars, San Diego (Wildcard) and Baltimore (wildcard/division). I like our chances, but it's going to be tough and in the back of my mind, I wonder how this team will play in big games down the stretch.
• Speaking of Steelers-Bengals being a marquee match up, when was the last time that really happened? 2005. Parity is dead in the NFL, and Kerry J. Byrne of Cold Hard Football Facts says so. The Bengals have been competitive - playoff competitive - only twice this decade. The Steelers have won two Superbowls. The Colts, Patriots, Broncos, and Steelers have dominated football for more than a decade. Is parity dead? Is that a bad thing? How would you fix it?
• Paul Daugherty is making his way into the national press this year, writing  guest articles or something along those lines for SI.com. Today, he highlights the emergence of Cedric Benson, which is an extremely trendy topic this year (watch out, Cedric is on pace for 375 carries, way over that "RB weardown" number. When he gets invited to the Pro Bowl, he should probably take it easy or he might be the next broken down former star). Interestingly, Cedric Benson was diagnosed with Celiac Disease shortly after he left the Bears. That means he can't digest gluten, which is primarily found in bread, pasta and the like. He says he's changed his diet - could the fact that Benson can actually digest the food he eats be a factor in his resurgence? 

I hope you find these discussion points as interesting as I do. Enjoy the bye-week fodder. Get into the thread and discuss!

More photos » by Tom Uhlman - AP

"I'm going to go to the playoffs, but thanks for letting me start our bye week early!" (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

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It's Wednesday of bye week. How exciting!

• Vote for your favorite Bengals to go to the Pro Bowl!
• ESPN Power Rankings have the Bengals at #6, 2nd best of the 5-2s behind New England and ahead of the Stealers. Here's how the panel voted. Here's James Walker's understanding of the rankings. Also, James Walker talked about Carson Palmer being awesome on Blogger Blitz. Apparently, Palmer's mechanics (with his feet) have improved this year. He's been more athletic, or something.
  
• As Chris mentioned, Chad OchoCinco has a big week ahead of him. First, he talked to Yahoo! Sports about how he's going to revolutionize sports news. He'll be all over ESPN on Thursday, and cap the night off with Letterman. Fox Sports also talked to Chad about OCNN and about what has generally caused Bengal success this year.
  
• NFL films dun' good picking the Bengals for Hard Knocks, says Joe Reedy.
• MJD of Shutdown Corner says - Carson Palmer is the MVP of Sunday. In some quasi-power ranking sort of thing on Y! Sports, Michael Silver says the Bengals are #6.
• Poor Tank Johnson. 2 days after the victory over the Bears, he somberly testified in the trial against the man accused of shooting Johnson's best friend to death.
• Football Outsiders says Carson Palmer was the best quarterback in week 7. Yep. The advance statistics football analysts say "DYAR chooses Palmer as the top player of the week, and he sits right alongside Brees, Peyton Manning, and Elvis Dumervil as an early MVP candidate. For him to accrue these totals in only 24 attempts is taggering. Sixteen of his attempts resulted in either a first down or a touchdown."
• Dennis Dillon of SportingNews.com says the Bengals are a bunch of cast-offs finding success. Is Mike Brown's career ressurection tactic paying off, or is Mike Zimmer awesome? What is going on?!
• More advance stats that I still haven't quite wrapped my head around. DVOA ratings have the Bengals moving up this week. These ratings don't look upon Cincinnati favorably due to our early season habit of last-second wins, and emphasis on yards. Still, it's interesting to see if football is going in baseball's direction of finding new stats that more strongly correlate with wins.
• More unamity in power ratings. Pete Prisco from CBS says Bengals are... 6!

More photos » by Tom Uhlman - AP

27 days ago: Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson (32) meets with Chicago Bears fullback Jason McKie (37) after the Bengals defeated the Bears 45-10 in an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

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I hate the Bye and I love the Bye. On the one hand, it helps the football team get healthy and rest - and week 8 is a great time for rest and recovery. On the other, what the heck am I supposed to do with my Sunday afternoon?! I guess I could watch other football games (yawn) or be productive (unlikely), but Bye weeks are torturous. They're like an unwanted taste of the off-season when you can't look forward to watching the Bengals in a few days.

But, the Bengals are 5-2 after beating the Bears, with losses coming to the rising Texans (who won't be rising much longer if Andre Johnson misses significant time) and 6-0 Denver Broncos. The Cats have overcome a relatively difficult early schedule, beating Green Bay and Baltimore on the road and Pittsburgh and Chicago at home. Quality victories, folks. I think we all would have taken a 5-2 start to the season 7 weeks ago, especially with how close our beloved team is to 6-1. But it's time to get over the Broncos loss and move on.

We've got a bye, then Baltimore and @Pittsburgh. These are incredibly important games (we say that every week, and we mean it) before what should be sure-thing-victories against Detroit, @Oakland, and Cleveland.  If the Bengals manage to at least split those AFCN contests, they'll be in good shape. Anywho, this is about what professionals have to say about the Bengals. Links and notes, after the jump!

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