CINCINNATI BENGALS One Paul Brown Stadium Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-3550 administrative offices (513) 621-3570 administrative fax (513) 621-TDTD (8383) ticket office www.bengals.com WEEKLY NEWS RELEASE OCT. 20, 2015 BENGALS HEAD INTO BYE WEEK AFTER TYING BEST START (6-0) IN FRANCHISE HISTORY The Bengals are 6-0 for the third time in franchise history and looking to go 7-0 for the first time. Their challenge in going where no Cincinnati team has gone before will be Pittsburgh, their closest AFC North Division pursuer, at Heinz Field. But that s not until the day after Halloween. First, the bye week. And the team s bye week plan? Go back to work and get better, head coach Marvin Lewis succinctly observed, after last week s 34-21 win at Buffalo. And the coach s happy feelings about becoming the first Bengals team since 1988 to go 6-0? Miniscule, Lewis said. We ve got bigger things to do. But the feeling certainly is growing that this Bengals team is more than just pointed toward the playoffs (been there, done that, the last four years). We ve got more key players healthy and doing well than the last few years, said fourth-year WR Marvin Jones, and in the mentality of the team, I feel a difference. I think it comes from looking at the versatility we have. You can t have enough fingers to count the number of players who can change a game, and we expect greatness from all of them. From the defensive side, fourth-year CB Dre Kirkpatrick says: There s something brewing. There s something going on. This is a different team. I haven t played on this team. This is my first time playing on this team. It s not like the other teams. So many people can say a lot different things about what it is, but I just know it s a different team, a different environment. We ve bonded. And the bond has grown over the four years I ve been here. I just see something great happening now. The Bengals are two games ahead of Pittsburgh as they head into the bye week. The 4-2 Steelers have won three in a row and can cut the lead to one and one-half games with a win this week at Kansas City. Which makes it not so hard, perhaps, for the Bengals to follow the counsel of eighth-year DE Wallace Gilberry. Each game is a different game, Gilberry said. True enough, we re one of the undefeated teams, but who s to say we can t get beat the next game? You can t focus on the success you ve had. You can t even think about it. All you can do is go out there today, implement this game plan, go out here tomorrow, polish up the game plan, go out here Friday and Saturday and smooth out the game plan, and then Sunday, hopefully, execute it to best of your ability. The Bengals ride wasn t totally smooth in Buffalo as they posted a doubledigit victory margin for the third time in their six outings. Feelings were less than ebullient at halftime, after the Bills drove 86 yards in 14 plays to close within 17-14 with 0:17 remaining in the second quarter. You never want to see that happen, said Lewis, have them move down the whole field and get back in it. We needed to respond, said QB Andy Dalton. And of course the Bengals did. Overcoming an illegal block penalty when returning the second-half kickoff, they drove 90 yards in eight plays to reestablish a 10-point lead. Four of those plays were Dalton-to-Marvin Jones passes, including a particularly excellent 42-yard connection against double coverage and a 10-yard TD. Marv is just such a talented guy, said Dalton, who posted a 118.6 passer rating for the game, his fifth above 115.0 for the season. He s one of the reasons we re different this year (Jones missed all of 2014 with injuries). It s great to have him back. The Bengals stopped Buffalo at its 40 on its first second-half chance, then drove 78 yards in 12 plays, capped by a four-yard TD pass to TE Tyler Eifert, to BENGALS NOTES 1 WEEK 7 BENGALS BYE WEEK NEXT WEEK: WEEK 8, GAME 7 NOV. 1 AT PITTSBURGH go up 31-14 with 1:42 left in the third period. For practical purposes, game over. A very good team doing what very good teams do. We have a lot of good players maturing at the same time, said OT Andrew Whitworth. There s still a long way to go, but I think that s showing. BENGALS NFL RANKINGS BENGALS SCORING (AVERAGE POINTS): Points scored... 4th (30.3) Points allowed... 8th (20.3) NET OFFENSE (AVERAGE YARDS): Total... 3rd (410.3) Rushing... 10th (122.2) Passing... 6th (288.2) NET DEFENSE (AVERAGE YARDS): Total... 21st (370.7) Rushing... 18th (109.2) Passing... 20th (261.5) TURNOVERS: Differential... T-8th (plus-three) Red-zone report: The Bengals offense was a red-zone terror at Buffalo, scoring touchdowns on all four of its opportunities. The offense needed to run only seven total plays inside the Bills 20 to net the four scores. Here s a recap of the snaps inside the zone: First quarter (one play): 13-yard TD pass to Jeremy Hill. Second quarter (one play): 17-yard TD run by Giovani Bernard. Third quarter (two plays): Six-yard run by Bernard; 10-yard TD pass to Marvin Jones. Third quarter (three plays): 12-yard rush by Bernard; One-yard rush by Bernard; Four-yard TD pass to Tyler Eifert. The Cincinnati offense has risen to 71.4 on the season in TD percentage, fifth in the NFL, with 20 TDs in 28 possessions. The Bengals lead the NFL in total red-zone TDs, with Arizona second at 18. Cincinnati s defense allowed touchdowns on each of Buffalo s two red-zone chances, but the defense ranks sixth in the NFL for the season in TD percentage (46.2), with only six of 13 chances resulting in TDs. BENGALS RED-ZONE REPORT OFFENSE DEFENSE Inside-20 possessions: 28 Inside-20 possessions: 13 Total scores: 24 (85.7%) Total scores: 12 (92.3%) TDs: 20 (71.4%) TDs: 6 (46.2%) FGs: 4 (14.3%) FGs: 6 (46.2%) TD% rank: 5th TD% rank: 6th No scores: 4 (14.3%) No scores: 1 (7.7%) 6-and-0: The 6-0 Bengals have tied the franchise record for longest unbeaten start to open a season. Sam Wyche s 1988 team went 6-0 before losing 27-21 at New England. The Bengals finished 12-4 and went on to win the AFC Championship. Paul Brown s 1975 team went 6-0 before losing 30-24 at home to Pittsburgh.
