The Cincinnati Bengals re-signed defensive
tackle Pat Sims and signed defensive end Jamaal Anderson on Saturday.

Sims registered 28 tackles and one sack in 11 games last season. He missed the
last five contests with an ankle injury.

Anderson was the eighth player taken in the 2007 NFL Draft and spent the first
four years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons before joining Indianapolis
last season.

He played in 15 games for the Colts, recording 24 tackles and a career-high
three sacks.

©2012 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

In week 14, I posted a 3-1 mark with my picks for the AFC South Division. I correctly predicted that both the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans would lose their games while the Houston Texans would beat the Cincinnati Bengals. It would have been a perfect week if not for the Jaguars pummeling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 41-14. However three out of four is still respectable and I’m hoping to duplicate my success with the games for week 15.

Houston Texans vs. Carolina Panthers:

Last week, the Texans clinched their first playoff berth in team history with a 20-19 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite the rash of injuries during the season, the Texans have continued to roll. Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates played well last week, throwing for 300 yards along with two touchdowns. While Arian Foster (15 carries, 41 yards) and Ben Tate (8 carries, 67 yards) did not have great games last week, they did just enough to complement the passing game.

The Texans have also been playing pretty good defense this season and I think they will do a good job of containing both Cam Newton and Steve Smith. With that being said, I am picking the Texans to notch their 11th victory of the season.

Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts:

Both teams are coming off losses in week 14. The Titans played the New Orleans Saints close before falling 22-17 while the Colts extended their losing streak to 13 games with a 24-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Colts’ 0-13 record is the primary reason why I’m picking the Titans this week. The second reason is because of the play of quarterback Jake Locker. He picked up the offensive slack last week throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown, while Chris Johnson rushed for only 23 yards on 11 carries.

While the Colts have been competitive in a few of their games this year, their overall play on defense has been pretty bad. Based on that premise, the Titans’ quarterbacks should have a good game regardless of who plays and Johnson should bounce back this week as well.

Please note – this article was written following the Jacksonville Jaguars’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons, which is why this game was not included.

James Tillman is a resident of the Chicago-land area who has been an NFL fan for over 20 years. James is also a fan blogger on Yahoo Sports and NJFFL Dynasty. For interesting discussions about the NFL, NBA and MLB, follow him on Twitter @jtillman9693.

Sources:

Week 15 Picks and Predictions

NFL Scores and Schedules

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams

After the Steelers’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night, Pittsburgh has fallen behind the Ravens in the AFC North standings. They’re also behind … the Cincinnati Bengals?

Yep, that’s right – the Bengals have won five in a row and are now 6-2.

Bengals 6-2
Ravens 6-2
Steelers 5-3
Browns 3-5

From the perspective of Steelers fans, this is perhaps a bit embarrassing, but not that big a deal. Cincinnati’s schedule so far has been padded with relatively easy games against the Colts, Seahawks, Broncos and Browns. Okay, sure – the Steelers have played some of those teams, too. But what the Bengals haven’t yet done is faced off against the Steelers or Ravens. They’ll have to do that three times in the next four weeks, and then they’ll take on the Ravens again in the last week of the season. 

The Bengals have been better than expected this season, sure, and with the Rams and Cardinals left on their schedule, there’s a good chance they’ll be a winning team when all is said and done. But are they a playoff team? We’ll know more in a month. 

You can check out the full NFL standings here.

For more on the Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ turnaround is too fresh — six games into 2011 — to be labeled anything more than an incomplete success. But the Indianapolis Colts would be wise to take notes after seeing it up close.

The Bengals are 4-2 after their 27-17 win over the still-winless Colts on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

Cincy’s start is both surprising and instructive in a loose way to the 0-6 Colts.

Here’s a team in Cincinnati that lost its starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, not to injury but to indignation. Palmer was fed up with what he considered the Bengals’ years of mismanagement. He demanded to be traded or he’d retire. His feelings, after taking a beating so long, were understandable.

The Bengals decided — since fate was forced upon them — to let him “retire” and rebuild with youth (Palmer was traded to the Raiders on Tuesday). This followed a decision to discard troubled souls that kept them in the headlines with police case file numbers instead of fantasy football numbers.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ turnaround is too fresh — six games into 2011 — to be labeled anything more than an incomplete success. But the Indianapolis Colts would be wise to take notes after seeing it up close.

