Bengals Bytes (9/20): Hot seat

TDBH: P.B. draws it up to shock Raiders again
There is Madden 18, but call this one PB 70 as the Bengals stun John Madden's Super Bowl favorite Raiders, 31-21, in the season opener. The Raiders have lost only two games since Joe Willie's Cinderella Jets beat them in the 1968 AFL title game and both losses have been to the three-year-old Bengals. But it’s more than that. It's the first regular-season football game in Riverfront Stadium, coming just a few months after baseball's All-Star Game and in the middle of the Reds run to the National League pennant that gives the structure quite a christening and a foreshadowing of its rich history.

Fantasy Recap: Week 2
Changes are in the wind, both in fantasy football and in the NFL. The Bengals made the decision to part ways with OC Ken Zampese, and promoted QB Coach Bill Lazor to Offensive Coordinator. This can only help to improve the fantasy value of Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, John Ross, Joe Mixon, and even Giovani Bernard. My suggestion on Green and Mixon is that you buy low on them now. Bernard is more of a hold, as is Tyler Eifert (back and knees) with early injuries already putting his Week 3 availability in doubt.

Top 50 Moments: Paul Brown Stadium Opens Gates to 130,000 Fans
The Paul Brown Stadium gates open for the first time on Aug. 16, 2000 and Cincinnati police estimate about 130,000 stream through the riverfront super structure during an open house between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. The club is expecting about 25,000 for the entire six hours, but by 6:30 the count is already at 35,000 passing through sampling concessions and seats and touring the player facilities. Two of the most popular figures in Cincinnati history, mayor Charlie Luken and former Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth, are among the speakers. But Bengals president Mike Brown knows why the people are here. “They were here to see, not hear,” he says.

Bengals Help Raise $100,000 for Hurricane Relief Efforts
The Bengals teamed up with the American Red Cross, WLWT, Kroger, the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to raise $100,000 for hurricane relief efforts. American Red Cross volunteers and WLWT personalities were at the entrances to Paul Brown Stadium before the Texans game on Sept. 14, where fans donated $33,300 to provide “Help for Houston.” The Bengals matched the fan donation and kicked in net proceeds from tickets sold leading up to the game, resulting in a $59,100 donation. Additionally, a WLWT telethon and collections at Kroger stores raised $7600. The combined efforts resulted in a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross.

Bengals WR Tyler Boyd not sure why he was inactive for Week 2
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd was a surprise inactive against the Texans on Thursday, and even he's still in the dark as to why. The Bengals have seven wide receivers, and with John Ross making his debut on Thursday, Boyd could have simply been the odd man out. He and rookie Josh Malone were both inactive.

NFL hot seat rankings: Trouble brewing for Marvin Lewis' Cincinnati Bengals
Firing up the hot seat watch in September may seem premature — a generally fair assessment — but any veteran coach will admit one is never safe when a team starts poorly. Just ask now-former Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Zampese, who'd been on the staff since 2003 but was terminated after last Thursday's loss. Yes, the coaching dominoes have officially begun to fall.

Cincinnati Bengals: Fantasy football focus Week 2
Another week, and another dismal performance by the Bengals offense. While it’s true that Andy Dalton scored better than his measly one fantasy point from a week ago, it wasn’t a whole lot better. The men in stripes were kept out of the end zone yet again and looked no more cohesive than a week ago. To make matters worse, they were up against a Texans defense that got lit up by the Jaguars a week ago. That’s right, the Jaguars. Though the team is still floundering, were there any Bengals bright spots for fantasy owners?

Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: Is It Time to Make Some Changes in Cincy? | Bleacher Report
It was a few months ago, during training camp, as the Colin Kaepernick story grew, that a player for the Bengals wondered in texts to me: What if we brought Kaepernick to Cincinnati? The messages came from a defensive player. He meant no disrespect to the Bengals' current quarterback, Andy Dalton. He was merely wondering aloud and didn't go much further than that.

