Who Dey Dish: Steelers Chasing Bengals
By Connor Howe
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 Monday, November 16.
Cincinnati Bengals
Monday’s Matchup: Texans (3-5) at Bengals (8-0) (New York Times)
"While Cincinnati entered the weekend as one of only three undefeated teams, with quarterback Andy Dalton having probably the best season of his career, Dalton and the Bengals have struggled mightily in recent years against Houston. Behind Dalton, the Bengals are 1-3 against the Texans, with two of the losses coming in the playoffs. Dalton has tossed two touchdown passes and five interceptions in those games, with the team averaging only 16 points."
Will the Bengals’ winning spur ticketing changes? (Cincinnati Enquirer)
"The Cincinnati Bengals’ 8-0 start has energized Who Dey Nation about the team’s post-season prospects.But the undefeated performance is spurring discussions within the front office that could reshape how much fans pay to see games at Paul Brown Stadium.The team is studying how it can adjust ticket prices based on an opponent or the level of demand for games on the fly. Such changes were considered for 2015 but tabled, said Andrew Brown, director of sales analytics within the Bengals’ ticket department."
Lights shine on undefeated Bengals (Cincinnati Bengals)
"If anyone is wary of an upset, it is head coach Marvin Lewis and his Bengals.Exactly 12 years to the day they meet the Texans, the 4-5 Bengals stunned the 9-0 Chiefs at PBS in Lewis’ first season in Cincinnati. There are no players left from that 2003 team, but the 2015 Bengals have triumphed in the fourth quarter against division foes battling to keep their seasons alive in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. And they watched last week when the Colts got their season on track against the unbeaten Broncos.So they know the kind of tenacity they’re going to get from a Texans team playing as desperate as the Ravens and the Steelers. What the Bengals have going for them is it hasn’t mattered. They’ve come out at home and on the road against winning teams and losing teams with the same tenacity in racking up a 51-point edge in the first half. As Lapham points out, the Bengals have outscored the Texans, 110-49, in the first half, and that’s a trend that bodes well."
Bengals legend put on passing clinic on MNF in 1975 (NFL)
"The playoff-bound Bengals toppled the Buffalo Bills, 33-24, on a mid-November Monday night in 1975. It was Cincinnati’s first win in three attempts on Monday Night Football. Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson threw for an astonishing 447 yards in what was a run-heavy era of pro football (1975 marked the second of two consecutive seasons in which Anderson led the NFL in passing yards). Speaking of the run game, Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns for the Bills. The Bengals went on to finish 11-3 that season, losing to the Oakland Raiders, 31-28, in the divisional playoffs,"
AFC North Standings: Steelers chasing Bengals after win vs Browns (Cincy Jungle)
"Regardless of the outcomes on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t clinch the division this week. Still, a Cleveland Browns win at Heinz Field over the Pittsburgh Steelers would have gone a long way in solidifying Cincinnati’s early shot at another division crown–especially with a win over each division rival already this year. The Baltimore Ravens have been struggling and hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have also been up-and-down in a weak AFC South division.Both games were on Sunday’s early slate, with one being a barn-burner and the other a laugher,"
NFL
Peyton Manning benched after breaking NFL career passing yards record (USA Today)
"The Pro Football Hall of Fame will recognize Sunday as the day Peyton Manning surpassed Brett Favre to become the NFL’s all-time passing yardage leader.But ultimately, NFL history will remember this day differently, because this was the day Manning got benched."
Patriots still undefeated after late field goal (NFL)
"Facing fourth-and-10 at his own 20-yard line with no timeouts and 88 seconds left, Tom Brady needed a completion to keep the Patriots season unblemished at 9-0. He found Danny Amendola on that play, and two more key times on the team’s game-winning field goal drive. This was not Brady’s best game of the season. He was picked off at the goal line with under five minutes left and was lucky not to be picked off to start the final.Yet this was still a vintage Brady performance, reminscent of his early championship performances. The Patriots won without Dion Lewis, their top two tackles, and Julian Edelman, who left with a foot injury early in the game. New England trailed by 10 points in the third quarter and trailed two different times in the fourth quarter. And Brady just found a way to get it done on a game-winning field goal drive. The only thing different is that Stephen Gostkowski is now the NFL’s best kicker instead of Adam Vinatieri."
T.J. Ward ejected for punch, worries about suspension (Pro Football Talk)
"Last week, cornerback Aqib Talib was suspended for poking Colts tight end Dwayne Allen in the eye. On Sunday, safety T.J. Ward was ejected for punching Chiefs receiver Jeremy Maclin in the back of the head.“I got emotional,” Ward told reporters after the game. “I didn’t really punch him. I don’t even think that I punched him, if you see it, but it looked like a windup. You can take it how it is. It was an emotional game. A hard fought [game] for us, defensively with a lot of things going on that you guys weren’t able to see. I lost control.”"