(6-and-0, continued) That club finished 11-3, for the best winning percentage in franchise history (.786) and earned a Wild Card berth. It is Pittsburgh which will have the chance to stop this year s Bengals from reaching 7-0, in a Nov. 1 game at Heinz Field. AFC North race: For the third straight week, the Bengals have a twogame lead over Pittsburgh in the AFC North Division. The Bengals and Steelers play this season on Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh and on Dec. 13 at Cincinnati. Here s the AFC North picture, looking ahead through Week 8. TEAM W-L PCT. DIV. NEXT TWO WEEKS Cincinnati 6-0 1.000 1-0... BYE; at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh 4-2.667 0-1... at Kansas City; vs. Cincinnati Cleveland 2-4.333 1-0... at St. Louis; vs. Arizona Baltimore 1-5.167 1-2... at Arizona (Mon.); vs. San Diego Atkins second inside: For the second straight week, Bengals DT Geno Atkins ranks second in the NFL in sacks by interior linemen (4.0), trailing only Gerald McCoy of Tampa Bay (4.5). Atkins did not have a sack last week at Buffalo, and McCoy did not play, as Tampa Bay had a bye. Atkins is on pace for 11.0 sacks on the season (rounded up from a projection of 10.7). Though the Bengals have not had an overall sacks season leader in conference or league, Atkins led NFL interior linemen by a wide margin with his 12.5 sacks in 2012, and Atkins tied for the league s interior line lead in 2011, when he had 7.5. On Atkins, head coach Marvin Lewis adds: I think Geno in particular has been playing the run exceptionally well. I think that always gets a little underrated in Geno s case. I thought he had an excellent year last year playing the run, and this year he came back much stronger in his lower body, and you see that in his play. He understands our run fits and what he needs to get done. If they try to single-block him in the running game, we know the ball is coming back to us. Touchdown tandem: Bengals TE Tyler Eifert and HB Jeremy Hill rank 1-1, so to speak, in touchdowns among AFC players. Each has six, and no other player in the conference has more than five. The NFL does not track the last time two players from the same team shared the conference TDs lead this late in a season, but it has been 44 years since teammates ended a season ranked 1-2 in either conference in six-pointers. In 1971, Dallas Duane Thomas led the NFC with 13 TDs, and teammate Calvin Hill was second with 11. The NFL touchdown leader is RB Devonta Freeman of Atlanta, with 10. Three NFC players join Eifert and Hill in having six TDs. Pound it, baby: The Bengals lead the NFL in rushing attempts (183). They don t lead in rushing yards, ranking 10th, but for now, that s an acceptable numbers juxtaposition for offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. I know we have to run the ball, and we will continue to run the ball, Jackson says. We re never going to shy away from that. Jackson, though known for his many offensive innovations, has preached stressing the run since he took over as offensive coordinator after the 2013 season. Last season, the Bengals ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing attempts and sixth in rushing yards. We can run the ball better, Jackson says. But how we run it, whether it s two backs, one back, six backs, I don t care, we ll find a way. You have to have enough attempts against really good football teams because if not, too many things can happen to your quarterback that are not fair and fun. Atlanta (5-1) ranks second in the NFL in rushes this season (177). Dunlap grabs NFL sacks lead: With 1.5 sacks last week at Buffalo, Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap has taken over the NFL lead. Dunlap has 6.5, with New England DE Chandler Jones and Green Bay LB Julius Peppers sharing second place at 5.5. But New England has played only five games, compared to six for Cincinnati and Green Bay, and Jones is the league leader in sacks per team game (1.10). Dunlap is at 1.08. Dunlap had been tied for the league lead through Week 5, at 5.0 with Detroit DE Ezekiel Ansah, but Ansah did not get a sack last week vs. Chicago. Sacks have been an official NFL statistic since only 1982, and the Bengals have never had an AFC or NFL leader for a full season. The highest rank for a Bengal in the NFL has been sixth (DT Geno Atkins with 12.5 in 2012), and the highest Bengals rank in the AFC has been fourth (Atkins fourth in 12, and DE Jim Skow tied for fourth in 1988 with 9.5). Dunlap is on an early pace for 17.5 sacks (rounded up from a projection of 17.3). That would be the most by a Bengal in the official era, topping 13.0 by DE Eddie Edwards in 1983. The Bengals date the club s own sacks records to a starting point of 1976, and the Cincinnati record is 22.0 by DE Coy Bacon in 76. Edwards 13.0 is second in Bengals annals. At Buffalo, Dunlap teamed with DT Brandon Thompson to sack E.J. Manuel at the scrimmage line in the second quarter, and he caught Manuel solo for a seven-yard loss in the fourth quarter. Those were the two Bengals sacks for the game. Dunlap also leads the team in total QB hits (13) and total tackles-for-loss (seven). He leads the line in tackles (24), ranked tied for fifth on the team. And though Dunlap does not have a forced or recovered fumble yet this season, he has 10 career forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries, tops on the current team in both categories. The Bengals as a team are tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks, with 17. Denver is the leader at 26. With 10 games to play, the Bengals are only three sacks short of their 2014 season total of 20. 2 Dunlap on the D-line: Last year we didn t have the rotation (of ingame personnel) that we had the few years before that, says Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap. We had some guys injured at times, and we didn t have Mike (Johnson) or Pat (Sims). And now we ve got year two from young Will (Clarke), who maybe wasn t quite ready to get his feet wet last year, and last year we had Wallace (Gilberry) playing nose in some run situations, and that s not really what we want. Having this rotation back and keeping guys healthy is going to be huge for us. And, Dunlap continued, there s Geno (Atkins). Geno s obviously got his confidence back. Coming from the first career devastating injury, it takes a little while to get that back. This year I feel like he s going to make the cuts and play on his knee like the injury never happened. Having Geno back to his normal ways, that should give us 10 sacks alone. Then hopefully I can top him. I want to lead the league. That s my goal every year. So whoever the leader is, I m trying to have one more than him. Pass pro second in NFL: The Bengals allowed no sacks of Andy Dalton last week, their fourth game of the season with no sacks allowed. I didn t feel like I got hit at all the whole game, Dalton said. Great job by my guys. For the season, the Bengals have allowed only six sacks, second-fewest in the NFL behind the N.Y. Jets (two). Cincinnati s only games with sacks allowed have