Morning Bites (10/11): Film Breakdown

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: | Word of Muth: Bengals over Patriots
The main story of the Cincinnati-New England game was the Bengals defense and how they shut down the Patriots offense. Of particular note was the fact that they snapped Tom Brady’s consecutive games with a touchdown pass streak. But while the defense deserves the lion’s share of the praise from Sunday, there were some bright spots on the offensive side of the ball for Cincinnati, particularly up front.

Elder's Wood center of leadership for Bills
Eric Wood is one of four Elder grads playing in the NFL. He faces the hometown Bengals Sunday.

Gilberry given a reason to smile in Cincinnati
Wallace Gilberry walks through the locker room, but as the standard, fails to make it across the expansive Paul Brown Stadium player sanctuary without stopping.

Is a Bengals special teams botch brewing?
The disaster day has yet to come for Bengals special teams. Coordinator Darrin Simmons would prefer nobody even whisper about the possibility. In fact, writing this likely steps over the boundaries.

Bengals 'close' on Pacman's punt returns
CINCINNATI -- As more healthy players finally return to their defensive backfield, the Cincinnati Bengals are starting to see a sort of domino effect

Notes: Zone read talking points; Double duty for Marv Jones; Ghee returns limited
A few talking points about the zone read offense the Bengals see for the first time Sunday.

Finding a home
In this age of server scouting and cyber cutups and free-agent fantasy, Bengals defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry is the index card that got lost in the shuffle.

The Walkthrough: Twitter Mailbag Edition
I haven’t done the Twitter mailbag for awhile because there hasn’t been a round of 20 questions conducted since Training Camp. Last night I decided to bring back 20 questions which produced some interesting queries from fans. Here is an expanded version of the mailbag from last night along with giving some further explanation about answers since there isn’t a 140-character limit on here:

Morning Stripes: Gilberry excels in Cincy
Wallace Gilberry has heard the unflattering ways his NFL career has been described. Retread, some have called him. Lifelong backup, others have s

Cincinnati Bengals still without DE Michael Johnson
CINCINNATI -- The Michael Johnson Watch extended into its 11th straight day Thursday as the Cincinnati Bengals practiced once again without one of the

Zimmer, Bengals' 'D' getting back to business | The Newark Advocate | newarkadvocate.com
Less than 15 minutes after talking to ESPN about holding New England without a touchdown, Mike Zimmer was back up in his office at Paul Brown Stadium looking at the film of Buffalo's game against Cleveland.

UPDATE: White Center's Jack Thompson joins first Polynesian Football HOF class | West Seattle Herald / White Center News
White Center's football great Jack Thompson was named to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013 on Oct. 9. Thompson, who played quarterback at Evergreen, Washington State and for the Bengals and Buccaneers in the NFL, joins seven other players and coaches who will be officially inaugurated at the Jan. 23 NFL Pro Bowl.

USA TODAY Sports' Week 6 NFL predictions
Will Cowboys rebound against Redskins? Do Saints stay undefeated?

Bears hold off winless Giants to end skid
Jay Cutler threw two touchdown passes to Brandon Marshall, and Tim Jennings had two of the Chicago Bears' three interceptions against Eli Manning in a 27-21 victory over the winless New York

Saints' Jimmy Graham in rarefied air among tight ends
METAIRIE, La. — When the ringing in his ears from the Superdome crowd finally subsides on a Victory Monday, Jimmy Graham slides on a headset, straps himself into the pilot seat of his fixed-wing, single-engine

Man alleges assault by Deion Sanders at prep academy
Former Cowboys great and founder of a Dallas prep school says there was confrontation only

Brennan: Snyder in a storm Goodell needs to solve
Dan Snyder, the owner of Washington's NFL team, never would have imagined the perfect storm that now has enveloped his team's offensive nickname. To quote Snyder, I think we can use caps on that: NEVER.

Bucs: Carl Nicks' MRSA infection has returned to his foot
Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Carl Nicks' MRSA infection has returned in his left foot, general manager Mark Dominik told reporters Thursday afternoon. "This is a recurrence for Carl Nicks of the MRSA – same place, same location," Dominik said. "From everything we've been told and understand, this does happen, which is why MRSA is a bacteria that is hard to treat.

A mentor for Geno: Jets bring back David Garrard
'Retirement' because of knee troubles lasts four months for veteran QB

Where might Mark Sanchez end up? | Q
With Mark Sanchez's New York Jets career likely over, which teams might be interested in signing him next season?

Lions star Calvin Johnson limited in practice
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Calvin Johnson returned to Detroit Lions practice Thursday on a limited basis with a brace on his right knee. Johnson took part in position drills, but did not run routes downfield and did

Double Coverage: Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills might not have played Sunday after their 37-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns last Thursday, but it was still a busy weekend for the B

Countdown Daily Prediction: CIN-BUF
ESPN Video: The NFL Live crew make their picks for Cincinnati at Buffalo.

Fantasy Focus: Week 6 Love/Hate
ESPN Video: Matthew Berry joins Cary Chow to discuss Colin Kaepernick's recent struggles and whether to love or hate him in Week 6.

Ben Roethlisberger shrugs off Ryan Clark comments - NFL.com
Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark says Ben Roethlisberger has to tone it down to help the Steelers dig out of their 0-4 hole. The veteran quarterback says he's not going to change the way he plays.