Bengals Bytes (11/16): John Ross looking for remedy to slow start

Bengals' running game is worst in franchise history so far
The Bengals are celebrating their 50th season. None has been worse when it comes to their running game. Cincinnati ranks last in the NFL in running the ball and is on pace to shatter franchise records for ineptitude on the ground. There's no relief in sight for the fading Bengals (3-6) , who play in Denver (3-6) on Sunday.

Marvin Lewis: John Ross let down Andy Dalton, Bengals
If there was any honeymoon period for John Ross and the Cincinnati Bengals, it's officially over. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis criticized Ross on Wednesday for letting his teammates down on a potentially critical play during the team's 24-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. The second-quarter play involved Ross slowing down on a deep sideline route when he thought Andy Dalton wasn't going to throw the ball. Instead of potentially hauling in a deep throw, Dalton's pass fell incomplete in front of the 2017 Scouting Combine's fastest man.

Bengals WR John Ross seeks remedy for 'slower start than I wanted'
Rookie receiver John Ross says he understands why the Cincinnati Bengals have been slow to use him this season, but at least one teammate thinks he should be getting more snaps. The first-round draft pick played on just six snaps Sunday in a 24-20 loss to Tennessee and has played a total of 17 in three games since returning from a knee injury he suffered before Week 3.

Hobson's Choice: on the road again
I think they’ve drafted well enough on defense that it will have top ten talent next season with first-year blue chippers like cornerback William Jackson, pass rushers Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis, linebacker Jordan Evans, and the nose tackle tandem of Andrew Billings and Josh Tupou having a year in the pros under their belts. It will be recalled the ’08 offense bottomed out with the injury to quarterback Carson Palmer and their failure to protect him. In response during the offseason they made a commitment to protect him and help a revamped offensive line as well as an aging receiving corps with a renewed running game.

TDBH: Bengals shock unbeaten Chiefs to return to first place
Rookie Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis likes to show his team clips from a movie the night before a game, so why not pull a clip from "Ali" when Muhammad Ali stunned Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world? "Marvin told us this fight started off with speed, with Ali getting to him, but then Ali went blind for a whole round," says right tackle Willie Anderson, an hour after the Bengals pull off their own shocking upset today by hauling down the NFL's lone unbeaten team and Sports Illustrated cover subjects in a 24-19 win over the 9-0 Chiefs and validating Lewis’ re-building project. "But then he came back; he kept hammering away. That's what (Lewis) said; just keep hammering away. Keep hitting them with speed.

Lewis, Dalton News Conference Transcripts 11/15
The Broncos got off to a really good start. They started out 2-0, then lost (to Buffalo), came back in the fourth quarter (two win vs. Oakland), and then have dropped the last five (games). The thing you see offensively that hurt them a little bit in some of those games was the turnovers and things like that. They’ve had some plays on special teams that put them in bad field-position spots. Defensively, they continue to do the things they do well — press up at the line, bring pressure as much as they can, and be athletic in coverage. Not much has changed in looking at the variations that we’ve played with these guys over the past three or four seasons. It’s about the same, when you look at them defensively.

Denver's Joseph looks to break Bengals assistants' drought
The last time the Bengals won a game in Denver, Nov. 9, 1975, head coach Paul Brown met the press after the 17-16 victory and current first-year Broncos head coach Vance Joseph was all of three years old. Joseph, the Bengals secondary coach in 2014 and 2015, is in the same 3-6 quagmire that Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis finds himself during his 15th season when they meet Sunday (4:25-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) a Mile High. And he’s drawing on some Marv lessons in a jarring five- game losing streak the Broncos have lost every game by at least 10 points.

Quick hits: Boyd eyes 3rd down; Ross less than thrilling Lewis; New RB no stranger; Minter on field
Bengals slot receiver Tyler Boyd, who last season led NFL rookies with 22 third-down catches, is hoping he can give a lift Sunday in Denver for an offense that has converted just two third downs in the last two games. Boyd, who has missed the last four games with an MCL sprain, said before Wednesday’s practice he thinks he can go full but is waiting for the go-ahead from the coaches. Boyd and middle linebacker Kevin Minter, out the last three games with an elbow injury, were on the field at the beginning of Wednesday's rain-soaked practice.

AFC North Bytes

Ravens TE Watson returns with flourish from torn Achilles
At 36 years old and coming off an Achilles tendon injury that cost him the entire 2016 season, Benjamin Watson has become an integral part of the Baltimore Ravens' passing game. Watson ranks second on the team with 38 catches and has scored two touchdowns. Though the 6-foot-3 tight end has put up better numbers at times during his 14-year NFL career, this just might be his most impressive season — in spite of the Ravens' mediocre 4-5 record.

Browns Players Upset over Tashaun Gipson Suggesting They'll Go 0-16
Several Cleveland Browns players responded Wednesday to Tashaun Gipson on Wednesday after the Jacksonville Jaguars safety suggested his former team would finish the season 0-16. "Anybody would be disrespected from that," defensive tackle Danny Shelton said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal's Nate Ulrich. "So we've just got to go out there and play our game, be dominant."

Ben Roethlisberger on his play: Wins are all that matter
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is on track for his lowest passer rating, touchdown percentage and completion percentage since 2008, but he said on Tuesday that he’s not paying attention to anything other than the final score of games.

Random Bytes

Lions WR Jones the next American Idol? - ESPN Video
Lions WR Marvin Jones Jr. has been singing since he was four years old, so he took his talents in front of the American Idol judges to see what Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie thought of him.

By Benching Tyrod Taylor, Bills Are Committing the Cardinal Sin of Coaching
The Bills have wanted an excuse to bench Tyrod Taylor since the Sean McDermott era began. But Taylor refused to give them one. The new Bills administration not so quietly griped about Taylor's massive contract last winter, but Taylor agreed to a restructuring to remain in Buffalo. He was set to make $30.75 million guaranteed this season before terms of a two-year, $30.5 million deal were agreed upon. They drafted Nathan Peterman in the fifth round and sent all sorts of equivocating minicamp messages about Taylor's status last spring. But Taylor fended off Big Nate and the Nobodies to retain his starting job.

Bruce Arians on Blaine Gabbert's Bad Reputation: 'He Was on Really S--tty Teams'
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians doesn't think Blaine Gabbert is solely to blame for being considered a bust in the NFL after the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him 10th overall in 2011. "He was on really s--tty teams," Arians said Wednesday, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

Fantasy Football Week 11: Matt Camp's Fantasy Big Board
We've reached the final bye week of the 2017 season. Fantasy owners will have to survive without the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers for Week 11, but after that, you'll have access to all 32 NFL teams for the rest of the year. Week 11 also brings some key teams off the bye. The Kansas City Chiefs should have a great chance to get back on track when they travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the hapless New York Giants. Michael Crabtree and the Oakland Raiders return to face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in what could be a fantasy bonanza.