been Sept. 27 at Baltimore (two) and Oct. 11 vs. Seattle (four). The Bengals are on an early pace to allow 16 sacks for the season, which would beat the club record of 17, set in 2007. Many factors go into effective pass protection, and the contributions of players like H-back Ryan Hewitt, HB Giovani Bernard and TE Tyler Eifert may sometimes go undervalued. But the core of pass protection is the offensive line, which is getting the job done not only with talent, but with the way they work together. Chemistry? I m not sure I can describe it, but I just know we have it, says OL coach Paul Alexander. You want to sign guys up to your team that are natural, tough, selfless guys. I think if you get enough of guys like that together, eventually they ll mold together. They have to be smart. Our meetings are more like seminars. We kind of watch the film and throw it around and bounce ideas. You can only do that with smart guys. Andrew Whitworth has been Cincinnati s primary starting LOT since 2009, and Andre Smith has been his ROT bookend since 2011. Clint Boling has been the starting LG since 2011, and Kevin Zeitler has been at RG since 2012. The only relative newcomer in the starting five is C Russell Bodine, who s starting for his second season. Eric Winston is a veteran reserve (121 career NFL starts) who joined the Bengals last season and started the last four games and the Wild Card playoff at ROT, with Smith out due to injury. Rookie OT/G Jake Fisher has contributed as the big tight end in extra-blocker formations his 31-yard reception on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego was the longest by an NFL offensive lineman since 1988 and second-year pro T.J. Johnson backs up Bodine at center. Head coach Marvin Lewis says the starting line s chemistry is visually apparent in position meetings. They sit in meetings the way they line up, Lewis says. The center sits there in the middle, and then the right guard, the right tackle, the left guard, the left tackle all in their places. That s the way they sit, that s the way they do things, because they always have to see things the same way. When you have guys who need to work in conjunction with each other, the chemistry is not underrated. It s part of it. It s very, very important. We ve got a good group, and a strong, strong foundation in that room and in this building.
(Bengals notes, continued) Third in sack differential: With a plus-11 differential in sacks (17 by defense, six against offense), the Bengals rank third-best in the NFL this week. The top two are Denver at plus-14 (26-12) and Green Bay at plus-12 (23-11). St. Louis and Baltimore are tied for fourth at plus-10. Eifert on pace for history: Six games into the 2015 season, Tyler Eifert is on pace to log the most catches, receiving yards and touchdowns for a year by any Bengals tight end. Eifert had a modest output last week at Buffalo, catching four-for-30, but included in that was a four-yard TD catch that essentially sealed Buffalo s doom, giving Cincinnati a 31-14 lead late in the third quarter. For the season, Eifert is second on the team in catches (28) and receiving yards (342), and he s tied with HB Jeremy Hill for the team lead in TDs (six). Eifert s TD total projects to 16, along with Hill, and 16 would tie FB Pete Johnson (1981) for the second-most season TDs by any player in Bengals history, behind only WR Carl Pickens 17 in 95. The most season TDs by a Bengals pure TE has been nine, by Rodney Holman in 1989 (Bob Trumpy had nine TD catches in 69, but he was listed as a TE/WR.) Eifert s yardage total projects to 912, which would break the Bengals TE record of 910 set by Dan Ross in 1988, and Eifert s catch total projects to 75, which would break Ross TE record of 71 in 88. Though the Bengals have more talented receivers on the roster vying for the ball than many teams, Eifert this week ranks sixth among NFL TEs in catches and receiving yards. He leads all TEs in touchdowns, and Eifert (also Hill) is tied for second among all NFL players in TDs. Eifert and Hill are the only two AFC players with as many as six TDs. Arguably, Tyler s the best tight end I ve ever been around, says offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. He s physically tougher than people think he s tough as nails. He blocks better than people think, and of course he can catch the ball with anybody. Great hands, and great moves and speed for a guy his size (6-5, 250). The sky truly is the limit for this guy. The 2013 first-round draft choice showed his blocking prowess last week with a key block on Giovani Bernard s 17-yard TD run in the second quarter. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who played 11 years in the NFL and caught 70 or more passes in six seasons, including a Bengals-record 112 in 2007, also had unusually high praise for Eifert after working with the Bengals as an intern assistant coach this past spring. Every time I see that guy run a route, I can t believe it, Houshmandzadeh said. I can t believe that man. He s too big to be moving like that. That s crazy. Eifert had a good rookie season, working with veteran TE Jermaine Gresham in a two-te base offense. He caught 39 passes for 445 yards and two TDs. But he played only eight snaps last season. On the third of his three catches for 37 yards in the season opener at Baltimore, he suffered elbow injury that would put him out for the remainder of the season. QB Andy Dalton looks forward to seeing Eifert use his many tools against smaller defenders who aren t that much faster than No. 85. He s a big matchup mismatch for us, Dalton said. The more that he can do, the better we ll be. Dalton back in 2nd in NFL passing: Cincinnati s Andy Dalton is back this week to second place in the NFL in passing, the spot he held through Weeks 3 and 4. He was third in the league entering the Buffalo game. In the Week 6 Buffalo game, Dalton posted a 118.6 rating, his fifth of the campaign over 115.0. He improved his season rating a half-point from 115.6 to 116.1. Dalton passed Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay, who had ranked second last week. Rodgers posted 107.7 against San Diego in Week 6 a great outing for most passers but he dropped for the season to 115.9. Still ahead of Dalton is Tom Brady of New England, who held first place for the second straight week. Brady posted a 104.8 this past Sunday against Indianapolis and fell for the season from 121.5 to 118.4. The last Bengal to win an AFC season passing title was Boomer Esiason, at a 92.1 number that sounds modest by today s standards. The last Bengal to win an NFL passing title also was Esiason, at 97.4 in 1988. For the third straight week, Dalton leads the NFL in fourth-quarter passing, now at 146.3. Rodgers is second at 132.9. Dalton ranks seventh in third-down passing, at 108.0. Dalton s high rank in the ratings comes from a balanced performance in relevant categories. He s second in yards (1761), second in average gain per attempt (9.12), tied for second in touchdowns (14) and tied for second in fewest INTs (two). Dalton is third in differential between TD passes and INTs (plus-12), with Rodgers and Brady tied for first at plus-13. 