The young, upstart 2011 Cincinnati Bengals looked old Sunday. As in The Old Bengals. 

After clawing their way into playoff contention, the ill-prepared Bengals collapsed yesterday under the weight of the moment, regressing back to the mistakes of the 90’s. Yup, The Old Bengals reared its ugly head yesterday, as they committed 10 penalties for 109 yards and offered little resistance when the Pittsburgh Steelers erupted with their best 15 minutes of football this season en route to a 35-7 win at Heinz Field.

Just last month, after falling behind 14-0, the Bengals surged back to play the Steelers tit-for-tat at home before finally being edged out 24-17. This time around, the win came much, much easier for Pittsburgh as they put a huge cloud over the Bengals’ playoff hopes.

With the win, the Steelers (9-3) sweep the season series from Cincinnati (7-5) for the second straight year. It all happened because of a 28-point explosion in the second quarter fueled by QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Rashard Mendenhall and a 60-yard punt return for a score by WR-PR Antonio Brown.

Cincinnati’s miscues started early. The Bengals drove down the field on their opening possession, but a 4-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Jermaine Gresham was wiped out by another costly pre-snap penalty (false start on A.J. Green). The Bengals settled for a Mike Nugent field goal only to have it called back after being flagged for delay of game. Nugent’s kick never had a shot the second time around as rookie Cam Heyward swatted it away. That’s about as close as the Bengals would get to making it interesting.

Cincinnati’s rookie quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 124 yards and a touchdown to Green, but the Bengals couldn’t overcome two turnovers and a handful of special team gaffes to all but end their hopes of winning the AFC North. The Bengals continued to self-destruct on the ensuing kickoff. Pittsburgh’s Stevenson Sylvester stripped Brandon Tate and the Steelers recovered at the Cincinnati 23. Roethlisberger needed just three plays to hit Wallace for a 12-yard score to make it 21-0.

Dalton found Green for an 11-yard score to briefly give the Bengals life, but Brown extinguished any momentum with a scintillating punt return just before the half that gave the Steelers a 28-7 lead at the break.

The Bengals came in with an NFL-record three double-digit second half rallies, but not this time. Playing with a lead Pittsburgh’s defense teed off on Dalton, who was removed from the game in the fourth quarter as a protective measure by Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis with the Bengals hopelessly behind.

Roethlisberger, who aggravated the injury in practice during the week, overcame a slow start to complete 15 of 23 passes for 176 yards and the two scores to Wallace. His final completion, a 9-yard toss to tight end David Johnson in the fourth quarter, was the 2,026th of his career, one more than Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw’s club record.

With the loss, Cincinnati is mostly likely in a forced-to-run-the-table situation. First up  is the division-leading Houston Texans at home.  

With the way the AFC playoff picture is shaking out, especially with the Carson Palmer-led Raiders losing yesterday to Miami, a 9-7 record might (MIGHT) get  you in. But don’t count on it. If Cincinnati runs the table against Houston, St. Louis, Cardinals and Ravens, it’s a pretty safe bet they’re in. But lose this Sunday and it get real hard. Win Sunday and it stays interesting.  

Question: How many lightbulbs can A.J. Green change without a ladder? Answer: All of them – because he IS the ladder. The Green Ladder.

Bengals rookie WR - The Green Ladder.

Look, we leaned three important facts yesterday. One, smoking-hot Faith Hill looks better and better each week on that Sunday Night Football intro. Damn. Two, the Cincinnati Bengals, who can play tit-for-tat with the NFL’s best teams (see Pittsburgh and Baltimore games), unfortunately do the same with NFL middle-of-the-roaders, too, like Cleveland. Three, A.J. Green is simply a stud. Damn.

Green’s week-one catch to beat the Browns was routine. His ladder-climbing catch yesterday was anything but, as the Bengals rookie WR Green skied to haul in an Andy Dalton pass across the middle of the field. Green caught the ball at the 30-yard line and was run out of bounds at the 2. The Bengals (7-4) settled for Mike Nugent’s 26-yard game-winning a field and another come-from-behind win, 23-20.