The Bengals are 4-2 after their 27-17 win over the still-winless Colts on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

Cincy’s start is both surprising and instructive in a loose way to the 0-6 Colts.

Here’s a team in Cincinnati that lost its starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, not to injury but to indignation. Palmer was fed up with what he considered the Bengals’ years of mismanagement. He demanded to be traded or he’d retire. His feelings, after taking a beating so long, were understandable.

The Bengals decided — since fate was forced upon them — to let him “retire” and rebuild with youth (Palmer was traded to the Raiders on Tuesday). This followed a decision to discard troubled souls that kept them in the headlines with police case file numbers instead of fantasy football numbers. They also felt they’d gone as far as possible with Chad Johnson/Ochocinco and his public analysis of the franchise.

Then the Bengals drafted quarterback Andy Dalton and threw him into the mix. And they went about assembling a young defense that has ranked No.1 in the NFL in the early stages of this season.

Dalton’s play against the Colts on Sunday was solid, bordering on superb. He completed 25 of 32 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown. His favorite targets are all young guys (Jerome Simpson in his fourth season, Jermaine Gresham in his second and A.J. Green in his first). In fact, 35 of the Bengals’ 53 active players entered this season with NFL experience of four years or fewer.

While they needed some breaks against the Colts — Dallas Clark’s fumble early, Pierre Garcon’s fumble late — they got them. And they took advantage of them.

Cincinnati’s future seems bright. The Colts’ future remains partly cloudy with a chance of storms.

Now, there are vast differences between the Bengals and the Colts. Cincinnati has been mired in mediocrity for several years. The Colts have been one of the NFL’s elite teams for a decade. This Colts season is quite possibly an anomaly, brought on by the absence of Peyton Manning, which discombobulated everyone in the organization.

But the time is coming when the Colts will have to regroup and reorganize their direction. That could be next season if Manning is unable to return to the field, but it will be within four years even if he does return in full health.

The decisions they have to make are similar to the ones the Bengals made. They must know when it’s time to mark a finish to the past, to an era – good or bad – and embark on a new path.

There are veterans, such as Reggie Wayne, Robert Mathis and Jeff Saturday, that the Colts will have to decide whether to keep around or let go.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter, in a role-playing exercise as general manager, suggested the Colts would be wise to trade Wayne and Mathis immediately for fourth-round picks. He caught all sorts of grief, with Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeting that no trades are coming.

Yet while it seems outrageous — Wayne and Mathis are All-Pro caliber, still – Schefter was right in saying teams sometimes have to discard the past to move into the future. The Colts could land more draft picks to go with the high one that seems inevitable at this point.

There’s no standing still in the NFL. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. The Bengals and Colts reflected their directions with their performances on Sunday.

Andy Dalton’s future may have gotten even brighter.

The Cincinnati Bengals traded quarterback Carson Palmer to the Oakland Raiders for a first-round pick in 2012 and a second-round pick in 2013, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The move all but ensures Dalton’s future as the quarterback for the Bengals. The rookie from TCU has started in each of Cincinnati’s first six games.

Palmer, the Bengals’ starter since 2004, demanded a trade in the offseason and has not participated in any team activities since. Palmer will be reunited in Oakland with Raiders’ head coach Hue Jackson, who spent three seasons as Cincinnati’s wide receivers coach.

But Dalton may not have needed the Palmer-trade to establish himself as the franchise’s quarterback of the future.

Through six games, Dalton has led the Bengals to a 4-2 record, matching the club’s 2010 win total. Cincinnati, off this week, is currently in the middle of a three-game winning streak after beating Indianapolis 27-17.

Dalton said Tuesday that he never felt like his performance would figure into Palmer’s situation.
“I knew coming in here that he wasn’t going to be here and that the job was going to be open,” Dalton told the AP. “It’s nothing that I’ve worried about.”

His numbers so far may have made it easier for the Bengals to let go of Palmer.

Dalton threw for 264 yards and a touchdown against the Colts, and has totaled 1,311 yards and seven touchdowns on the year. His quarterback rating of 84.3 ranks 17th in the NFL, eight spots ahead of fellow rookie and number one overall pick Cam Newton.