3 Andy s big response: The Bengals needed a strong second-half start last week at Buffalo, and no one proved more instrumental in making sure they got it than QB Andy Dalton. Buffalo had made it very much a game just before halftime, driving 86 yards for a TD that closed Cincinnati s lead to 17-14. But Dalton opened the third quarter by leading an eight-play, 90-yard TD drive, overcoming a kickoff return penalty that put the ball at the Cincinnati 10. And the second time the Bengals got the ball, Dalton took the offense 78 yards in 12 plays for a 31-14 lead. He capped both drives with TD passes, going 10 yards to WR Marvin Jones and then four yards to TE Tyler Eifert. On the two drives, Dalton completed nine-of-12 for 129 yards with the two TDs, good for a passer rating of 149.0. He had four completions to WR Marvin Jones, three to WR A.J. Green, one to H-back Ryan Hewitt and one to WR Mohamed Sanu. Our goal on offense is to put pressure on the defense from various points and force them to defend the whole field, said head coach Marvin Lewis. If they re doubling A.J., as we saw a lot from the Bills, it s going to create one-onone opportunities elsewhere on the field. The quarterback has to do a good job orchestrating where the ball is going to go, and Andy did a great job in those situations. We needed a strong response after letting Buffalo get the touchdown they did at the end of the (first) half, and it was a great job. Andy the comeback king: Chalk up Bengals QB Andy Dalton for two superb comeback wins during the Bengals 6-0 start, the kind of wins that mark a QB as a leader and an overall winner. In Week 3 at Baltimore, Dalton was the ultimate counterpuncher. He may have seemed down for the count after the Ravens sacked him in the third quarter, forcing a fumble they returned for a TD and a 17-14 lead. But as the Cincinnati Enquirer said in a sports page one headline, When there were questions, Dalton answered. He struck back with an 80-yard TD to WR A.J. Green to erase the 17-14 deficit, and he led an 80-yard drive, all on passes, to later erase a 24-21 Baltimore lead. It provided the winning points in a 28-24 decision. Dalton has now led three straight fourth-quarter comeback wins against the Ravens, and he really did it twice, because he led the Bengals back from deficits of 17-14 and 24-21, both in the game s final seven minutes. And Oct. 11 vs. Seattle, the two-time defending NFC champion and 2013 Super Bowl winner, Dalton led the Bengals back from a 24-7 deficit after three quarters to a 27-24 overtime win. He completed 13 of 15 passes for 135 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. He threw a 10-yard TD pass to TE Tyler Eifert, scored himself on a physical five-yard run and led the team to two field goals. Asked after the game if this is the most confident you ve felt in your pro career, Dalton said: Absolutely. Every year that you play and every game you play, you hope to get better, and when you get wins like this, it adds to your confidence. I feel really good about this team and where we are. In the fourth quarter, I m walking up and down the sideline, first off saying to our defense, Let s get a stop and get the ball back. And with our (offensive) guys, we don t have to do anything but play our game. We don t have to try to make bigger plays than we need to, and I just have to get them to stick to our offense. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson had this to say about Dalton s demeanor in the double-comeback win at Baltimore: There was a calmness. There was a veteran player who had been through the wars, who had been through a lot of things here, who looked me in the eye and said, OK, Coach, let s go. Don t even worry about it. That s how it was, and that s what I ve been looking for. So it s there. And now it will pay off for us in the long run. On Dalton s growth as a leader, head coach Marvin Lewis says: Andy s always had that poise, Lewis said. He s had only rare occasions where he let one bad play lead to another. To me, that s what makes Andy Dalton tick. He hasn t changed, but the other guys have raised their level around him. When things don t quite go their way, they are mentally tough enough to do the things that let Andy do his thing. If a quarterback doesn t have that, that s when (the criticism) all seems to come down on him. Andy the change agent: Bengals QB Andy Dalton has great statistics this season, but much of the praise he s earning from coaches and teammates comes from something fans can t always see his knowledge of the offense and ability to successfully change or alter play calls in the huddle or at the scrimmage line. On Oct. 11 vs. Seattle, Dalton audibled into the keeper that produced a fiveyard TD run during Cincinnati s fourth-quarter comeback. Dalton bulled his way past a tackler into the end zone, but more than that, it was his game-sense that
(Andy the change agent, continued) keyed the score. There was a good look, Dalton said. Everything was wide open on the inside, and it gave me an opportunity to just take it myself. You get these looks, you ve practiced against them throughout the week, and we got it and executed it exactly how we wanted to. In the Oct. 4 Bengals win over Kansas City, head coach Marvin Lewis said, The runs Andy got us in and out of were great. Says Dalton: It s great that the coaches have the confidence in me to let me run things out there according to how things are going. Coordinator Hue Jackson puts it like this: There used to be a time you would just play system football; whatever coach calls, that s what you do. But to be good in this league and to be really good, you have to be bright enough, smart enough and understand what you are trying to accomplish when the defense changes. Andy is well-schooled that way. That s something that takes time on his part, a lot of time on the coach s part, and he does it as well as anybody I ve ever been around. He has taken himself to another level. Dalton also is better this season