After trailing the entire game, the Bengals erased 17-7 and 20-10 deficits to beat their intra-state rivals to go 7-4 on the season. The victory marks the third time this season the Bengals won after trailing by 10 or more points at the intermission, tying the NFL’s single-season record that was set by the Chiefs in 1980 and matched by four teams since then (including the Lions this season).

The Browns blitzed on third-and-8, and Dalton threw it down the middle just before he got hit. Green adjusted, leaped high above cornerback Joe Haden for the catch at the 30-yard line, then kept going until he was pushed out at the 2.

The Green Ladder skies for game-winning grab over helpless Cleveland defense.

 The Green Ladder’s game-turning play gave him 110 yards against the Browns, who along with the Steelers had been the only teams in the NFL that hadn’t allowed a 100-yard receiving game. For the second time in three games, a botched snap cost Cleveland an opportunity to take a late lead. Phil Dawson was well short on a 55-yard try with 1:51 left after the snap skipped along the ground.

Dawson had already connected from 32 and 54 yards, his longest field goal of the season. On this one, he never had a chance. Only weeks earlier, the Browns had the same thing happen. A bad snap caused Dawson to miss a 22-yard kick with 2:13 left, allowing St. Louis to close out a 13-12 win in Cleveland.

Down 20-10 late in the third quarter, Dalton helped the Bengals get a win that kept them in the thick of the playoff chase. He was 21 of 31 for 270 yards and his 16th touchdown pass of the season, topping Greg Cook for the Bengals rookie record. Cedric Benson carried 21 times for 106 yards, his second 100-yard game against the Browns.

McCoy was 16 of 34 for 151 yards with a pair of touchdowns. His fourth-down pass was knocked away at midfield with 10 seconds to go, sealing Cincinnati’s win.

The win keeps the Bengals in the thick of playoff contention as they prepare to travel to Pittsburgh next week.

The beat goes on for the greatest rookie quarterback-wide receive tandem in NFL history. This week’s beat – Tennessee Titans, 24-17.   

Cincinnati Bengals rookie WR A.J. Green makes second circus catch during game-winning drive.

Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton went 22-for-39 for 217 yards, no picks and a 97.9 passer rating, while bookend rookie WR A.J. Green made two spectacular catches during a late fourth-quarter, go-ahead touchdown drive to finished with seven catches for 83 yards. No other rookie combo has accomplished what Dalton-Green is doing. Ever.

Dalton fired three touchdown passes to three different receivers as Cincinnati (6-2, 4-1 on the road) extended its winning streak to five games for the first time in 23 years. After a so-so first half that saw the Bengals fall behind by 10 points, the red rifle was virtually flawless.

On his first touchdown throw Dalton bootlegged right, rolled some more, waiting for TE Colin Cochart to get enough breathing room for a 1-yard catch. Next, the rookie found Jerome Simpson in the end zone between two defenders with another laser from 15 yards out. The Bengals then scored on Dalton’s 5-yard, go-ahead bullet to WR Andre Caldwell.

On the 75-yard march for a 21-17 go-ahead score, Dalton overcame two holding calls, escaping from first-and-20 and third-and-18 holes. For the game, the Bengals committed nine penalties (six for holding) for 87 yards.

Cincinnati’s “Who D?” Defense, after a shaky first half, held the Titans under 100 yards rushing (RB Chris Johnson with just 67) en route to skunking Tennessee in the second half. After outscoring the Titans 10-0 in the fourth quarter, the Bengals have an 87-43 margin on opponents in the final period.

The Bengals now enter the crunch-time stretch of the schedule with four consecutive games against AFC North opponents – home against Pittsburgh on Sunday; at Baltimore; at home against Cleveland; then another matchup with the Steelers at Pittsburgh. After that they face AFC South leader Houston.

