Bengals Take Control of the Division, Steelers Win with Upset over the Lions

With their 41-20 rout of the Cleveland Browns (4-6) on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) have taken control of the AFC North race. They sit 2.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Ravens (4-6) as this foe lost to the Chicago Bears (6-4) in overtime and the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-6) defeated the Detroit Lions (6-4).

Looking ahead, the Bengals’ remaining division games will include one in Pittsburgh and its season finale at home against the Ravens. This week the Bengals will have a bye week and it may come at a good time. In their previous two games, they lost in overtime and with Sunday’s big win, the team is looking at it as a possible turning point for its season.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said in reference to this year’s Super Bowl via the Associated Press, “I hope I am looking back from somewhere in New York City. I think that is the thing that our guys have in their mind, to win every game that we can. This is an urgent month for us coming up. First, we had to take care of November. We have bigger fish to fry.”

Yes, they are looking at a third straight post season visit while sitting at 25/1 to win the 2014 Super Bowl.

Andy Dalton

From Sunday’s game, the Bengals relied on its special teams and defense, who had four turnovers for the day. The team entered the fourth quarter with only one (of 11) third down and under 150 offensive yards. Quarterback Andy Dalton’s 48.7 passer rating didn’t help things along with his 13 of 27 passing and 93 yards–his worst passing production from a complete game–and two interceptions.

Star wide receiver A.J. Green had two catches for seven yards (a career low) but the team’s franchise record-setting second quarter with 31 points will be remembered as it entered the halftime break leading 31-13 after overcoming a first quarter 13-0 deficit.

As for the Browns, it was a disappointing loss. Backup quarterback Jason Campbell”s highlight of the day came from his third quarter 74-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Gordon. Campbell had three interceptions after going 90 attempts this season without one and with his career-high 56 pass attempts, he went 27 for 248 yards.

This week the Browns will play the Steelers and will get back on a winning track (-1, 41.5 o/u).

But the Steelers will enter this upcoming game with a lot of confidence after defeating the Lions, 37-27 on Sunday. They have now won two consecutive games after losing all four of their September ones. Have they turned a corner?

Ben Roethlisberger

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went 29 for 45, 367 passing yards and four touchdowns, including two coming in the game’s last five minutes.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown had seven catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Besides the upset win, the game may also be remembered for Lions coach Jim Schwartz’s decision to try a fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. With their four-point lead, it could extended it to a seven-point advantage but the kick it was fumbled by the team’s rookie punter.

However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Lions as quarterback Matt Stafford had a historic day with his 362 passing yards, giving him the status of the Lions’ all-time leading passer.  Wide receiver Calvin Johnson had six catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

In the second quarter alone, Stafford had 267 yards while Johnson had 163 yards but in the game’s second half, neither showed up as the Steelers defense stopped them. Stafford went 3 of 16–none of which went to Johnson.

The Lions were still able to keep a 27-23 lead entering the fourth quarter but Roethlisberger’s two touchdowns changed this and got the win for his team.

Detroit, tied with the Bears for the NFC North lead, sit at 20/1 to win the 2014 Super Bowl.