Bengals Bytes (10/12): Flexing

Former Bengals player to be enshrined in football Hall of Fame
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Kimo von Oehlhofen had a fairly undistinguished 14-year NFL career - the first six seasons were spent with the Bengals - but it was apparently good enough to get the defensive lineman enshrined in a football Hall of Fame ... the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.

Bengals brace for next news on Eifert
The Bengals are bracing for the next step in tight end Tyler Eifert’s back problems, but if the news ends his season they most likely won’t respond with a roster move until next week. ESPN reported Wednesday that Eifert is in Los Angeles meeting with doctors to decide if he should have season-ending surgery. Eifert has finished two of his four previous NFL seasons on injured reserve and in the two years he didn’t he could only play three snaps in the 2013 Wild Card Game with a shoulder injury and he tore ankle ligaments in the fourth quarter of the 2015 Pro Bowl.

Bengals hope this line trending up
When the Bengals pulled off their four biggest drives of Sunday’s 20-16 victory over the Bills, left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi lined up over Buffalo’s best pass rusher. And Jerry Hughes didn’t disrupt the two touchdowns, the field-goal drive that consumed the guts of the fourth quarter and the final clock-killing drive.

Bengals' Tyler Eifert to have season-ending surgery
Tyler Eifert's comeback year has come to an end. The Bengals tight end will undergo season-ending back surgery after consulting with noted spine specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported, according to a source informed of the decision.

Bengals: Flex on 'em, Eifert's season in jeopardy, Bye-Week blues
The Cincinnati Bengals are riding a two-game winning streak going into their bye week. That bye week will now last an extra 205 minutes. The NFL announced on Wednesday that the Bengals matchup with division-rival Pittsburgh next Sunday (Oct. 22) has been flexed to start at 4:25 p.m. ET.

Bengals-Steelers on Oct. 22 'flexed' to later start time
The NFL announced Wednesday that the kickoff time for the Bengals-Steelers game on Sunday, Oct. 22 -- originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start -- has been moved to 4:25 p.m. ET. The time change is part of the league's option to institute flexible scheduling for certain games beginning from Week 5 and onward each season. The AFC North battle will be part of a CBS doubleheader.

Bengals’ defense making strides
While much of the attention has been focused on the travails of the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense that failed to score a touchdown in the first two games resulting in the ouster of coordinator Ken Zampese, the defense has more quietly gone about its work.

But heading into the bye week, coordinator Paul Guenther suddenly has the No. 2-ranked defense in the NFL.

Bengals Walkthru: What made this rough patch different
Media and fans overreact. Nearly every week. Outside of filling the air debating pointless exercises like power rankings and demanding a constant state of firings, it’s what we do best. In many ways players are much like fans. Only, they can do something about it. So, I was intrigued by the answer of Kevin Huber on Beyond The Stripes on Tuesday night when I asked him if players overreact the same way fans and media do to losses. In particular, I was obviously referring to those at the beginning of this year for the Bengals.

AFC North Bytes

Eli Rogers Looking To Keep His Helmet This Time Around
From the sounds of it, the timeout is over for third-year Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Eli Rogers, whom quarterback Ben Roethlisberger indicated that he expects to be active on Sunday against the Chiefs following two weeks on the bench. A former undrafted free agent out of Louisville, Rogers became—virtually by default—the Steelers’ primary slot receiver last season after spending his rookie season on injured reserve, but he had already been replaced in that role by, at the latest, week three, with rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster seeing far more time there.

DeShone Kizer's Twitter account likes post taking shot at Browns organization
Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer was benched in favor of backup QB Kevin Hogan during the second half of Cleveland's 17-14 loss to the Jets Sunday. Wednesday, the Browns announced that the former Stanford QB would get the start over Kizer in the Cleveland's matchup with the Texans in Week 6, becoming the Browns’ 28th starting quarterback since 1999.

Baltimore Ravens: Can't Afford to Waste Upcoming Favorable Schedule
We have been crying for the Ravens to do exactly what they did this past Sunday: run the ball and throw it downfield. They did both and it paid off in a big way. The Ravens ran the ball 38 times (the most of the season) for 145 yards (not counting Joe Flacco’s runs). The progress they made in the run game gave them the opportunity to open up the passing game and go down field with play-action passes. That paid off as well as the Ravens had 222 yards in the air, with a number of plays downfield, and even attempts that failed but were at least tried, unlike in previous weeks.

Random Bytes

David Johnson Won't Return from Wrist Injury Until at Least Thanksgiving
The Arizona Cardinals will have to remain without their All-Pro running back for a while longer. Head coach Bruce Arians said Wednesday that the "earliest" David Johnson could return is Thanksgiving, according to Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Suspended by Giants After Leaving Team
New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo announced Wednesday Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie would be suspended after the veteran cornerback left the team. Art Stapleton of The Record noted McAdoo said there was a meeting between Rodgers-Cromartie and himself Tuesday before the defensive back left Wednesday morning.

NFLPA Releases Statement Discussing Roger Goodell's Policy on Anthem
The NFL Players Association released a statement Wednesday announcing executive director DeMaurice Smith and some players will be present at the owners' meetings in Conrad, New York, next week to discuss the league's policy on the national anthem.