Bengals Bytes (11/10): Stopping the YAC

Notes: Eifert's Prowess, Whitworth's Beard, Green's Dominance

Is it me or does it seem like the Bengals haven’t played in a month? Although we haven’t had a game to broadcast since the London trip, Dave Lapham and I have been doing our weekly Bengals shows over the past two weeks and here are a few of the interesting things we’ve learned.

Bengals hope to stick a fork in second half

Marvin Lewis has more themes than John Williams and the one wafting through the Bengals locker room this week to start what amounts to a new season is “the fork in the road.” Nose tackle Domata Peko said it and safety George Iloka echoed it before they went on the practice field to begin preparing for Monday night’s game (8:30-Cincinnati’s Channel 5, ESPN) against the Giants that Peko calls “very huge,’ and one “we’ve got to win.”

Time finally come for frustrated Darqueze Dennard?

Darqueze Dennard stood outside the doors of the training area of the Bengals locker room and quietly explained a situation he’s talked about in that space more times than he’d like to admit since being selected No. 24 overall in the 2014 draft. He honestly aired feelings about his lack of playing time in three years with Cincinnati.

Beyond the Stripes Hot Seat: Whitworth on Kaepernick

Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth has an opinion on Colin Kaepernick taking a knee ... and it's not a short one. Stacy Doose for The Enquirer

First look: Bengals vs. Giants

The Cincinnati Bengals (3-4-1) traveled to London for a home game against Washington and came away with a 27-27 tie. The overall performance of the defense in the first half has led to talk about changes in playing time, but the offense has surged into the top third of the league in total yardage. New York (5-3) held off a Philadelphia rally at the end of the game on Sunday to win 28-23

Bengals’ run turnaround was predicted four weeks ago

A little while back I was speaking with a former Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator and as I was reviewing my notes something caught my eye: After a 77-yard rushing effort that yielded 2.1 yards per carry against, at the time, a woeful Miami rush defense, he lauded the Bengals run game.

Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis downplays defensive coordinator's warning about lineup changes

Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther might be ready to make changes to his lineup, but it doesn't appear that coach Marvin Lewis feels the same way. If he does, he's not ready to reveal that to the public yet.

Cincinnati Bengals must contain Odell Beckham Jr.'s YAC on Monday

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones called New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. "the real deal" on Tuesday afternoon. He'll get to deal with Beckham on Monday night. Although the Giants and Bengals held joint practices and played each other in the preseason last year, this is the first time they have met in the regular season since 2012. It's unlikely either Jones or Dre Kirkpatrick will shadow Beckham, but how the Bengals contain him could be the key to the game. Beckham scored two touchdowns last week against the Eagles and can be a total difference maker when he has a big game.

Midway through the season, Bengals' health has been of little concern

The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of problems to fix as they gear up for the second part of their reason. Luckily for them, injuries don't appear to be one of those concerns. The Bengals' biggest question right now in that department is whether they want to bring running back Cedric Peerman or cornerback William Jackson III back from injured reserve; a decision on activating defensive lineman Brandon Thompson from the physically unable to perform list looms, too.

AFC North Bytes

Le’Veon Bell shines light on more practice issues surrounding the Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have issues, and Le’Veon Bell spoke about how practice could certainly be one of the main issues surrounding the team.

Cleveland Browns' Terrelle Pryor a bright spot in a dismal season: Bill Livingston

No position in sports is more important than quarterback in football and none is so revealing of personal character. Cliches define the position: leader, coach on the field, most of all (cue the music from "Patton" as the tanks roll to the relief of Bastogne) field general.

Terrell Suggs, Baltimore Ravens wary of threat a winless team poses

Thursday night's game against the Cleveland Browns brought up one of the lowest points in Baltimore Ravens history for linebacker Terrell Suggs. Nine years ago, the Ravens did the unthinkable, losing to the previously winless Miami Dolphins. In overtime, Baltimore safety Ed Reed jumped a slant route, allowing Dolphins wide receiver Greg Camarillo to race to the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown to give Miami its first victory after 13 straight losses.

Random Bytes

Election Day with Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins

We spent Election Day in Philly with safety Malcolm Jenkins as he contemplated the candidates, voted, then prepared for the results.

NFL officials working full time won’t solve ref problem

A popular solution has been raised after Monday night’s debacle, but a breakdown of the numbers doesn’t show it helping matters at all. Plus reader mail on the Cowboys’ rookie duo, Harvard soccer and much more.

Jonez on Jonez: Golden Tate is bringing disrespect back to the NFL, thank goodness

The Giants and Eagles kicked Week 9 Sunday off with an extremely NFC East-y game full of turnovers and unsafe leads. The game came down to a last minute heave to the end zone on 4th down which is about the most exciting way a game could end but Eli and Wentz still combined for four interceptions because even when NFC East games are good, they’re still pretty shitty.

Fixing Officiating, Monday Nite Review & the HOF

I don’t want to talk about the ridiculous situation that played out before halftime of the Buffalo-Seattle game on Monday night. That’s been talked to death. What I’d like to talk about is how do we finally put an end to all these embarrassing situations the NFL continually finds itself in. The answer may or may not be full time officials. Every time we have something like this, there’s a big call for officials to be full time. At the end of the day, full time or part time, there’s always going to be human error. Nobody’s perfect, and people make mistakes, no matter how much training they have.