improvising with his feet. In the Kansas City game, he roamed from pressure in the pocket to hit HB Rex Burkhead for a 27- yard completion and WR Brandon Tate for a 55-yard TD. In the Sept. 27 comeback win at Baltimore, he spotted HB Giovani Bernard after nearly being sacked and hit Bernard with a short pass that resulted in a big gain en route to the winning TD. Andy s playing out his mind, says WR A.J. Green. But we all know what type of guy he is. He s just like a commander out there. He knows what they are going to run, what plays to check to get us in the best play possible. We trust Andy, said TE Tyler Eifert. He s always at the facility studying. He gets us into the right play. We trust him and we know he s a great quarterback. We believe in him and that s what we expect him to do. Andy the road warrior: Last week s win at Buffalo was QB Andy Dalton s 22nd career road victory. With a win in Cincinnati s next outing, Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh, he would move into a tie for first place (since the 1970 merger) for most road wins by a visiting QB in his first five NFL seasons. The record is currently shared at 23 by Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan. And with a win at Pittsburgh, Dalton would have four more chances this season to move into first place in the category. Dalton has 13 losses on the road, and a winning percentage of.629. Andy the leader: OT Andrew Whitworth has this to say about QB Andy Dalton: The thing that strikes me about No. 14 is that every single season, I see him become better at something else. This year it s been leadership and taking control. He s doing a great job with it. If he continues to lead us that way, there s plenty of talent on this side of the football for us to be really good. One of the things Andy doesn t get enough credit for is how he changes things all the time. One of the things that has made this offense successful is Andy s ability to get us into the right play. Dalton s platform for leadership includes the following other accomplishments since joining the Bengals as a second-round draft choice in 2011: He is only the second starting QB in the Super Bowl era (along with Baltimore s Joe Flacco) to lead playoff teams his first four seasons. He has never missed a start in 74 career opportunities, including postseason. His 70 consecutive regular-season starts is a Bengals record, topping 61 by Boomer Esiason from 1985-89. His regular-season winning percentage of.664 (46-23-1 record) is the best of any Bengals QB with 10 or more starts. He holds club records for passing yards (4293) and TD passes (33), both set in 2013. His career 19.0-to-1 ratio of TD passes to INTs (76-4) in the red zone ranks second among active NFL passers. He is the only Bengals passer to throw for 300-plus yards in four consecutive games (2013). Andy s excellent vacation: QB Andy Dalton s strong start to the season can be attributed in part to his spending offseason time for the second straight year with noted QB instructor Tom House. I think that s the key to a pro s pro, said head coach Marvin Lewis. A guy who wants to be at the top of his game has to spend time on himself all year 4 long, just like a professional golfer does. They go to different people all the time, they re always searching for answers and wondering, What is out there that can make me better? You re not trying to re-invent the wheel, but thinking, What you can do to enhance the things you currently do and make you a better player, and make you more efficient at your job? Turning over those stones is an important part in Andy s maturity and development moving forward. Dalton wasn t taking a repeat course this past offseason. He was moving to a new level. I started where I left off the year before, he said. I was farther along with everything we were doing when I went back. That s where I want to be. I m able to do a lot of the more advanced stuff they have because I have a good understanding for what we are doing. It s not stuff that is strange or different. Just working core, shoulders, and getting everything working for you so you get everything into the throw. Asked where he hoped to see the sessions pay the most dividends in 2015, Dalton said: Mechanically staying sound throughout the whole year. Sometimes you get into the mid-to-late season, and you ve been so focused on defenses and the mental side of it, you may not take as much time thinking mechanically and making sure everything is in sync. That s where I m really trying to use it; to make sure I have everything going for me toward the end of the season. I feel like I ve done the stuff enough now where it s muscle memory. Talking back and forth with them, doing things, and doing them right. I ve done it enough now that it s muscle memory. Andy and the next generation: Andy Dalton has had his share of statistically rubbing elbows with the greats. In 2012, he nudged in right behind Peyton Manning and Dan Marino for most TD passes by a QB in his first two seasons. In 2013, he joined Manning (and also Cam Newton) as the only passers to top 3000 yards each of their first three seasons. He has surpassed Manning, Marino, Brett Favre and others in leading consecutive playoff finishes (four) from his rookie year onward. (And he started with a team that went 4-12 the season before). Through Week 6 of this season, he ranks second behind Tom Brady in the NFL in passer rating, with Aaron Rodgers in third. Is Dalton yet the equal of Marino, Manning, Favre, Rodgers etc.? No. But he s 27. His time and others could be coming. You get compared to guys like Peyton, who s 39, Brady who s 38, Rodgers who s 31, Dalton says. Then there s that next group that s got to come up, and that s kind of what I m part of. My goal is to be like one of those guys whenever that time comes. Though Dalton hasn t yet won a playoff game, Manning needed his first five seasons (1998-2002) to lead the Indianapolis Colts to three playoff berths, and the Colts were eliminated in the first round all three times ( 99, 00, 02). Manning led his first playoff wins (two) in 2003, his sixth season as a Colt. Dalton holds second in red zone: After a long run of ranking third among active players in career ratio of red-zone TD passes to interceptions, Andy Dalton moved into second place after the Oct. 11 Seattle game. He held that No. 2 spot after the Buffalo, game, in which he passed for three red-zone TDs with no INTs. Dalton s ratio is now 19.8-to-1, tailing only Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay. Andy s performance in this area is the type of thing we ve come to expect from him, said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. He s not only a fine talent, but a smart player who is going to avoid the big mistake. We ve got a lot of confidence in Andy when we get the ball into scoring range. Here are the active NFL leaders in the category of TD-INT ratio on red-zone plays (minimum 25 TDs): PLAYER, CURRENT TEAM TD INT RATIO Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay... 155 5 31.0-to-1 Andy Dalton, Cincinnati... 