NFL Week 3 first look: Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers
The Bengals, at least on offense, are in a bit of a state of flux after firing offensive coordinator Ken Zampese following a 13-9 loss to Houston at Paul Brown Stadium last Thursday night to fall to 0-2. Andy Dalton struggled with accuracy again (57 percent) and the team rushed for just 3.4 yards per carry. The Packers lost a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game in Atlanta, falling 34-23 to the Falcons. The already-hampered Packers (1-1) lost playmaking receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb to injuries during the game while Aaron Rodgers was hit seven times, sacked three times and intercepted once in 50 pass attempts.

Cincinnati Bengals' bounce back starts with offensive line
Heading into Week 3, the Bengals are facing a tough game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. With Bill Lazor now taking over as the offensive coordinator, the Bengals can now try to bounce back. However, it all starts with better play from the offensive line.

Packers return home to host the Bengals
The Green Bay Packers take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. The Packers look to win their first two home games for the fifth consecutive season and for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Including the postseason, Green Bay has won five consecutive games at Lambeau Field.

Cincinnati Bengals 31st of 32 in USA TODAY NFL Power Rankings
The Cincinnati Bengals rank 31st of 32 NFL teams in USA TODAY Sports' new Power Rankings. Only the New York Jets are ranked lower than the Bengals. The Bengals fell one spot from No. 30 to No. 31 after their 13-9 loss to the Houston Texans on Thursday. USA TODAY's notes about the Bengals in the Power Rankings: "Whole is far less than sum of parts given offense is first since 1939 to open with two home games and fail to score TD. See ya, Ken Zampese."

AFC North Bytes

Ravens quickly delete tweet with royal gaffe
Call it a royal gaffe. The Ravens social media team quickly realized its mistake Tuesday after tweeting an image of Queen Elizabeth II with the team's logo photoshopped across her countenance to look like facepaint. The tweet said, "The Queen is ready for us to #FlockToLondon."

The Browns are 0-2 and DeShone Kizer is struggling, but it’s not time to panic yet (podcast)
In Week 2, the Browns lost to the Baltimore Ravens and there wasn’t much to be positive about. The team is now 0-2 on the season after losses to divisional rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore. But this start was expected.

Ron Cook: It appears the Steelers made the right decision on inside linebacker Vince Williams
On a day when Lawrence Timmons’ consecutive-games starting streak ended at 101 under bizarre circumstances and when Dont’a Hightower missed a New England Patriots game against New Orleans because of a reoccurring knee injury, I paid extra attention Sunday to Vince Williams in the Steelers-Minnesota Vikings game at Heinz Field.

Random Bytes

NFL ratings are down because teams have no incentive to be good
This is a very boring, simple explanation as to why the NFL’s ratings are declining. It is not an opportunity for you to shoehorn in your feelings about Colin Kaepernick protesting the game. No one really cares about your feelings about Colin Kaepernick’s protest, because if you are the kind of person who gets really offended by Colin Kaepernick’s protest, then your feelings in 2017 are the most boring and predictable thing about you, and telling on you in a deeply unflattering light.

NFL power rankings 2017, Week 3: Hope is high in the AFC West
The Bengals and 49ers were lucky enough to join the 2016 Rams as the only three teams in the last 10 years to get through two games of regular season play without scoring a touchdown.

Five NFL head coaches who could be in trouble after 0-2 start
John Fox, Sean Payton, Marvin Lewis, Todd Bowles and Chuck Pagano face uncertain futures after a poor start to the season.

Rookie receiver race: Cooper Kupp performing best through two weeks
They came off the board fast during this year’s NFL draft after standout first seasons from players like Odell Beckham Jr., Keenan Allen, Mike Evans and Michael Thomas the past few seasons. Rookie pass-catchers are sought after, and expectations of them are high. The receivers are valuable for your team in real life -- many of them were high-investment players -- and in fantasy, too, with waiver wire options always in demand.