Bengals Bytes (9/25): Couldn’t finish

Rodgers clicks to overtime to bake Bengals
Michael Johnson, the Bengals right end who had one of six sacks of Aaron Rodgers in Sunday’s sauna, knew they had let the Lambeau Lurker off the hook. They let him lurk around and lurk around and when no one had taken the game by the fourth quarter, he grabbed it by the neck and beat the Bengals in overtime, 27-24. The Bengals couldn’t get Rodgers on the ground in the last 25 minutes as Rodgers hit 10 of his final 14 passes for 141 yards in only the third game in the Green-Dalton era they scored 24 points and lost. Rodgers had to go 12.5 quarters to finally beat the Bengals and claim victory over every NFL team.

TDBH: Bengals intercept past to bolt to 3-0
A week after ransacking Vikings Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper for five interceptions, the Bengals ditto Bears rookie quarterback Kyle Orton to become the first team to have back-to-back five interception games since the 1971 Cleveland Browns during today’s 24-7 victory at Soldier Field. Two Carson Palmer touchdown passes to wide receiver Chad Johnson also help the Bengals to 3-0 for the first time since they last went to the playoffs in 1990 in winning their first two road games for the first time since the Super Bowl run of 1988. The defense is as giddy as Johnson’s end-zone jig following his 18-yard touchdown that starts the scoring. "Now you have to start writing about this defense, OK?" says defensive tackle Bryan Robinson, the former Bear.

Bengals at Packers Postgame Quotes
Well I think the disappointment is just not finishing the football game out. We have an opportunity, we go up by seven, the chance to stop the drive a couple of times and we don’t get it done. We give up the touchdown there before right in the third quarter. We’ve got to keep playing. We’ve got to put points on the board and we just have to keep playing and remain disciplined through our jobs and stay after it. We have to rush the quarterback, keep him pinned in and we did a lot, but when we broke down, he made plays. We’ve got to stay in coverage and not allow the ball to go down the field.

Quick hits: Big plays kill; Offense seeks kill; Jax first pick NFL rarity;Lewis elaborates on anthem
Aaron Rodgers had the final Sunday when he beat Cover Two in overtime and found wide receiver Geronimo Allison behind the defense for a 72-yard killer that set up Mason Crosby’s 27-yard field goal with 6:11 left in OT in the Packers’ 27-24 win over the Bengals at Lambeau Field. Rodgers came into halftime with a 66 passer rating and left with a 102 on a dizzying display in the second half that featured him throwing the tying TD in regulation with 17 seconds left to cap a 75-yard drive he hit nine of 11 passes.

Packers wilt Bengals in OT of Sauna Bowl
The Bengals lost in overtime Sunday when kicker Mason Crosby hit a 27-yard field goal doomed them, 27-24, after Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found wide receiver Geronimo Allison for 72 yards on Green Bay's only possession. The Bengals went three-and-out to start the OT and failed to get a touchdown in the game's final 46 minutes.

Bengals desperate to save season after OT loss to Packers
The Cincinnati Bengals are getting desperate, and they should be. They're 0-3, and the window is closing. That quiet desperation was evident in the locker room after a 27-24 loss to the Packers on Sunday. The defiant anger that permeated the locker room after a loss to the Texans had been replaced by something else.

No moral victory for 0-3 Bengals after OT loss to Packers
This one will sting for a long time. The Cincinnati Bengals played about as well as they could have for almost 60 minutes against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. They went home in heartbreak after Aaron Rodgers decimated them with a 72-yard pass in overtime, setting up a field goal by Mason Crosby for a 27-24 Packers win. Rodgers got a free play after Michael Johnson jumped offside.

Bengals issue weak statement on Donald Trump comments
Every NFL team that had responded to President Donald Trump’s comments by Sunday afternoon about national anthem protests had come out against Trump. Not many mentioned Trump by name, but all of them made clear that they did not agree with Trump’s statement that all players who kneel for the anthem should be fired. Then there was the Cincinnati Bengals.