Dalton, who led the Frogs to a 13-0 record and a Rose Bowl win in 2010, went 42-7 as a starter at TCU before being selected by the Bengals in the second round of the NFL Draft in April.

INDIANAPOLIS —
This is going to be a busy weekend of football for Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and his wife Peggy.

First up is today’s Indiana State homecoming game, where Lewis’ son Marcus will be playing for the Sycamores against Western Illinois at Memorial Stadium. And then, of course, there’s Sunday’s I-74 interstate battle between the Bengals (3-2) and the winless Indianapolis Colts (0-5).

Due to team obligations in Cincinnati, Lewis will remain with the Bengals for an early-afternoon walkthrough practice at Paul Brown Stadium. Peggy Lewis, meanwhile, will make the three-plus-hour trip west to Terre Haute to watch the Sycamores and Leathernecks.

“I won’t be able to see [the Indiana State game], but my wife doesn’t miss a game over there,” Lewis said in a midweek teleconference. “We’re off next week, so I may travel [to Illinois State].”

Marcus Lewis is a senior linebacker for the Sycamores and was a member of Trent Miles’ first recruiting class at ISU. Miles and Marvin Lewis are long time friends, having coached together at the University of New Mexico from 1987-89.

“I’m excited for the Sycamores over there. It’s great to see. I know that the community has been so behind Trent. It’s just great to see their coaching staff’s and athletic department’s hard work. And now they’re reaping the benefits out there on the football field. It’s fun to watch and fun to experience.

“We got a chance to go up and watch them play [Penn State] up at State College. I know this is a big weekend for homecoming [at ISU]. It’s fun to watch the [program’s] turnaround and be a part of something like that.”

• More ISU/Bengals connections — Cincinnati’s offensive control coach, Kyle Caskey, is a former Sycamores assistant coach. Caskey worked with the offensive line and tights under former Indiana State coach Lou West and Miles.

Bengals backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski is the nephew of former Sycamores offensive guard Mark Gradkowski.

• Lewis big fan of Freeney, Mathis — As a former National Football League defensive coordinator with Baltimore [where he won a Super Bowl] and Washington, Lewis’ attention usually goes to opposing team’s defensive players.

That’s a big reason why he keeps a special video handy of Colts defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

“My video cutups that I have on my machine here, I have hundreds of [Freeney and Mathis]. When I have nothing to do, I will just sit and go through their defense and cut clips of them rushing the passer and chasing the ball down to show our young [defensive] ends,” the Bengals coach said.

“I have Freeney and Mathis tapes everywhere. I have [Colts defensive line coach John] Teerlinck tapes.”

• Clark says nothing wrong — Tight end Dallas Clark is usually one of Indianapolis’ more sure-handed receivers. So the fact that Clark had three crucial dropped passes in last Sunday’s loss to Kansas City certainly raised a lot of questions.

Was his medically repaired right wrist giving him issues? He underwent surgery last season and missed most of the year with the injury.

“The wrist is great,” Clark said this week. “When you get a chance to make a play, you’ve got to make it. When it doesn’t happen, for whatever reason it doesn’t happen, you look at it, improve, make the corrections and move on.”

His 14 receptions rank third on the team, while he is averaging 9.7 yards per catch and has just one touchdown.

“You’ve just got to come back the next week, improve and get better,” Clark said, talking about the dropped passes. “It’s kind of the way this is. Obviously, you’d love to go back to certain games and take plays back, but that’s not the way it works. We’ve just got to get better and move on.”

• Friday’s injury list — Did not practice: RB Joseph Addai (hamstring), OT Anthony Castonzo (ankle), DT Drake Nevis (back), CB Jerraud Powers (hamstring), WR Reggie Wayne (personal). Limited: QB Kerry Collins (concussion). Full: OG Ryan Diem (ankle), TE Brody Eldridge (knee), DE Dwight Freeney (rest), DE Robert Mathis (rest).

• Trading places — Diem has practiced at offensive guard and offensive tackle this week. He was the Colts’ starting right offensive guard at the beginning of the season after spending most of his NFL career as Indianapolis’ starting right offensive tackle.

