The Bengals Defeat The Steelers 18-12

The verdict is in, the Bengals are sole owners of the top spot in the AFC North having defeated the Steelers before a home crowd. It seems the Cincinnati Bengals are for real. Their defense takes top honors in today's victory.

The defense of the Bengals had Ben Roethlisberger on his toes the whole game. Roethlisberger was sacked 4 times and hit 4 times and was 20-40 with a rating of only 51.4, including no scores. The only turn over was an interception by Rucker of the Bengals.

There isn't much to say about either offense. Chris Palmer only faired slightly better. Palmer was 18-30 with a rating of 76.8, including no scores. The running game for either team did not have much of an impact. Benson left the game with an injury, so that certainly had an impact on the Bengals running attack.

The only touchdown was scored on a 96 yard kick return by Bernard Scott. Scott's touchdown was the difference in the game with both teams scoring 4 field goals each. The kick return game accumilated the most yardage because of all the field goals in the game. The Bengals dominated this aspect of the game also. The Bengals punted 4 times and the Steelers punted 5 times.

The Bengals play the Raiders next week in Oakland and the Steelers play the Chiefs in Kansa city. The game to watch next is the Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns on Monday Night football. This is the opportunity for the Browns to give their fans something to cheer about, hopefully.

Browns Are Named The Next Joke In Football-What Are They Going To Do About It?

The Detroit Lions won their first game after 19 straight losses. An article called them the joke of football. Not any more. The same article listed the Cleveland Browns as the next joke of football with St Louis, Kansas Ciy, and Tampa Bay as possible potentials.

The Cleveland Browns have the worst offense in football and are at the bottom as the lowest-rated offense. Mangini can't make up his mind as to which quarterback he is going to use, but has decided upon Derek Anderson for the home game with the Bengals this Sunday. Added to that is its weak running attack.

When is Mangini going to wake up and get WR Josh Cribbs more involved in the offensive scheme of the Browns? Josh Cribbs leads the AFC in punt return average (16.7 yards), which means he is giving them good field position, but the offense cannot exploit it. He is also a scoring threat on kickoffs and can run the Wildcat. Someone even suggested him as an alternative for the quarterback position. Of course, he cannot be expected to do everything, but the Browns are not using his talents to the full.

The Browns can beat Cincinnati if they put together a plan of attack that uses the teams full talent in the right balance. Go for broke, take chances, throw the long ball, use surprise, be creative and be entertaining. Its going to be a home game. Give the fans something to cheer about or at least make it interesting.