Bengals News (12/7): Kevin Huber returns

Zac Taylor On Joe Burrow's Personality Mirroring His Team's And More In Bengals.com's Taylor-Made Takes
It certainly helps when you've got a guy like that leading the charge. Like I said, he's going to go for the throat. The team can feed off that. They know that we've always got a chance with him at the helm, so that certainly helps our defense like, 'Man, if we can just get a turnover here, we'll go score,' and that's what Germaine (Pratt) did, and that's what the offense was able to do.

Bengals Roster Move: P Kevin Huber Signed to the Practice Squad
Huber (6-1, 210), a 14th-year player out of the University of Cincinnati, was waived by the Bengals on Monday. He has played in a team-record 216 games and is the Bengals' career leader in every major statistical category for punting, including total punts (1011), punting yards (45,766), gross average (45.27), net average (40.34) and punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line (346).

Burrow Named Offensive Player of the Week for Week 13
Burrow completed 25 of 31 passes (80.6 percent) for 286 yards and two TDs for a passer rating of 126.6. His completion percentage tied for the second-highest in the NFL in Week 13, while his passer rating and 9.2 yards per attempt led all AFC quarterbacks. Burrow also ran 11 times for 46 yards with a four-yard TD on the game's opening drive. The performance marked the eighth time in Burrow's career and fifth time this season that he recorded a passing TD and rushing TD in the same game. His 46 rushing yards were one shy of tying a career high.

Bengals Notes: Burrow's Stats; Anarumo's Scheme of Staten Island Stew; Anatomy of Red Zone TD Pass
His 69. 1 completion percentage, his 25 touchdowns and his 3,446 yards are all good for second place and his 103.7 passer rating is fifth with stats that that project to him breaking his Bengals season records from last year for touchdowns passes, yards and passer rating. He's on pace for 35 touchdowns and 4,881 yards and his four game-winning drives lead the AFC with the Chargers' Justin Herbert and the Colts' Matt Ryan.

Bengals’ Super Bowl Ticket Prices Jump After Win Over Chiefs
Just five weeks remain in the NFL season! Week 13 was an eventful one, with upsets, critical injuries and a major comeback on Monday Night Football to wrap up the week. But with the playoffs looming, whose chances of getting in or making a deep run changed most this week? Here’s a look at the biggest movers, using insights from SI Tickets’ postseason reservation system.

Chiefs vs. Bengals takeaways and everything to know from Week 13
These two budding rivals played another must-see game between would-be AFC contenders. Like the two classics from a year ago, it ultimately came down to whichever team made the most mistakes, which in this case happened to be the Chiefs. That, plus some Joe Burrow magic at the buzzer didn’t hurt.

NFL Week 14 odds, picks: Bengals throttle Browns in AFC North showdown, Giants cover against Eagles
After an abysmal outing in his Browns debut last week, I do expect Deshaun Watson to play a bit better, which is partially why I like the Over in this matchup. Outside of that, this has the makings of a Cincinnati demolition. The Bengals are getting hot at precisely the right time and are tied with the Giants for the best ATS record in the league, which includes a 4-1 ATS record at home. Joe Burrow is 0-4 against the Browns in his career, which is a mark he'll look to improve upon on Sunday. Since Week 3, Burrow has completed 70% of his passes and has an NFL-best 111.4 passer rating. With this line sitting below the touchdown threshold, it's an easy call to lay the points with a red-hot Burrow.

Around the league

Offensive Player Rankings, Week 14: Four teams whose 2023 starting QB isn't on the current roster
Last year at this time, I determined that four specific teams would open the 2022 campaign with a starting quarterback who wasn't even on the roster in 2021 -- and three of them did indeed end up trotting out a new QB in Week 1 of this season. Two years ago, I spotlighted seven teams in this space -- and six went on to start new signal-callers in Week 1 of 2021. I must say, I'm pretty good at this.

2022 NFL season: Five playoff contenders facing the toughest schedules down the stretch
They draw a Browns team that beat them handily in Week 8, which was also the last time Cincinnati lost -- and this time, Cleveland will have Deshaun Watson at QB. The two other home games come against the Bills in Week 17 (possibly with the AFC's top seed still up for grabs) and Ravens in Week 18 (with Lamar Jackson possibly back in the lineup). The two road games come against potentially desperate, all-hands-on-deck teams in the Bucs and Patriots in Weeks 15 and 16. Merry Christmas?

Rams claim former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield off waivers; Niners didn't make claim for QB
There was thought that the San Francisco 49ers, who are without opening-day starter Trey Lance for the remainder of the season and have lost Jimmy Garoppolo until at least the playoffs, would be Mayfield suitors, but they (nor any team other than the Rams) did not put in a claim for Mayfield, Rapoport reported.

Jimmy Garoppolo's foot injury won't require surgery; 49ers QB could return for playoffs
Pelissero added that Garoppolo's recovery timeline would depend on how rehab goes. With the Super Wild Card Round scheduled to begin on Jan. 14, that puts a five-week timeline on a potential return for the start of the playoffs. The Divisional Round (Jan. 21-22) and Championship Round (Jan. 29) follow in the subsequent weeks, with Super Bowl LVII scheduled for Feb. 12.