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey
Maualuga will miss Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts with a
sprained ankle.

The third-year pro apparently suffered the setback in Thursday’s practice, but
the severity of the sprain is unknown.

Head coach Marvin Lewis said Friday that Dan Skuta will fill in for Maualuga,
getting just his second career start.

Maualuga posted 38 tackles and one forced fumble through the first five weeks
of the 2011 season.

Cincinnati has a bye next week before returning to action at Seattle on
October 30.

©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

They’ve stopped singing and started growing fast.

The Bengals are off to a 3-2 start in large part because quarterback Andy Dalton, receiver A.J. Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham are playing beyond their years. Dalton has been cool in the biggest moments, and Green and Gresham have made incredible catches when they’re needed most.

The rest of the league is starting to notice.

“It shows you that they’re very talented, but very poised as well and that they have real good focus,” Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell said on Wednesday. “For a group at their experience level, they’re playing like they’ve been in the league three, four, five years. They’re doing it well.”

The trio will be a focus on Sunday when the Bengals play the Colts (0-5) at Paul Brown Stadium before another less-than-capacity crowd. It will be one of Dalton’s best tests so far, given the Colts’ reputation for putting pressure on the passer.

“I think they react really well to some things and they’re a fast-flow defense,” said Dalton, a second-round pick from TCU. “So I think there are areas where we can attack and find some matchups that we like.”

Their best matchups involve whoever is guarding Green and Gresham.

Green, the fourth overall pick from Georgia, ranks 13th among NFL receivers with 402 yards. He’s 21st with 24 catches; Gresham ranks 37th with 21 receptions.

They’ve come up big in the last two games.

Green had four catches for 118 yards during a 23-20 comeback win over Buffalo. Gresham had four catches for 70 and a one-handed touchdown reception. Dalton scored on a draw play to tie it with less than 5 minutes left, then dived for a first down to set up the winning field goal as time ran out.

Last week, Dalton pulled off a second straight winning drive for a 30-20 victory in Jacksonville. Green had five catches for 90 yards an acrobatic touchdown. Gresham also had five catches and an impressive touchdown.

Dalton and Gresham pulled off the saving play in the closing minutes. Facing a fourth-and-6 from the Jacksonville 19, Dalton scrambled away from pressure and threw a 9-yard completion to Gresham, who had to stretch high and away to pull it in. Three plays later, the Bengals scored for a 23-20 lead.

That’s not the norm for players so young.

“We do have some pretty good chemistry for just being around each other for a couple months,” Dalton said on Wednesday. “We’re getting more and more conformable with each other, knowing where they are, knowing how they’re coming out of their breaks and just different things like that.

“It’s just really fun to go out there and see it in practice and see how we’re getting better each game.”

Sometimes, it has less to do with chemistry and more to do with simply throwing a pass and Green and Gresham make the play. Since training camp, Green has shown a remarkable ability to adjust to the throw and get the ball no matter how closely he’s covered.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Dalton said. “He’s done an outstanding job. If you get the ball close to him, he’s going to make the catch. He makes my job a lot easier.”

The Bengals didn’t hesitate to make him their No. 1 receiver after trading Chad Ochocinco to New England.

“A.J. is somebody who stood out right from the beginning,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “We felt like he could really make a difference. With where we were picking, it was important to me that we pick the player that could come in and have an immediate impact, and obviously he has.”

Gresham was the 10th overall pick last year and set a record for a Bengals rookie tight end by catching 52 passes. Dalton is starting to trust the 6-foot-5 tight end the same way he does Green

“He’s a really good athlete and can catch the ball wherever it is,” Dalton said. “He’s definitely a lot like A.J. and like a lot of the guys we have here.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back in the 1970′s, the Miami Dolphins won two Super Bowls behind the “No-Name” defense — a powerful unit that lacked superstars.

Another NFL team seems to be emulating those Dolphins this season. Who? Well, a query: who are Manny Lawson, Domata Peko and Reggie Nelson?

If you answered starters (at linebacker, tackle and free safety, respectively) on the NFL’s No. 1 defense — that of the Cincinnati Bengals — move to the head of the class.

And as the Philadelphia Eagles are finding out, sometimes big names aren’t the best to rebuild a defense around.