79 4 19.8-to-1 Tom Brady, New England... 287 16 17.9-to-1 Russell Wilson, Seattle... 52 3 17.3-to-1 Alex Smith, Kansas City... 79 6 13.2-to-1 Green s 227 tops NFL in 15: WR A.J. Green s career-best 227 receiving yards on Sept. 27 at Baltimore stands through Week 6 as the highest total in the NFL for 2015. The No. 2 total is 196, by Arizona s John Brown last week at Pittsburgh. Green s 227 is also the most yards from scrimmage in a game this season. The last season in which a Bengal had the most receiving yards in a game for a full NFL season was 1998, when Carl Pickens had 204 vs. Pittsburgh. The last season in which a Bengal had the most scrimmage yards in a game was
(Green s 227 tops NFL in 15, continued) 1997, when HB Corey Dillon s 276 (all rushing) vs. Denver was No. 1. Green faced frequent double-teaming at Buffalo last week and settled for four catches and 36 yards while the offense made hay with WR Marvin Jones (nine-for-95). After three straight weeks ranking fourth in the NFL in receiving yards for the season, Green now is tied for sixth, at 531. Green leads the Bengals for the season in catches (35), receiving yards (531) and scrimmage yards (531). Bottom line, it s clear he s back, as good or better than ever after having his production drop off just a tad during an injury-nagged 2014 season. Through six games, Green is on pace for 93 catches and 1416 yards. Opponents may continue choosing to limit Green by putting themselves at risk against other receivers, but that s part of the problem in playing the unbeaten Bengals, and unlike some receivers across the league, Green has a long track record of not focusing on his own numbers. We re winning, and we have a lot of offensive weapons, which is great, Green says. I have no worries about my numbers. I know my chances will come. It s simple on this team. When your number is called, make the play. Green s first TD in his career-high 227-yard day at Baltimore was an 80- yarder, third-longest of his career, bringing the Bengals back from a 17-14 deficit. He caught an Andy Dalton pass in stride near midfield and ran the rest of the way, eluding a couple of would-be Ravens tacklers near the Ravens 25. His second score was a seven yarder with 2:10 to play that erased a 24-21 deficit and posted the final victory margin of 28-24. Green ran a crisp route to the back left corner of the end zone, beating coverage from CB Jimmy Smith, who had intercepted a pass against him earlier in the game. Green s 227 yards, second in Bengals history to Chad Johnson s 260, topped by three his previous career high. A.J. is so competitive, and such a great team player, said QB Andy Dalton. I am so fortunate that we came here together (in 2011). He is so talented, and I m glad he is on our team. Green through 19: On Sept. 11, the Bengals signed WR A.J. Green to a contract extension, running through the 2019 season. Green previously had been under contract through the current season. Everyone in football, and people who follow football, know that A.J. is a special talent, said head coach Marvin Lewis. He makes plays that you wouldn t think could be made. He s an outstanding teammate and a leader you can rely on. He still has a long, great future ahead of him in Cincinnati. Green (6-4, 207; Georgia) was selected fourth overall by the Bengals in the 2011 Draft and has been a Pro Bowl player on a playoff team in each of his four seasons. Green and Dalton, also drafted in 2011, are the most productive QB- WR duo in NFL history for players in their first four seasons. Their 324 completions and 4735 yards are the most for any duo in seasons 1-4, and their 33 TD connections are tied for the most, along with Dan Marino and Mark Clayton of Miami (1983-86). Everyone knows I just want to play football, Green said. Playing in Cincinnati has been great for me and I want to stay here. So getting this done is great. I ve still got tons I want to accomplish in the NFL. Green needs 98; on pace for 93: WR A.J. Green has a chance to finish 2015 with the most receptions ever by an NFL player in his first five seasons. He would need 98 (which would tie his career high), and that would put him at 427, ahead of current leader Larry Fitzgerald, who caught 426 for his first five seasons with Arizona. Green entered this year with 329 receptions. But Green s pace took a small hit last week, when he faced frequent double coverage from Buffalo and was limited to four catches. He now is averaging 5.8 catches per game (35 in six games), on pace for a 16-game total of 93. He ll need to average 6.3 catches over the last 10 games to reach a season-ending figure of 98. Here s how the NFL list for receptions in seasons 1-5 will look if Green bags 98 catches this season: PLAYER RECEPTIONS A.J. Green...*427 Larry Fitzgerald... 426 Torry Holt... 423 Randy Moss... 414 Anquan Boldin... 413 Marvin Harrison... 413 Brandon Marshall... 413 * Includes projected total of 98 catches this season. 5 Dalton and Green made four-year history: WR A.J. Green and QB Andy Dalton were the Bengals first two draft selections in 2011, and they had quite a ride for their first four seasons (2011-14). As researched by Elias Sports Bureau, they stand as the most productive QB-WR duo in NFL history for players in their first four seasons. Their 324 completions and 4735 yards are the most by any duo for seasons 1-4, and their 33 TD connections are tied for the most with Dan Marino and Mark Clayton of Miami (1983-86). Hue J. talks turkey: WR A.J. Green is a low-key personality, and he seemed sincere during August when he said he wasn t worrying much about his contract situation. But offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, known to speak plainly, said he believes Green must feel great relief over the contract extension he signed on Sept. 11. Now Green is signed through 2019, rather than having to play this season on the last year of a contract. It s great for the team, and it should make him an even better player, Jackson said. Players are human. It can scare you when your contract situation is unsettled. You can t help but worry some about