NOTE ONE – if the season ended today, the Bengals would have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Go figure. NOTE TWO – please, please, please never have Rich Gannon call another Bengals game. Ever. His blatant bias (for whatever reason) against Cincinnati makes my eyes bleed.

To Bengals fans pre-dating the Mike Brown era, yesterday’s closer-than-the-score-indicates 34-12 win over the Seattle Seahawks wasn’t like finding a mermaid or the Lochness Monster. Nope, we pre-MBs have seen a few wins like this before. But to Bengals A.M.B. (after Mike Brown) fans, it musta been like finding Big Foot, or the Lost City of Atlantis.

WR A.J. Green - already the greatest wideout in Bengals' history.

I mean, c’mon, after the Bengals DBs started surrending large tracks of prime Seattle property, chunk by chunk by chunk, whom amoungst us wasn’t thinking, “okay, the Bengals finally lose one they shoulda won.”

But they didn’t. They won a game they coulda lost, but shoulda won, but usually lose in the Bengals A.M.B. era. Yeah, I know – confusing.   

For Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton (18-29, 168, 2, 2 TDs), the beat goes on. He just wins, baby.

The Red Rifle tossed a pair of sweet first-half touchdown passes, one to bookend rookie A.J. Green, who finished with four catches for 63 yards; and PR Brandon Tate broke a 56-yard punt for a game-clinching touchdown with 3:22 left as the Bengals won their fourth straight.

Mix in a garbage-time Reggie Nelson 75-yard pick-six in the final seconds and the Bengals get their first West Coast win in nearly a decade. Cincinnati is 5-2 for just the fourth time in the past 21 years; the previous three times they reached the postseason.

OSU grad, and kicking machine, Mike Nugent made two field goals, including a 48-yarder with 4:50 left to give the Bengals an important 20-12 lead (with seven minutes to play it was just a 17-12 game). Nugent’s kick capped a drive that had Cincinnati eating up four minutes, and required Seattle to get a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie. It was moot, however, as Seattle (2-5) went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and Tate, filling in for Adam “Pacman” Jones who was injured in the first quarter, caught Jon Ryan’s punt and sprinted nearly untouched to seal the victory.

The Bengals “Who D?” defense bent, often, but keep the Seahawks out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. Cincinnati’s 2nd-ranked defense, mostly made up of  “who’s he?” kinda guys dominated the line of scrimmage, holding Seattle to a measley 61 yards. And it was not a good day to be Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch, who was smoothered on 17 carries for 24 yards (1.5 yards per carry). By air was a different story.     

Once Seattle was in must-throw mode, throw they did. And did. And did. And did. Seahawks’ Tarvaris Jackson spelled starter Charlie Whitehurst to finished 21 of 40 for a career-high 323 yards in just 2 1/2 quarters (Whitehurst was 4 of 7 for 52 yards and was sacked twice).

Twelve weeks ago the Cincinnati Bengals 2011 game plan was pretty simple – hide its rookie quarterback and inexperienced receiving corp by featuring a game-controlling, north-south running game. Six weeks into the season, however, it’s the Cincinnati running game that’s gone south.  

The Bengals (4-2) and its slowly building passing attack matched their entire 2010 victory total Sunday with a 27-17 win, putting to bed a nasty seven-game losing streak to the Indianapolis Colts, who with Payton Manning at quarterback had never lost to Cincinnati.

Bengals’ rookie sensation QB Andy Dalton pitched a masterpiece against the Colts’ speedy pass rushers, going 25 of 32 for 264 yards, one touchdown, no sacks.

Dalton completed 13 straight passes at one point while Bengals’ RB Cedric Benson struggled against the Colt’s eight-in-the-box scheme, gaining just 57 yards on 16 carries. As a team the Bengals were held to under 100 yards rushing.  