Auburn NFL roundup: Carl Lawson breaks out in Cincinnati Bengals' pass rush
In his first two NFL games, Cincinnati Bengals outside linebacker Carl Lawson had drawn praise for his ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks. But on the stat sheet, he didn't have a tackle, let alone a sack to show for his efforts. He took care of that on Sunday. Lawson was in on three sacks of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but the Bengals still lost to the Packers 27-24 in overtime to fall to 0-3 for the season.

Strange day of flashbacks for Aaron Rodgers
The second pick-six of Aaron Rodgers’ career had a strange similarity to the first. It also had one significant difference. Rodgers pointed out the odd coincidence himself – the last name of the defender. Tampa Bay’s Tanard Jackson in 2009 gave way to Cincinnati’s William Jackson on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Bengals stay winless, defense gets burned late by Packers
The Cincinnati Bengals came so close to breaking through for a win. Instead they found a new way to lose. The offense wasn’t entirely to blame. A defense that had contained quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers’ potent offense in the first half fell apart late in a 27-24 loss in overtime on Sunday.

Doc: Bengals' statement Sunday? Not good enough
A game that could have re-purposed the Bengals season instead kept it careening in the wrong direction. One unforgettable loss followed two forgettable losses. The results were the same, and results are all that matter. New offensive coordinator Bill Lazor called a nice game, did what he’d been asked to do, but his job wasn’t to stop Aaron Rodgers at winnin’ time. Rodgers dropped the Bengals into an 0-3 abyss with two scoring drives within the space of five minutes. Green Bay beat the Bengals in overtime, 27-24.

Packers beat Bengals: Aaron Rodgers leads Green Bay to win
Aaron Rodgers is something else. Green Bay trailed 21–7 at the half, but Rodgers had no problem improving upon his 1–35 record in games where his team trailed by multiple scores in the second half. The star gunslinger made some absurd throws on the Packers’ game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter, capped by threading the needle on a three-yard scoring toss to Jordy Nelson with 21 seconds remaining

Bengals vs. Packers update: Cincinnati’s too-man-men penalty upheld on review
Officials flagged the Bengals immediately. Green Bay had snapped the ball just as Jackson was jumping from the field to the sideline. Just like the NFL’s rulebook considers a ball-carrier in bounds until he lands out of bounds, it considers a player “on the field” until he’s gotten all the way off it and touched the sideline.

AFC North Bytes

DeShone Kizer’s mom got videobombed by a Browns fan practicing his sensual air guitar
This Browns fan probably had no idea who was sitting behind him, or the fact that he became a legend on Sunday afternoon.

Bears rally together for wild overtime upset of Steelers
The afternoon began with the Bears along their sideline at Soldier Field, arms interlocked and determined to show unity as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played. On a hot-button Sunday around the NFL, the Bears chose their own response to the weekend-long harangue of President Donald Trump. Stirred by comments Trump made condemning peaceful demonstrations by football players during the national anthem — the president suggested such athletes be fired — the Bears reacted with a display of harmony.

Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars Rout Ravens 44-7; Players Unite During Anthem in London
The Jacksonville Jaguars dominated the Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday, winning 44-7 behind Marcedes Lewis' three touchdown receptions.

Random Bytes

Biggest NFL Draft Prospect Disappointments from the CFB Season so Far
The job of evaluating players for the NFL draft starts as soon as the previous year's draft ends. You talk to scouts, coaches, players and trainers about who the best players are in the next crop of players. That builds expectations, which turn into an initial ranking of the player. Then the season begins and it all falls apart.

Washington Redskins May Have Found Formula for Winning NFC East
The Washington Redskins embarrassed the Oakland Raiders on Sunday Night Football, to put it kindly. In the dominant 27-10 victory, the Redskins gained 472 yards on the night, while Oakland mustered a pathetic 128. Thirty-three of those yards came on the Raiders' final drive, with Washington firmly entrenched in prevent defense.

NFL Team Grades for Week 3
Week 3 of the 2017 NFL season followed this general trend: For every great performance, there was an equally abominable outing. The week kicked off with the game of the year, as the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers combined for 80 points in the highest-scoring Thursday Night Football game ever.