getting hurt. And when you re a high-profile player like he is, everybody s always talking about your situation, putting stuff in your head about what other guys got and all that stuff. But that s all over now. Now he can just cut loose and play. Hue-J Call me crazy : How varied is the Bengals third-ranked NFL offense (410.3 yards per game) under coordinator Hue Jackson? OT Andrew Whitworth puts it this way: If there s plays that exist and we don t have them in the playbook, I d like to hear about them. The last two games have featured one of the oddest-looking formations of the season, with OTs Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith both split wide on opposite sides, in three-man pods also featuring two receivers. QB Andy Dalton has been in the middle, behind an offensive line featuring just the center and the two guards. But while the Bengals actually snapped the ball in that formation a few times on Oct. 11 vs. Seattle, last week at Buffalo they used it only as a decoy, opening in that look before moving the tackles back in before the snap. Also last week: The offense tried its second pass of the year to rookie OT/G Jake Fisher, who is the eligible big tight end in an extra-blocker formation. The try at Buffalo resulted in an incompletion, but on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego, Fisher made a 31- yard reception, the longest by an NFL offensive lineman since 1998. WR Mohamed Sanu took the ball on a reverse and was looking to crank up his talented passing arm, but when he saw receivers covered, he took the ball down and rushed for an eight-yard gain. Sanu has a perfect 158.3 passer rating for his career, at five-for-five for 177 yards with two TDs. TE Tyler Eifert was lined up at one point in the backfield, like a fullback. And those antics were only the latest. H-back Ryan Hewitt a hybrid TE/FB is liable to show up anywhere. DT Domata Peko is occasionally used as a blocking back, and receivers have lined up in a wishbone look, with Dalton occasionally running the option. This is my masterpiece, per se, with the rest of the staff, says Jackson. I think some people think I m crazy, Jackson said. That s OK. I ve been called that before. LBs coach Matt Burke may have been one of those people last spring, when the team hit the field to open offseason work. He (Jackson) is running out there, and it s zone-read and tackles out and unbalanced, Burke recalled. It s first day of spring ball, I m like, What are we doing? This is our thing, Jackson says. This is the Cincinnati Bengal thing. I m not trying to copycat anybody. This is a product of over the years. Frequent pre-snap audibles and motions are meant to get defenders thinking from the moment the Bengals break the huddle, until the ball is snapped. Defenses are too good, says Jackson, and if you let them, they will figure you out and bring your offense to a screeching halt. When you re able to do more, and guys have to be prepared for more, and defenses don t know where you are from one play to the next, it gives you a chance to have success. That s what you re seeing from our team. The days of throw it to just one guy, or just do this one way, are over, Jackson continues. If we re going to be a high-powered offense that is unpredictable and hard to stop, then we have to do a lot of things and we have to do a lot of things well. That s where we re headed. And Andy (QB Andy Dalton) is the key to that. He s the orchestrator of it all. But all the pieces have to be played in the right way and in the right spots. Thus far, we ve done an OK job of that, but we can continue to get better. Jackson doesn t specifically say it, but it seems his favorite play of the year
(Hue-J Call me crazy, continued) may have been the 31-yard pass to the rookie Fisher. Now, he said with a smile, everyone we play has to practice against it. Craziness not over yet: Six games into the season, the wide variety of new looks from the Bengals offense (see previous item) is not about to subside. A ton, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson says, when asked how many formations he has left on his shelf. We haven t even scratched the surface. Come on now. We haven t even got close. We ve done nothing. We re just trying to get better. That s all we re trying to do. Besides having excellent overall talent, they are keeping defenses guessing. Defensive football is played by a lot of tenacious guys wanting to attack and fight and tackle, said Whitworth. And if you can get them a little bit off, sometimes that helps you. We ve just got to continue to be able to push the envelope offensively and push the aggressiveness. Pick me, Coach: Bengals offensive skill players long to be the man with the touch for coordinator Hue Jackson s inventive play calls. He keeps a few in his pocket every week, says HB Jeremy Hill. How the game is flowing determines how he pulls them out. I think it s so deceptive, because we don t even know when it s coming up, so I know the other team has no idea. If a play is called for someone else, guys wish their number was called, says HB Rex Burkhead. There is always lobbying for it. Anytime there is a trickery play or something like that, guys always want to run it. Just because they feel cool doing it. Vinny keeps the tackles coming: LB Vincent Rey missed almost half the game at Buffalo last week, sidelined early in the third quarter with an ankle strain, but he still managed eight tackles, second on the team for the game. For the season, Rey has 57 tackles, leading the team by 18 over secondplace Rey Maualuga (39). And it s hoped Rey can return to full action at Pittsburgh on Nov. 1. Rey had 28 tackles over the last two games prior to Buffalo. His totals of 15 on Oct. 4 vs. Kansas City and 13 on Oct. 11 vs. Seattle are the two highest single-game totals for the Bengals this season. Rey led the Bengals last year for the season in tackles (121). This season, he also has an interception and one additional pass defensed. Except maybe for the lack of a 6-3 frame as a linebacker, Vinny (6-0) has everything you want in a pro player, says head coach Marvin Lewis. He s got a big, strong lower body, so he s really a bigger man than he appears, and he s like a sponge. If you say something to him, he gets it right the first time and does it right. That s why he gets so many tackles. Rey s smarts were key in his biggest play of the year, a game-clinching interception on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego. Minding instructions to take deeper pass drops against QB Philip Rivers, who had big success throwing over