Bengals Bytes (10/23): Flawed

Same Steelers script dooms Bengals
If you’ve seen one Bengals-Steelers game in the 14 editions during the Green-Dalton Era, you’ve probably seen them all. Sunday’s 29-14 loss had the same grinding feel. Not enough offense. A few big plays against the defense. A special teams gaffe. More Steeler complaints of a play by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. And after the game, more questions if the Steelers are in the Bengals’ heads.

TDBH: Green’s Hail Mary eclipses Hue return
It hardly ever happens. For just the second time in Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis’ 14 seasons he faces one of his assistants running his own team. And it’s the first time a former Bengals offensive coordinator comes in with his own team since Bruce Coslet led the Jets into Riverfront Stadium for the 1990 opener. Not only that, Hue Jackson, Lewis’ close friend he entrusted with four jobs in seven seasons, reportedly talks to the Bengals about staying before this season as Lewis’ successor before the Browns lure him north and keep him in the division.

Quick hits: Bengals lose numbers game
After seeing the Bengals’ record against the Steelers drop to 3-11 in the seven seasons of the Green-Dalton Era, A.J. Green could only call it like he saw it. “They’ve got our numbers. They’ve just beat us,” Green said after Sunday’s latest loss, an offensively-challenged 29-14 verdict at Heinz Field.

Bengals at Steelers Postgame Quotes
It was a game at halftime and we have opportunity with the ball starting out in the second half. We have the turnover. We don’t get an opportunity there as we go into the third quarter and don’t get ourselves back in the game. We have opportunity there. That’s the disappointing thing. We had some plays that weren’t as good as we needed them to be in the first half defensively, and that led to some other points. We just have to play better. We didn’t play good enough to win today.

Steelers shut down Bengals offense, 29-14
With the Bengals offense falling into a coma after it tied the game at 14 when head coach Marvin Lewis went for it on fourth-and-one from the Steelers one with 7:12 left in the second quarter, Pittsburgh methodically chewed up the clock and the league’s second-best defense in the Heinz Field din with the NFL’s best running back and needed only four catches for 65 yards from wide receiver Antonio Brown, the league’s leading receiver

Bengals' flaws exposed in ugly loss to Steelers
So much for positive momentum. All of the strides the Cincinnati Bengals made to dig themselves out of an 0-3 start came to a quick halt somewhere toward the end of the second quarter of a 29-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

Cincinnati Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict kicked Pittsburgh Steelers FB Roosevelt Nix, raising possibility of suspension
Less than a minute into Sunday's game at Heinz Field, Vontaze Burfict kicked Pittsburgh Steelers fullback Roosevelt Nix with both feet, raising the possibility of yet another suspension for the Cincinnati Bengals linebacker. Nix had blocked Burfict into a pile on the second play of the game. While on his back, Burfict aimed both his feet at Nix's face mask. He appeared to land a glancing blow.

Doc: Bengals still stuck being Steelers' 'Little Brother'
On fourth down-and-2 with 3:27 left in a game the Bengals trailed 29-14, Andy Dalton took a shotgun snap, was flushed from the pocket and ... threw an uncatchable pass 20 yards out of bounds. If you’re looking for a metaphor to explain this latest Bengals disappointment, that’ll do. Need we mention that it was fourth down? That throwing a ball into the front row in that situation is essentially a turnover? A.J. Green was the intended target. Maybe Dalton thought A.J. Who Catches Everything was more than a nickname.

RB Joe Mixon of Cincinnati Bengals frustrated by lack of second-half carries vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Rookie running back Joe Mixon helped set up the Bengals' first touchdown against the Steelers with a 25-yard run in the first half of a 29-14 loss. Then he essentially disappeared. Mixon did not have a carry in the second half, although quarterback Andy Dalton did throw two passes his way. He voiced his frustration for the Cincinnati running back group after the game.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis walks out of press conference after question about call
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis cut his post-game press conference short after being asked why he went for it on 4th down during his team's loss to the Steelers Sunday afternoon.

AFC North Bytes

Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell talks about stiff-arm to Cincinnati Bengals' Dre Kirkpatrick
Even Le'Veon Bell had trouble trying to process what happened with 5:58 left in the second quarter and what he left in his wake. "That was one of the better stiff-arms of my life," Bell said of his violent takedown of Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick in the open field, which resulted in a 42-yard reception during the Pittsburgh Steelers' 29-14 win. "I don't know what happened or what came over me on that play."

Joe Flacco: I wouldn’t say offense is completely broken
The Ravens went into Week Seven with one of the league’s worst offenses and they won’t be climbing the rankings after their game against the Vikings. Baltimore gained 208 yards on their way to a 24-16 loss that leaves them with a 3-4 record. After all four of those losses and at least the first of those wins, there’s been discussion about what to do about an offense that can’t put up enough points to win and this Sunday was no exception.

Joe Thomas' 11-Year Snap Streak Broken, Reportedly Suffered Torn Triceps
Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas suffered a possibly serious triceps injury in Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Browns fear it's a triceps tear, which would lead to season-ending surgery. Thomas will have an MRI tomorrow, per Rapoport.

Random Bytes

Winners and Losers of NFL Week 7
This week of NFL action brought forth some clear studs and duds. Who came to play in Week 7? Watch as Stephen Nelson and Bleacher Report NFL analyst Matt Miller discuss the biggest winners and losers from Sunday.

Report: Malik Hooker Out for the Season with Torn ACL, MCL Suffered vs. Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts safety Malik Hooker has been hounded by injuries over the past year, and he was dealt another blow Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Hooker tore his ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the 2017 season.

NFL Team Grades for Week 7
Week 7 was an object lesson in the fact that the only constant in the NFL is that there are no constants in the NFL. We saw a pair of perennial doormats in the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars continue impressive first halves in dominant fashion.

Pats Rediscover Their Nasty Side and Leave the Falcons Wondering Who They Are
It was late in the first quarter when one play signified this game was going to be different from the last time the Patriots and Falcons met, in Super Bowl LI. And in the process, it may have helped change the course of this season for New England. As Falcons running back Tevin Coleman went left, a hole parted for a millisecond, only to be closed by Pats corner Malcolm Butler, who came crashing in, hitting Coleman square in the lower body with both shoulders.