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3TFO: Bengals @ Ravens, Week 10
In a game that could have major implications for the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals as these division foes clash for the first time this year. The first half of the season hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending Super Bowl champions, who have dropped four of their past five games. On the other side, the Bengals were riding high until Thursday Night Football claimed Geno Atkins’ ACL, not to mention the way they lost, as only two other teams in history have — on an overtime safety.
Monthly smile
The pink shoes are gone and the pink gloves are stowed and the pink hats sit back in the shelves. But the dates of his mother's life still stretch across his back, a brief 46 years that Reggie Nelson thinks about every day of every month of every year. And so it will be Sunday in Baltimore (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 12) when the Bengals take the field with Nelson fully emerged as one of the team's leaders in yet another playoff chase that has barreled through October.
Matchup of the Game: Bengals don't want Rice to heat up
The first full-out matchup pitting the AFC North's most versatile weapon (Rice) against one of the division's emerging Pro Bowl-type two-way defenders when the Bengals head to Baltimore for Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 12) against the run-starved Ravens.
Update: Bernard waits turn; Whit returns; Gresham, Maualuga sit; Terrific third
The Bengals are on pace to ring up more yardage than the 1988 swashbuckling AFC champions and the most in the Marvin Lewis era, and one of the reasons why indicated Thursday he's feeling upbeat about playing Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 12) in Baltimore.
Notes: Issues and some answers
Even Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer noticed that Broncos head coach John Fox and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak have been felled by frightening physical events.
Lewis makes time for himself
Football coaches by nature are driven. Finding a balance between driving hard and driving off the tracks can be blurred with every passing defeat. Without down time, health can crumble around NFL coaches even with access to some of the world's top medical professionals.
Gruden trusts rookie Bernard's instincts
With any rookie being new to a team, the tendency to stick with the game plan and hit the hole becomes the way to please the coaches. Bernard believes the instinctual improvisation illustrated his growth.
Drops an issue Bengals WRs want to correct
Twice when he looked back at film from last Thursday's overtime loss at Miami, Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green twinged.
Don't expect increase in touches for Bengals RB Giovani Bernard
Jay Gruden's message to Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard after the rookie's weaving, juking, stumbling, field-reversing, tackle-breaking 35-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of last Thursday's game at Miami was a simple one.
Bengals' Jermaine Gresham downgraded
One day after participating in a limited capacity in the team's first practice of the week, Gresham was held out of Thursday's workout. A tender groin was the apparent culprit, keeping him out of uniform and relegated to roving the sideline while his teammates went through their second-to-last practice ahead of Sunday's game at Baltimore.
Bengals answer to bullying is locker room
The exact motivations behind Jonathan Martin's exit from the Miami Dolphins before last week's game against the Cincinnati Bengals remain a mystery to the broader public.
Cincinnati's Bernard claims 2 categories in AP's midseason NFL Honors
From the more glamorous positions, look to Cincinnati RB Gio Bernard, Green Bay RB Eddie Lacy, Detroit TE Joseph Fauria, St. Louis RB Zac Stacy, San Diego WR Keenan Allen, Jets QB Geno Smith, and Buffalo QB EJ Manuel. Bernard gets the edge for excitement quotient alone.
Nick Foles, Jordan Cameron, Jerry Hughes lead the Audibles All-Surprise Team
Yes, Marvin Jones impressed with his four-touchdown performance against the New York Jets, but he’s been effective all season when targeted. You don’t become FO’s most efficient play-to-play receiver with one great game.
Week 10 Cheat Sheet: All the picks for NFL weekend
Cincinnati at Baltimore: The Ravens are in win-or-done mode. In front of that home crowd, with the season on the line, I just don’t see Joe Flacco and Co. losing to Andy Dalton and the Bengals on Sunday. Losing Geno Atkins last week in Miami was as bad — if not worse — than losing the game.
After Further Review: Ravens' problems on O-line taking a toll
Halfway through the season, the Ravens look anything but a Super Bowl team with the running game stuck in neutral behind a struggling offensive line.