Bengals News (12/3): Drowning in flags

Broncos Snap Up Driskel's Debut
Go back to that second-and-15 from the Bengals 26 in the first four minutes of the second quarter in a scoreless game. Right tackle Bobby Hart, trying to fend off future Hall-of-Fame pass rusher Von Miller, had just been called for a false start, starting a stunning string of five penalties on his offensive line in the next 12 minutes. Hart appealed to the official that he had matched Miller’s timed move off the snap count. He failed, but keep it in mind.

Postgame Quotes: Bengals-Broncos Week 13
Defensively, we’ve got to keep playing better, and we can’t allow a run like we did today. And we allowed two third-down conversions that make the difference there at the end. We had a chance to get the ball back at times, and they make the third down and make the touchdown catch after the fumble. That’s a catch that we’ve got to make.

Quick Hits: No. 18 May Be No. 15
Wide receiver A.J. Green, their best player, could be the 15th Bengal to go injured reserve after he undergoes tests Monday for his turf toe that knocked him out of Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Broncos with 11:38 left in the second quarter. The Bengals may end up looking at the injury that kept him out of the three previous games like the partially torn hamstring that took him out of essentially the last seven games of the 2016 season. If there’s a chance he can make it worse, that’s not what their looking to do.

Green Carted Off After Re-Injuring Toe
The whole world changed again with 11:56 left in a scoreless first half Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium against the Broncos when A.J. Green grabbed his toe two steps into his route and fell down in a heap as quarterback Jeff Driskel suffered a sack. Green, returning for the first time since he hurt the toe on the last offensive snap before the bye on Oct. 28.

Broncos’ Von Miller, Bradley Chubb pass rush duo wreaks havoc at Bengals
The play was long over, the Broncos defense stole possession, and Bradley Chubb stood in the Bengals end zone with arms folded mean mugging fans still left inside Paul Brown Stadium.

Bengals shoot themselves in the foot in 24-10 loss to Broncos
The ball was snapped, Green made his break, then fell to the ground clutching his right foot. Driskel was sacked for a 10-yard loss, and Green, who had just returned after missing three games with a toe injury, was carted off the field moments later.

Paul Daugherty column on Denver Broncos beating Cincinnati Bengals
Technically, the Lost Decade of Bengals football lasted 12 years, between 1991 and 2002, the completely lamentable Shula/Coslet/LeBeau Era, when everything that could go kablooey did, when the terms “Bengaldom’’ and “Bengalized’’ entered the local lexicon and the Bengals struggled each week simply to overcome their own habitual incompetence. It was fun like night sweats.

A.J. Green's emotional exit a reflection of Bengals' 2018 season
Green’s year had been turned upside down in the span of a few minutes. What could’ve been a triumphant comeback ended quickly after Green pulled up untouched and grabbed the front of his right foot.

Marvin Lewis' Bengals future in doubt; Dalton set to return in '19
What the Bengals did not do, sources now say, was commit to Lewis beyond this season. Though billed as a two-year contract, the belief is it's actually a one-year deal with a team option for 2019. That essentially means the Bengals can walk away from Lewis without a monetary penalty following the season.

Egger: The positives of Marvin Lewis’ Bengals legacy erode with each loss
It was not too long ago, when any discussion about Marvin Lewis and his time coaching the Bengals had to begin with the good stuff. The mid-oughts when it seemed like he could no wrong, and when his team owned the city. Those early years when it felt like, finally, the Bengals had a coach who knew what he was doing. The ushering of the franchise into a new millennium. Sure, there’s never been quite enough winning, but remember what it was like before Marvin got here, right!?!?

Broncos Flagging Bengals With Green Out
The whole world changed again with 11:38 left in a first half the Broncos took a 7-3 half-time lead at Paul Brown Stadium when A.J. Green grabbed his toe two steps into his route and fell down in a heap as quarterback Jeff Driskel suffered a sack. Green, returning for the first time since he hurt the toe on the last offensive snap before the bye on Oct. 28, could barely limp back to the bench. When he got there the usually impassive Green slammed his helmet to the ground and once he was on a cart to take him to the locker room he put his head in his a hands. The question wasn’t if he was done for the day. That was clear. The question is if he’s done for the year.

Random Bytes

Steelers Show They Can't Be Trusted in Catastrophic Loss to the Chargers
They are smart, then they are dumb. They are explosive, then they are flat. They dominate, then they collapse. They bash their opponents, then they conquer themselves. They are well-coached, then they are poorly coached. The quarterback is Joe Montana, then he is Joe Flacco.

Monday Morning Digest: Time to Stop Doubting the Texans
Coach firings. Shocking finishes. Defensive linemen running for touchdowns. Quarterbacks throwing their 40th touchdown pass with one-fourth of the season left to play. It was just another NFL Sunday, and Digest has you covered with the lowdown on:

The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 13
The Packers suffered one of their worst losses ever on Sunday. The Packers were 13.5-point favorites over the Cardinals, whose only wins on the season came against the 2-10 49ers. The Cardinals are so bad that they lost to the Raiders. The team coached by Jon Gruden! They lost to that team! It was a cupcake to start a stretch of the season where the Packers needed to win every remaining game to make the playoffs —and they blew it. The Packers had lost as 13-point favorites in 1997, but Sunday was their biggest loss in terms of point spread in franchise history. Aaron Rodgers had 233 yards passing, but he needed 50 attempts to get there—a performance so bad that he lost his top spot on the all-time leaderboard in yards per attempt.

Mike McCarthy era ends in Green Bay during thirteenth season
When Mike McCarthy confronted the first crisis of his coaching tenure with the Green Bay Packers, navigating his way through legendary quarterback Brett Favre's abrupt, awkward and contentious un-retirement in the summer of 2008, he and his new starting quarterback forged a seemingly unbreakable bond.