Who Dey Dish: Ben-Gals in high demand
By Connor Howe
The Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals will face off this Sunday. Here’s what you need to know about the Bengals, plus more news around the league.
Rummaging through the internet to bring you latest news about the Cincinnati Bengals and the NFL so that you don’t have to do it – this is your Who Dey Dish for Saturday, November 21.
Bengals at Cardinals Preview (Cincinnati Bengals)
"»» The Bengals try to go 9-1 for the first time in history. The only other time they reached 8-1 was in 1975, when they finished 11-3 and made the playoffs in Bengals founder Paul Brown’s last season as head coach.»» They’ll be trying to do it in a franchise first third straight prime time game.»» It is the Bengals’ first trip to Arizona since head coach Marvin Lewis’ first season in 2003, current Cardinals QB Carson Palmer’s rookie in Cincinnati. Palmer, the only player remaining sat behind Jon Kitna that season and saw former Bengals QB Jeff Blake lead the Cards to a 17-14 victory at Sun Devil Stadium on Nov. 2, 2003.»» This is the 10th time a former Bengals QB starts against his old team. The Bengals are 3-6 against them, but QB Andy Dalton has won the last two, besting Palmer when he was in Oakland in 2012, and Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2011.»» The Bengals face two of their first-round draft picks in Palmer and TE Jermaine Gresham (2010). They also face 2006 third-rounder in Cards DT Frostee Rucker.»» The Bengals practice at Arizona State’s Dickey Dome on Saturday and that’s a homecoming for WLB Vontaze Burfict and rookie DT Marcus Hardison. as well as offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, an ASU assistant from 1992-95 under Bruce Snyder.»» It is the first meeting between Lewis and Cards head coach Bruce Arians, but Arians went against Lewis’ Bengals for eight years from 2004-2011 as the Steelers offensive coordinator. Then Bengals head coach Dick LeBeau interviewed Arians for the Bengals offensive coordinator job after the 2000 season before hiring Bob Bratkowski."
In search of the Bengals player who said Carson Palmer ‘quit on us’ in 2011 (Yahoo! Sports)
"— Andy Dalton? This would make for a fantastic rivalry between the former and current Bengals quarterbacks, the latter of whom benefited from the former’s departure. We know Dalton isn’t afraid to talk smack about anybody, since he recently fired back at Houston Texans behemoth J.J. Watt.— Adam Jones? After missing all of the 2007 season for his alleged involvement in a strip club melee, it’d be glorious if Pacman was mad at Palmer for quitting on the team without making it rain.— Mike Nugent? When’s the last time we had a kicker calling players out publicly?— Clark Harris? Same goes for a long snapper. Not enough long-snapping smack talk these days.— A.J. Green? Maybe he figures he’d have caught more balls from Palmer than Dalton since 2011?"
Bengals won’t let loss define their season (FOX Sports)
"“We can’t let there be any carry-over,” Dalton said. “That’s not the team we are, and we know what we’ve done to this point. This game doesn’t define our season. It doesn’t define anything. We’re still 8-1. We’re still leading the division. We know where we are.”The Bengals can bounce back and move three games ahead of idle Pittsburgh in the AFC North this week, but they’ll have to slow down a Cardinals team that’s 16-4 at home in coach Bruce Arians’ three seasons.“They’re very long and fast,” Arians said of the Bengals. “They have a solid secondary. Andy (Dalton) is playing really, really well. They’ve got a huge and great wide receiver, a good stable of backs.“They’re a quality, quality group. Marvin (Lewis) is a heck of a football coach. They’ve got a great staff.”"
