Bengals Bytes (10/27): Problem with turnovers

TDBH: P.B.: ‘Call us Bengals’
The American Football League’s newest team won’t be the Buckeyes even though head coach and general manager Paul Brown coached Ohio State to a national title and it is the most popular nickname culled from newspaper coupons made available in The Cincinnati Post Times-Star. “That name is already used by Ohio State,” says Brown at today’s news conference at the Hotel Sheraton Gibson unveiling the name “Bengals.”

Mixon advisers urge patience
Everyone from Frank Gore to Jeremy Hill is advising Bengals rookie running back Joe Mixon to be patient. Before the Bengals play the Colts Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12), Gore may even tell Mixon in person since he remains one of the Colts’ biggest threats with the seventh most rushing yards in NFL history at age 34. Gore was playing for the 49ers when Mixon remembers him attending one of his games at Freedom High School on the outskirts of Oakland in Oakley.

Top 50 Moments: Bengals Score 24 Points in Fourth Quarter Comeback Victory
Carson Palmer's coming out party takes exactly 15 minutes and 200 yards, the length of the fourth quarter in Baltimore and the number of passing yards he takes to generate 24 points to lead the Bengals to their second biggest road comeback ever, 27-26. It is just his 12th NFL start, but it already marks the third time he leads the Bengals to victory from either a deficit or tie in the fourth quarter.

Fantasy Forecast: Week 8
Week 8 marks the half-way point to the NFL season, and for fantasy owners it is a week where roster depth is tested more than any other. This week the Cardinals, Packers, Jaguars, Rams, Giants, and Titans are all on a bye. Even if you take out Carson Palmer (broken arm) and Aaron Rodgers (broken collarbone) from the list, there are still no less than 15 fantasy starters missing from line-ups in that field of teams.

Matchup of the Game: 'Willow' starting to bloom
Last Thursday before they played the Steelers the Bengals’ secondary did what it always does on Thursdays and had a players-only film session. One of the cornerbacks observed, “Hey, they’ve got fast receivers. Safeties make sure you stay high for us.” Safety George Iloka, the secondary’s traffic cop, couldn’t resist and said to Jackson something along the lines of, ‘You’re good. You don’t need us. You’re the fastest man in the NFL.”

Bengals RB Jeremy Hill can relate to Joe Mixon's rookie frustrations
Bengals running backs Joe Mixon and Jeremy Hill are in a competition for touches, which is a situation that could easily strain a relationship. But Hill, whose carries dropped off significantly after Mixon was drafted in the second round, instead can relate to some of the things he's going through.

Race for the 2018 NFL Draft No. 1 pick: Loser of Colts-Bengals has a real shot
The Colts would have the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft if the 2017 season ended after seven weeks. Is that their ceiling? I mean, without Andrew Luck, Indianapolis looks completely out of whack despite a clearly improved defensive front. New general manager Chris Ballard made some shrewd moves this past offseason, but everyone knew it would take more than a few months for him to straighten up the mess left by ex-GM Ryan Grigson, who was in that position a few years too long.

Cincinnati Bengals notes: Turnovers a glaring gap
Running through the Bengals defensive rankings offers a plethora of confidence-inducing top 10s. Whether scoring defense, total yards, yards per play, passing yards, you name it, this group lives with the elite of the league this year. Then, like an unsightly canker sore on the lips of its résumé, lives the measly four takeaways which leave them tied for second-worst in the NFL.

Can Bengals' running game come to life against Colts?
What’s the heart and soul of every NFL offense? Well, it’s gotta be the quarterback… right? That actually depends on who’s calling the signals. But, the meat and potatoes of the AFC North is the running game. Outside of bone-crunching defense, the north demands a team that has a ground attack to complement timely passing. When the Indianapolis Colts (2-5) gallop into Cincinnati for a Week 8 matchup with the Bengals (2-4), sights will be set on the run. This should be a chance for the Bengals to feast.

Behind Enemy Lines: Cincinnati Bengals
After an embarrassing 27-0 home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, many Colts fans expected owner Jim Irsay and first-year general manager Chris Ballard to bring the Chuck Pagano era to a close. The blowout marked Pagano’s ninth loss by at least 27 points, which is the most in the NFL since 2012. Everyone knows that this is Pagano’s last year, and the season will not be salvaged by a midseason coaching change. Without Andrew Luck (a.k.a. Mr. Wite-Out) around to cover the rest of the team’s flaws, 2017 is a wash.

AFC North Bytes

Ben Roethlisberger on Martavis Bryant: 'If You're Unhappy ... Come Talk to Me'
As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to work damage control with Martavis Bryant, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a message for his disgruntled wide receiver. "I'm the guy that throws the ball, so if you're unhappy about something, come talk to me," Roethlisberger told reporters Wednesday. "Maybe there is something we can figure out together to make it better."

NFL Officials Botch Player Safety Again After Brutal Hit on Joe Flacco
The NFL continuously reminds anyone willing to listen that player safety is the league's top priority, yet the actions of its officials represent that it isn't a priority at all. Twenty-seven days after Chicago Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan received a suspension for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit to Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams, the league must explain why Miami Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso wasn't ejected for a similar hit Thursday night on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.

Random Bytes

The Trade Every NFL Team Should Explore at the Trade Deadline
A whole lot of poking, prodding and sizing up happens in the days before the NFL trade deadline. Then we get mostly silence. The football version generally doesn't have the frantic action of deadlines in other sports. There are a lot of reasons for that, and salary-cap maneuvering is chief among them. Fitting players into new systems and schemes at midseason can also be difficult.

Gaffes, TV ratings concerns dominated as NFL, players forged anthem peace during league meetings
It was the final question raised by a group of 11 NFL team owners as they mingled inside the sixth-floor conference room at the league's Park Avenue headquarters in New York City, minutes before they were to meet with a group of 12 players, one former player and three union leaders on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 17. The day already had been stressful, and the meeting hadn't even started. League executives had spent that morning as they had the previous four weeks: grappling with a series of events the league and owners could not control, unleashed by President Donald Trump's harsh criticism of the decision by a handful of players to kneel during the national anthem.

All signs point to Golden Tate playing against Steelers
The bye came at a good time for the Detroit Lions. Perhaps nobody knows that better than Golden Tate. He's started 54 straight games since signing with the Lions in 2014, a terrific streak that looked as though it might come to a halt when he suffered a shoulder injury before the bye against New Orleans. NFL Network reported the injury as an AC joint issue that was expected to keep him out "a few weeks."