The Bengals, not Pittsburgh, Baltimore or the New York Jets, own the NFL’s most stingy defense, allowing just 275.5 yards per game. The AFC North is certainly a nightmare for offenses, as the Bengals’ division mates Baltimore and Pittsburgh are No. 2 and 3 in league (277 and 284.5 ypg, respectively).

But right now Cincy is No. 1 (for the first time in 28 years) and looked it Sunday as it held the high-flying, previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills to 13 offensive points
(Buffalo averaged 37.7 in its first three games) in a 23-20 win. The Bengals lead the league in yards allowed per rush at 3.1 and third in preventing third-down conversions.

Given that Cincinnati’s next three games are the three worst offensive teams in the NFL – Jacksonville, Indianapolis (whoever thought?) and Seattle — their defense could rule the roost for a while.

If the Bengals’ defense has a stud name, it’s at middle linebacker where third-year vet Rey Maualuga has 32 tackles and forced fumble. And cornerback Nate Clements still excels in his 11th season.

Truth be told, Cincinnati needs a lock-down defense with a offense led by rookie quarterback Andy Dalton that ranks 20th in the league. And the Bengals may be a year away from contending for a playoff spot in such a rugged division.

But a stout defense gives long-suffering Cincinnati hope for the future — and some thrills right now. If they keep playing like they have so far, the Bengal defenders won’t be no-names for long.

Kolb struggling, too

If it’s any consolation for Eagles fans, Kevin Kolb’s having a rough start to the season as well.

The ex-Eagle is drawing criticism in the desert for the Arizona Cardinals’ 1-3
start. Kolb has completed 80 of 130 passes for 1,049 yards, 5 touchdowns and
an so-so 87.0 quarterback rating, but has been intercepted and fumbled four times and hasn’t made plays at the end of three close losses, such as last week’s 31-27 loss to the New York Giants.

Kolb is trying to keep an even keel.

“I have been around long enough to know that everybody has doubts,” said Kolb to the Associated Press Wednesday. “It’s the same thing if we were going the other way. If we were 4-0, we’d be going to the Super Bowl, which isn’t the truth, either. Good or bad, I’ve learned to not listen to it and have faith in my own ability and what we have as a team.”

One thing playing for the Eagles had to do was help Kolb not listen to outside criticism, which there was plenty of. Bet it’s a lot quieter in Arizona than in Eagle-land.

No Amendment violation

Class, some Civics 101 here on the Hank Williams Jr. flap.

Despite what the alleged entertainer said in response to being dropped from the ESPN Monday Night Football opening for offensive remarks about President Obama, there was no First Amendment violation.

The First Amendment applies to government restrictions on free speech. None such happened here. Williams is free to say anything he likes, and ESPN is equally free to decide who it wants representing its brand name to the public. When Williams’ language became a problem, out he went, as happened to Rush Limbaugh as well.

If some seek the NFL’s hands in the move as well, that would not be surprising, given Williams’ comparison of the president to Adolf Hitler.

Finding a more talented replacement would not be difficult. If ESPN wants another right-wing screamer, might we suggest Ted Nugent?

Read More: Cedric Benson (RB – CIN), Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson has been informed by the National Football League that he will be suspended for three games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports reports.

Benson will be allowed to continue to play while he appeals the suspension, with Silver adding that the 28-year-old has a hearing scheduled for next Tuesday.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Benson has not been informed of a suspension.

Prior to the end of the preseason, Benson served five days in jail as part of a plea agreement to resolve two outstanding assault cases. The first case involved a 2010 assault charge when the former University of Texas standout allegedly struck an employee at an Austin, Texas bar.

During the lockout, when players were outside of the purview of the league’s personal conduct policy, Benson was arrested after allegedly assaulting his roommate. Despite his repeated arrests, the Bengals re-signed the free agent to a one-year contract worth up to $5 million. Benson was released from jail in time to participate in the Bengals’ practices before their Week 1 game against the Cleveland Browns. Through two games, Benson ranks ninth in the NFL with 180 rushing yards.

If Benson is made to serve the full three-game suspension, he would forfeit $529,412 in base salary as he misses games against the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts.