Dungy throws a seed: Bengals can beat Pats (Cincinnati Bengals)
"“I would give them a shot. I don’t think New England is a great defensive team,” he said this week from Tampa, home of his Tampa Two and post-coaching career. “They’re a very, very good offensive team. You have to be able to pressure Tom Brady without blitzing. That’s the way you slow them down and a couple of teams have been able to do that this year. The Giants did it pretty well the other day. But you have to be able to put points up. You’re probably not going to beat New England in a 17-14 game.”“The big thing about Hue is that he knows what his guys can do well and he’s got a lot of weaponry,” Dungy said. “You have to go back to the old Bengals, those Super Bowl Bengals when they had so many weapons. This kind of reminds me of that. It’s just not one player. It’s just not the deep ball. It’s not one running game. They can run inside and outside with a couple of different backs that hit you and keep you off balance. They’ve got a tight end that’s a factor and a lot of different wide receivers. They’re versatile and dynamic. And (Andy) Dalton is playing better. He’s a little more relaxed, a little more accurate. You can tell he doesn’t feel limited. You can tell in a big situation he’s not saying, ‘Boy, I’ve got to get the ball to A.J. Green.’ He’s got six or seven guys that can make a play for him. I think that tends to relax the quarterback.”"
Bengals cheerleaders in higher demand during team’s streak of success (WLWT5 News)
"On a recent Friday night, the cheerleaders are showing off their moves for a packed house at Xavier. It’s the first time the squad has been asked to perform at halftime.For Ashlee Bennett, a graduate of Xavier, it’s a dream come true.“I’m so honored to be here. I’m really excited,” she said.As the Bengals worked their up to an 8-0 record, people have been clawing for Ben-Gals.“We have so many events coming in. Everyone wants us to come and support the community. Here tonight we’re at Xavier, a week ago I was at the Wright Patterson Air Force base,” Bennett said.On average, the women in orange and black are doing five appearances a week. That’s twice as many as they had last year.“It’s gotten really busy especially because we have a lot of primetime games this month. November’s been a really crazy month!” team captain Lauren Dye said.Charlotte Simons, who’s been the head coach for 20 years, said not only are they getting a lot of requests, some are one of a kind.“Last month, somebody wanted to hire cheerleaders to do their wedding rehearsal dinner, a surprise for the groom, all kinds of birthday parties, so, kind of some unique appearances,” Simons said.Even though all of the cheerleaders are either full-time students or have full-time jobs, they’re loving the spotlight."
NFL
NFL fines Cardinals QB Carson Palmer $11,576 (NFL)
"Some notable players have been fined for their actions during Week 10.Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright was fined $23,152 for his hit on wideout Larry Fitzgerald, according NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, per a league spokesman.The league didn’t just deliver fines to the losing team on Sunday night. Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was fined $11,576 for his crotch chop in Arizona’s 39-32 win over Seattle.Rapoport also reported that Miami Dolphins defensive tackle C.J. Mosley was fined $17,363 for roughing the passer.On Thursday, the NFL penalized Denver Broncos safety T.J. Ward $10,000. Ward was ejected during the Broncos’ Week 10 loss for throwing a punch at Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin."
Jerry Jones ‘singing in shower’ after Romo’s return (NFL)
"How happy was Cowboys owner Jerry Jones when he realized Tony Romo was returning to practice this week?“I found myself singing in the shower a little bit this morning,” Jones told 105.3 in Dallas Friday morning. While that may be true — and too much information — Jones has to hope that Romo is the same player he was before the broken collarbone. Throughout his career, Romo has been nothing but a warrior for Jones and has played through some pretty monumental levels of pain. There’s no way taking the field this weekend will be entirely comfortable, so the singing may give way to holding one’s breath."
Devin Funchess on track for first career start (Pro Football Talk)
"As expected, Panthers rookie receiver Devin Funchess is on track to make his first career start on Sunday, at home against Washington.With Corey Brown officially listed as doubtful (and unofficially described as “very doubtful“), the second-round pick from Michigan will move into the starting lineup.“It’s kind of another achievement knocked off the chart,” Funchess said Friday, via ESPN.com. “I don’t sound excited, but I am excited about it.”Funchess, who appeared in every regular-season game, has 12 catches foe 202 yards and a touchdown. His preparation for the 2015 season was hampered by a hamstring injury."