Manning’s replacement QB Curtis Painter rallied Indy from a 20-7 deficit in the second half, getting them in range for Adam Vinatieri’s 52-yard field goal try to tie it 20-20 with 5:38 left before the Bengals’ Nate Clements came off the edge to block it. Soon after, second-year DE Carlos Dunlap returned a Pierre Garcon fumble 35 yards for the clinching score, helping the Bengals hold on to a win that keeps Indianapolis winless.

In the end, the NFL’s top-ranked defense rose to the occassion. It was the second straight game a Bengals defensive lineman scrored as DT Geno Atkins’ 10-yard fumble return punctuated a 30-20 victory in Jacksonville the prior week.

Surging Cincinnati boasts its first three-game winning streak in two years, and will play at Seattle coming out of its bye week.

Flamboyant Carolina rookie QB Cam Newton knows how to muscle the ball around, end zone dance, make highlight films – and lose. Unassuming Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton knows how to win.

Dalton tossed a pair of touchdowns yesterday and RB Bernard Scott scored with 1:56 remaining leading the Cincinnati Bengals over the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-20. The Bengals (3-2) made the Jags pay for a 22-yard Matt Turk punt when Scott weaved his way through the Jag’s goal line defense for the winning TD, which Cincinnati needed because PK Mike Nugent missed an extra point in the first half, and DB Reggie Nelson blew coverage on a 74-yard touchdown pass in the fourth.

But the Bengals (3-2) mistakes paled in comparison to Jacksonville’s, which included a botched snap in the shotgun resulting in a Bengals recovery which sealed the game.

But the Jaguars (1-4) had plenty of nasty to go around as TE Marcedes Lewis had a pass stripped in the end zone in the second quarter forcing the Jags to kick a field goal. Then Mike Thomas and Jason Hill dropped balls, and rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert failed to handle the shotgun snap in the closing minutes, preventing Jacksonville from a change to tie the game with a field goal.

The upstart Bengals played big when it counted – after Turk’s punt bounced out of bounds Dalton hooked up with Jermaine Gresham on a fourth-and-6 play to keep the drive alive before finding WR Andre Caldwell for an 8-yard gain. With the Jaguars expecting a pass on third down Scott weaved his way into the end zone making it 23-20. Game, set and match.

Jacksonville looked as if it might snap its losing streak when Gabbert found Hill running alone behind Cincy’s secondary. Gabbert got Nelson to bite and hit Hill in stride for the 74-yarder with about eight minutes remaining. But nothing went right for Jacksonville the rest of the way.

Dalton completed 21 of 33 passes for 179 yards while being sacked twice and throwing one interception. RB Cedric Benson ran 24 times for 53 yards, and WR A.J. Green caught five passes for 90 yards and a score.

The Bengals also scored on Keystone Cops fumble return on the game’s final play. The Bengals have now won two in a row and look to extend their streak next week at home against the struggling Colts.

It was 3rd-and-6 at the Cincinnati 24 when Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton got sacked by Buffalo’s Chris Kelsay forcing a fumble. The loose ball was scooped up by the Bills’ Bryan Scott, who returned it 13 yards for a touchdown, and maybe a rout’s on. Wait a minute. Upon review Dalton’s arm was ruled to be coming forward, invoking the infamous “tuck rule” making the play an incomplete pass and Buffalo’s touchdown was taken off the board keeping the 3-3 tie intact.

It was just that kind of game as the Bengals beat the Bills 23-20 on a 43-yard field goal by Mike Nugent as time expired to send Buffalo to its first loss of the season. The Bengals rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to improve to 2-2 and drop the Bills to 3-1.

The Bengals’ QB shook off a poor first half to lead his first fourth-quarter comeback victory, culminating in the game-winning field goal as time ran out for a 23-20 win over the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills.

The Bills came in as the AFC’s last perfect team after pulling off a couple historic comebacks. This time, no such luck as they couldn’t hold a lead.

