Bengals Banter: Say Hello To Your First Place Cincinnati Reds

Happy, happy weekend, indeed. Let me just say, first place is sweet. No one can beat us. Not the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs, no one. After winning two of three against St. Louis over the weekend, the Cincinnati Reds take first place. How sweet that is. We've dealt with so many seasons in which the Reds and Bengals were disasters at the same time. In the past six months, the Bengals won their division and now the Reds took it to the Cardinals to take first place away. Who knows if it'll last. But right now, it feels damn good.

+ Antonio Bryant is getting comfortable with the Bengals offense and, more importantly, Carson Palmer.

"With him it's about precision and timing, and that will help me pick my game up. That's something I've lacked for the most part everywhere I've been," Bryant said. "He's almost got it down to a science. I know what to expect because it's been consistent so far."

+ Chick Ludwig vehemently defends Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, saying that Bengals fans should get off his back. My response: No.

+ After some rumor that the Browns are looking at signing Terrell Owens, the Browns have ruled Owens out.

+ Today would have been Chris Henry's 27th birthday.

+ A month after his debut, Jerry Rice could be retiring from his one-month long professional golf career.