Bengals
The Bengals will face the Texans next Saturday in Houston at 4:30 p.m.
Hit the road, Jack
From listener Michael Wottreng
Bengals have the 2nd best road record the last 2 years:
12-4 Patriots
11-5 Bengals, Denver, Houston, San Franciso, Green Bay
Road playoff teams this year:
6-2 Bengals
3-5 Vikings, Colts, Seahawks
VOTE: Pepsi Rookie of the Week
Vontaze Burfict, Bengals, LB, 18 tackels, 10 solo
Bengals schedule for 2013
Home: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts
Away: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers
Zimmer gives Bengals edge, deserves head-coaching shot
CBS Sports
There are a lot of reasons why a team -- any team -- should hire Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to be their head coach this year, but Bengals veteran defensive tackle Domata Peko gave the best reason of all.
"He changed the culture around here," Peko said. "Before he came it was all about offense. It was Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. All the pretty stuff. Now it's about defense around here."
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New Year's Eve Bengals Line Monday
It's a special New Year's Eve edition of Bengals Line on Monday.
Join us 3pm-6pm for food, fun, football, prizes, autographs and more.
Our broadcast will actually begin following the UC-Pitt basketball game, probably around 2:30.
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Bengals
Opening observations
54 days ago the Bengals had dropped four straight and stood 3-5. They won 7 of final 8.
Back to back wins over Steelers and Ravens.
10 wins, 3rd time for Marvin...most in franchise history.
Prior to Marvin's arrival, Bengals had at least 10 wins in 6 of 35 seasons, Marvin has at least 10 wins in 3 of last 8 seasons.
6-2 on road....11-5 last two years on road...best of any team on road in playoffs.
61-12-1 under Marvin when leading after three quarters.
Hopefully, BJGE and Crocker are ok.
Offense
How about Grabdowski leading 3 scoring drives in his first action?
Bengals went 20 possessions between offensive TD's, from 4th QT vs Philly to Marvin Jones TD vs Ravens.
Defense
4 more sacks, 51 for year.
Michael Johnson 10.5 and Atkins 12.5 1st Bengals duo with double digit sacks since Reggie Williams and Eddie Edwards in 1981.
How 'bout Dunlap, tip, pick, TD.
3rd straight week defense has scored.
Think defense spent any time preparing for Tyrod Taylor and option read?
Burfict just made another tackle...18 for game.
Did not allow opening drive TD all season. Only team to do that.
Have allowed +17 points once last eight games.
Special Teams
What a pickup Josh Brown has been.
Huber a stud again...Pro Bowl season.
Where's the O?
Sunday the Bengals ended a streak of 20 straight possessions without a TD.
The offense has 1 TD over last 27 offensive possessions....from 4th quarter TD Dalton to Green vs Eagles to 2nd quarter TD Dalton to Jones vs Ravens.
Defense has 2 TD's in that span.
Results of last 27 offensive possessions:
13 punts, 5 field goals, 2 ended on downs, 2 took a knee, 2 interceptions, 1 TD
1 missed FG, 1 fumble
What they are saying
ESPN: What it means: In a game when both teams played their backups for most of the game, the Bengals (10-6) won for the seventh time in eight games and ended their four-game losing streak to the Ravens. Cincinnati had already clinched a postseason spot a week ago and was locked into the No. 6 seed.
CSNBaltimore: True to coach John Harbaugh’s words, the Ravens played to win Sunday’s regular-season finale. They just tried it without most of their starters on both sides of the ball as a late interception doomed their chances of finishing the season on a winning streak.
Associated Press: Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and the rest of the Bengals playmakers watched from the sideline as their backups pulled another victory out - with the defense leading the way, of course. It's been their way during one breakthrough win after another.
Paul Dehner Jr, CBS Sports: The temperature may have been buried below freezing, but Sunday in Cincinnati felt more like an August preseason game than the season finale.
Baltimore Sun:Cincinnati Bengals rookie middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict displayed a knack for annoying the Ravens' offensive players, getting under their skin at least twice Sunday.
Looking at the Texans
Have lost 3 of 4 after starting 11-1
Went from possibly being #1 seed and week off to having to play Bengals
Have not topped 16 points in 3 of last 4 games.
Looking back at playoff meeting last year.
What they are saying about Texans
Yahoo Sports: The once white-hot, 11-1 Texans, a shoo-in for top seed in the AFC and a Super Bowl favorite, are now the coldest playoff team in the league.
Texans' demise snowball began with New England
Houston Chronicle
The frustration was evident on the faces of the Texans and coach Gary Kubiak. The same frustration appeared three times in the past four weeks.
It was a frustration they have been unable to vanquish, despite repeated calls for focus, intensity and elimination of mistakes.
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Video of the day:
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Reds
The best rosters in MLB
Boston Globe
2. Cincinnati Reds — There are five solid starting pitchers, and Aroldis Chapman has the potential to be as lights-out as a starter as he was a closer. The bullpen remains solid, though Jonathan Broxton takes over as the closer and must show consistency. With the addition of Shin-Soo Choo as leadoff hitter, the lineup is even better, with Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Ryan Hanigan, and Zack Cozart.
(Barton Sillverman/The New York Times)
Game not know for ferocity claims a casuality who was
NY Times
Christie Moore Freel lost count of the nights her husband, Ryan, arrived home from the ballpark with a tale that added to her growing concern over his health. “I don’t know how many times he would talk about sliding into second or third base and blacking out or seeing stars,” she said Saturday in a telephone interview from her home in Jacksonville, Fla.
Dickie V with Joey V
Twitter: @DickieV)
Joey Votto MVP 2010 lives in our Sarasota area - best pure hitter NL-meet me Broken Egg today at 10 - 12 Lakewood Ranch