Dalton threw a touchdown pass and ran 3 yards on a draw play, tying it with 4:09 to go. He scrambled for a first down on the winning drive – a replay overturn gave him the needed ground and Nugent ended it with his third field goal in front of the smallest crowd of Paul Brown Stadium’s history. The Bengals overcame a 17-3 halftime deficit to end a 10-game losing streak against Buffalo.

Tied at 20 with 4:09 remaining it was once again on Buffalo’s offense to pull out another victory for the Bills, but QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offense could not sustain the drive leaving it to Buffalo’s defense. With the ball at their own 19-yard line and 1:48 remaining rookie quarterback Dalton moved Cincinnati into field goal range with four seconds remaining. Nugent’s 43-yard attempt was good as time expired.

Cincinnati had field position advantage early and finally put together a field goal drive late in the first quarter. Dalton actually had a shot at a touchdown on 3rd-and-5 at the Bills 13, but his fade pass, which was intended for an open WR A.J. Green in the front right corner of the end zone was overthrown out of bounds. Cincinnati settled for a 31-yard Nugent field goal for an early 3-0 lead.

The San Francisco 49ers Sunday recorded a rare Eastern time zone win against a flat and uninspired Cincinnati Bengals team that sells itself as smashmouth, run-grinders. Cincinnati, who again couldn’t convert short third-down situations or push the ball in from inside the five, took the opening possession of the game 76 yards on 12 plays as QB Andy Dalton went 5-for-6 for 61 yards through the air, but the drive stalled at the San Francisco four and the Bengals had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Mike Nugent.

With no credible running game, Bengals rookie QB forced to air it out versus 49ers.

Defense was the story for the rest of the first half, as the furthest either team reached into the other’s territory was when the Bengals got to the 49ers 46 early in the second quarter, but were unable to convert a 3rd-and-3 and were forced to punt.

A home opener win seemed imminent for the Bengals (1-2) once they converted Frank Gore’s fumble deep in 49ers territory into a 23-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead. Then came the 49ers’ go-ahead drive: a 10-play, 72-yard march that didn’t include one sack or 49ers penalty, which were trademarks of their earlier woes.

D'oh!, D'oh!, D'oh... Another one bites the dust....

Most people second-guessed Marvin for not allowing PK Mike Nugent a shot at a 53-yard field goal late in the game that would have given the Bengals the lead.

While the situation demanded an important decision be made, it was a tough call that no doubt would provide ample fodder to arm-chair coaches everywhere – regardless of the outcome.  So while it looked like a bad decision not kicking it – given perfect hindsight – I’m willing to give Marvin a pass on that one.

However, I will crucify Marvin’s decision-making when faced with a fourth-and-one call in the fourth quarter. Down by two points in a crucial drive, Marvin & Gruden look at all of their options and boldly decide to go for it, as QB Andy Dalton lines up under center needing one yard to extend the drive. That decision alone was fine: go for it, get the one yard and a fresh set of downs, then try to get into FG range. But when the ball was snapped Andy Dalton stepped back to pass, most fans were  horrified, as I was.  I believe my thoughts were, “WTF, Marvin?  Your rookie QB has played marvelously in hostile territory, and he’s playing more like a seasoned veteran. Yet with RB Ced Benson healthy and the Bengals needing just one measly yard, you send Dalton back to pass?!?”

We all know the result, as an unblocked, blitzing Bronco broke up any chance of Dalton connecting, and Marvin had that incredulous look we’ve seen too many times. Even with all the well-deserved criticism Marvin gets here at the fully stocked wet bar at the Oddbounces Rifle Range, that decision surprised me. So I give this game ball blunder to Marvin. 

You’re supposed to ask a rookie QB to execute the game plan, and don’t lose the game. Asking your rookie QB with exactly five quarters of NFL experience to win the game is as misguided as the play call itself.

Nuff said.