the middle the previous week, Rey picked off a seven-yard Rivers pass intended for WR Malcolm Floyd at the San Diego 48 with just 0:53 to play, securing Cincinnati s 24-19 win. He leaped to win a contested ball with the 6-5 Floyd and held onto the ball as he came down to earth with a thud. It was a big moment, said Rey. I m just out there trying to do my job and help us get a win. And I knew, going up to get it and then coming down, If I catch this, the game s over. Off the field, Rey is as humble and down-to-earth a pro football player as you ll find. Five seasons into his NFL career, he hasn t changed from the undrafted rookie he was when he signed with the Bengals in 2010. I remember when he was a rookie on our practice squad, said Lewis. We almost lost him to Seattle. They were going to sign him, and we pulled him back from the airport. We told him, Just hang on one more week and we ll get you on our roster. He agreed to stay, and now he s in his fifth year with us. Rey is also one of the defense s primary signal-callers. I may not be the fastest, strongest, biggest guy, but one of my jobs is to make sure that everybody s on the same page, Rey said. Before the snap, if everything s 100 percent, then I have a chance. I just want everybody to be on the same page. I don t want it to be my fault. I don t want to be the reason why we re not winning that snap, that we re not competing well. Everyone has a job, and everyone s counting on me to do mine. That s why I m loud out there. Back at No. 1, Jones off to blazing start: You won t find many NFL players who were listed first on a depth chart for a season, then were not listed first for eight years, and then became listed first again. 6 But such is the case for Adam Jones, running No. 1 at RCB for the Bengals. Jones, who turned 32 on Sept. 30, was last a No. 1 in 2006, when he started 15 games for Tennessee, which had made him a first-round draft choice (sixth overall) in 2005. Off-field issues and resulting suspensions sidetracked Jones career from 2007-09, and though he has been a valuable Bengal since 2010, serving as a nickel CB and dangerous kick returner, the No. 1 CB slots from then through last year were locked up by Leon Hall on one side and by Johnathan Joseph, Nate Clements and then Terence Newman on the other. Jones did start 13 games for the 2013 division champion Bengals, but they came as an injury replacement for Hall. But this year, after a 2014 season in which he played well at CB while bringing the Bengals their first-ever NFL kickoff return title (31.3 yards per return), Jones has moved ahead of Hall, whom the coaches now use in more of hybrid nickel/safety role. And Jones has more than justified the belated promotion in the season s first six games. He leads the team in interceptions (two), with one on Sept. 27 at Baltimore and another on Oct. 11 vs. Seattle. He ranks third on the team in tackles (36) and first in passes defensed (six). His totals at Buffalo were five tackles and one pass defensed, and he also averaged 10.7 yards on three punt returns and 34.5 yards on a pair of kickoff returns. For the season, Jones ranks third in the AFC and seventh in the NFL in punt return average (12.1). His 27.6 average on kickoff returns would rank fourth in the NFL, but with only seven returns, he is one short of the NFL rankings minimum of 1.25 returns per team game. Jones can rejoin the qualifiers if he has two KOR on Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh. Jones had another huge play with a forced fumble in the season-opening win at Oakland, helping the Bengals put the game away early. With Cincinnati leading only 10-0 a bit past the midway point of the second quarter, the Raiders appeared to gain a first down at their 46, as QB Derek Carr scrambled for a nineyard gain on third-and-nine. But it was Jones who knocked Carr out of bounds, and he also knocked the ball loose, the ball going out of bounds at the Raiders 45. That left Oakland with a fourth-and-one, and when the Raiders gambled by going for it on the next play, Cincinnati MLB Rey Maualuga stopped RB Latavius Murray for no gain. The Bengals offense then responded with a six-play drive for a 21-0 advantage. What s more, Jones hit on Carr forced the Raiders starter from the game. Matt McGloin, third-year pro from Penn State, had to finish the game for the Raiders. Better every year: The key for CB Adam Jones return to a starting spot seems to be that while he has retained much of the natural ability that made him a high draft pick 10 years ago, he has continued to learn the game a bit better every year. I would say the mental aspect of my game on defense has caught up with the physical part, Jones says. I can still run pretty fast, and my hips are pretty good. All that is still there. But I ve probably gone from a C-plus student to an A- minus as far as technique, knowing where to be, knowing when to press, what leverage to press on. When I was younger, I was playing more on talent, because I felt no one could out-run me, that I was way faster than people. I feel the same way now, but I have a guy in the back of my ear that s telling me, Yeah, you can do all that, but why not make your job easier? Jones reference is to DBs coach Vance Joseph, now in his second Bengals season after eight seasons coaching DBs with San Francisco and later Houston. I ve had a lot of cornerbacks coaches, but it s the little things he teaches, Jones said. For instance, in one call he already eliminated four routes for me when nobody else broke it down like that. I trust him. He s been straight up with me. Some coaches don t tell you honestly the truth, but V.J. is going to tell you uncut. He expects guys to do it his way... or he ll find somebody else. Bernard tops Top 10 per tote: Bengals HB Jeremy Hill had such a great rookie season in 2014, the 2015 campaigned dawned with some folks wondering whether talented third-year pro Giovani Bernard would be hurting for touches. Now those folks can go on to wondering about something else. With Hill still looking to find his full rushing stride, showing 232 yards and a 3.1 per-carry average, the 5-9 Bernard is to date the big cat in the backfield. Though he has only two touchdowns (in comparison to Hill s tied-for-teamleading six), he leads the team by almost 200 in rushing yards. His 427 total ranks eighth in the NFL, and his 5.5-yard average is the highest among the NFL s Top 10 total yardage rushers. He s just the thinnest hair ahead of the Jets Chris Ivory. Ranked third in total yards at 460, Ivory has a per-rush average of 5.542. Bernard is at 5.545.