Bengals News (11/4): Bengals playoff odd get huge boost with win against Bills

Quick Hits: Bengals Special Teams Look To Depth After Losing Tycen Anderson; Broadcasting Magic: 'Long Live The Cincinnati Kid'
After a sluggish September, the Bengals offense and defense rolls into November with a three-game winning streak. Their most consistent phase of the season, a top ten special teams unit, preps for Sunday night's game (8:20-Cincinnati's Channel 5) at Paycor Stadium looking at their teeming depth to offset the season-long loss of their most productive player.

Five Things To Watch: Bengals vs. Bills
Sunday night's game features a clash of two of the AFC's top quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. Both stars have guided a top-10 ranked passing offense in each of the past two seasons while also showcasing an ability to create plays with their legs. Allen this season leads the league with 22 total touchdowns (17 passing, five rushing), and Burrow is coming off a season-high 43 rushing yards in Week 8 at San Francisco.

Quick Hits: Ja'Marr Hopes To Stay Picture-Perfect; Why Germaine Pratt Crushes Crunch Time; Emotional Moment
Except maybe Chad Johnson. The only man to win four straight AFC receiving yardage titles says he plans to show up at Paycor Stadium for Sunday night's (8:20-Cincinnati's Channel 5) conference showdown between the Bengals and Bills to watch Chase continue his assault on records everywhere.

Fantasy Football Would You Rather: Bills or Bengals?
The playoff game these two teams played in Buffalo last year — a 27-10 Bengals victory — is not a barometer for this week. The Bills were a spent team by then. Allen was still dealing with a barking elbow, and the Damar Hamlin situation understandably had left the team feeling like a wrung-out sponge. (Hamlin, glad you’re back with the team — wishing you good health. Salud!)

Cincinnati Bengals Place Tycen Anderson on Injured Reserve Following Knee Injury Against 49ers
The second-year safety suffered a torn left ACL during Cincinnati's Week 8 win over San Francisco, league sources tell All Bengals. He'll miss the rest of the 2023 season.

2023 NFL Playoff Picture: Bengals' playoff hopes would get a massive boost with a Week 9 win over the Bills | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF
Naturally, it’s unlikely the playoff picture will remain constant over the remainder of the season. And that’s why it makes sense to look at the projected playoff picture — the estimated chances PFF gives each team to make the playoffs.

Bengals' DJ Turner has been one of the NFL's best rookie corners
As Cincinnati Bengals rookie cornerback DJ Turner II tells the story of his career, safety Jordan Battle chimes in with a question. Turner was explaining how he barely played at the University of Michigan until the middle of his junior year. “Really?” Battle asks.

Bengals find success moving Chase all around offensive formation
CINCINNATI — Ja’Marr Chase said it’s “crazy” to think the Buffalo Bills would have beaten his Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs last year had it not been for the snow, but the reminder of those kinds of comments a couple opposing players made after the game don’t necessarily provide any added motivation.

Bills vs Bengals: More faith in Josh Allen or Joe Burrow?
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will face Joe Burrow's Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday. LeSean McCoy decides which QB he has more faith in heading into this Week 9 matchup and Shady explains why he's team Josh Allen.

Local woman gets to sing the National Anthem at the Bengals-Bills game Sunday
“There’s a healing that rushes through me. And as time has gone on, it’s begun to flow out to others. And that’s been the beauty of it all is that it’s a tool that lifts people that heals people that unites people,” Johnson said.

Around the league

NFL defenses that CAN win a championship; plus, the early Coach of the Year and A.J. Brown's domination
That said, while it is obviously essential to put points on the board, the teams that hoist the Lombardi Trophy are still -- for the most part -- the ones that also keep their opponents from scoring touchdowns in key moments. Of the last 23 Super Bowl winners, 16 fielded a defense ranked in the top 10 in points allowed. As a former defensive player who was a part of some championship-caliber defenses in Green Bay back in the mid-1990s, I am not surprised to see the correlation between scoring defense and championship success.

NFL Week 9 bold predictions: Davante Adams thrives after Raiders restart; Zach Wilson > Justin Herbert
Change has come to Las Vegas, and hopefully change is in store for Davante Adams’ production after the star receiver ranked as the WR46 in October. In Aidan O’Connell's first start, Adams out-targeted Jakobi Meyers 13 to four. I expect the six-time Pro Bowler to be peppered with targets now that Las Vegas has hit the restart button. Plus, with Giants rookie Deonte Banks potentially shadowing the elite route-runner, a ceiling game could be in store against the young cover man who's still finding his way in the NFL. Long story short: Adams will be the fantasy WR1 in Week 9.

NFL RB Index, Week 9: Re-drafting rookie running backs -- De'Von Achane leapfrogs Bijan Robinson!
Jahmyr Gibbs finally had the breakout performance everyone's been waiting for, and he couldn't have timed it better. The No. 12 overall pick from the 2023 NFL Draft amassed a robust 189 scrimmage yards in the Lions' prime-time victory over the Raiders -- a much-needed bounce-back after Detroit was blown off the field in Baltimore eight days prior.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson (shoulder) to start Sunday vs. Cardinals
The lack of designation comes as a surprise, considering Watson's status has been a news item since Week 4. Because of a shoulder injury suffered in Cleveland's Week 3 win over Tennessee, Watson missed starts in Weeks 4 and 6, returned in Week 7 before exiting in the first quarter of the Browns' win over the Colts, then sat out of Cleveland's Week 8 loss to Seattle. Both rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson and veteran PJ Walker have started in place of Watson over that span, with Walker handling the majority of the signal-calling duties.