For more reaction to the Benson situation, visit our Bengals blog Cincy Jungle.

CINCINNATI – They know what fans think of them, and it’s not very much. There’s talk of an 0-16 season in Cincinnati, another year of setting new franchise lows with the same owner and coach presiding over a new cast of players.

How could the Bengals’ ignore it?

Better yet, how do they stop it?

Win one in Cleveland.

The Bengals could prove — for one week, anyway — that they’re not the worst team in Ohio, let alone the worst in the league. The intrastate rivalry on Sunday provides a chance to end all the talk about being No. 32 in the NFL.

“We haven’t really talked about that,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “It hasn’t really been our focus. But I would hope every competitor in here knows that and realizes that’s how people think about them, and that’s the way we have to fight.

“It’s no different than any other year. The teams that go out fighting the hardest and want it the most are going to win, and we’ve got to be one of those teams.”

The Bengals put up a good fight last season, but kept self-destructing with turnovers and penalties and botched plays during a 4-12 season that wasn’t the league’s worst. Carolina got that honour, going 2-14 while the Bengals finished with the same mark as Denver and Buffalo.

Much of the pessimism comes from the off-season.

Coach Marvin Lewis played out his contract, looking for signs that the front office was committed to doing what is needed to win. Then, he agreed to stay even though owner Mike Brown said there would be no significant change in how the team operates.

A week later, franchise quarterback Carson Palmer threw in the towel, saying he’d rather retire than finish his contract with the Bengals. Disgruntled receiver Terrell Owens left as a free agent, and receiver Chad Ochocinco was traded to New England.

The Bengals are left with one of their greenest offences ever for a season opener. Second-round pick Andy Dalton will become the first Bengals rookie quarterback to start an opener since 1969, the team’s second year. First-round pick A.J. Green is the top receiver. Fourth-round pick Clint Boling starts at right guard in place of suspended Bobbie Williams. Tight end Jermaine Gresham and slot receiver Jordan Shipley are starting their second seasons.

That’s a lot of inexperience.

“We have a lot of young players,” running back Cedric Benson said. “But we’re strong in the offensive line. We’ve got one adjustment there (Boling). We’re strong in the backfield. But we’re still growing. It’s a great opportunity for us to come together.”

The Browns weren’t much better last year, going 5-11 to finish one spot ahead in the AFC North. The teams split their series, each winning at home. The Browns took the first game 23-20 in October, while the Bengals broke a 10-game losing streak with their 19-17 win at Paul Brown Stadium in December.

The newcomers will get their first experience with the Dawg Pound and the rivalry on Sunday afternoon.

“I know a little bit about it,” Dalton said. “We are definitely going to know when we are on the Dawg Pound side of the field. We’ll have to know when we can use silent counts and different things like that. It will be fun to get to know a lot more about it and be a part of it.”

Ochocinco loved to taunt the Browns and the Dawg Pound. He sent Pepto-Bismol to some Browns players one year, and did a leap into the Dawg Pound after a touchdown, only to get doused with beer and jeers. None of the current receivers is inclined to take on the Pound.

“I don’t think so, but we’re hoping our guys are spending plenty of time in their end zone,” Whitworth said. “That’s what we hope.”

The first half of the season provides the best chance for Cincinnati to show it’s not the worst. The Bengals’ first four opponents — Cleveland, Denver, San Francisco and Buffalo — were a combined 19-45 last season. Only one of the first eight opponents had a winning record last season — Indianapolis, which has problems after losing quarterback Peyton Manning.

The chance is there.”We’ve got a lot to prove, there’s no doubt about it,” Whitworth said. “So I think guys are more worried about what we have to prove than what people think about them.”

• The Lions get their first crack at another opponent this Friday with Cincinnati coming to Ford Field. Get an early preview of Andy Dalton and the new-look Bengals. [DFP]

• Ernie Sims is hoping to rehab his league-wide image as an underachiever with the Indianapolis Colts, who signed the former Lion to a one-year deal. The local media is optimistic about the energy he will bring. [Fort Wayne News-Sentinel]

• Turk McBride had a career year with Detroit in 2010, but he was signed away by the New Orleans Saints to provide depth. Although, if you ask McBride what he needs to be this year, he’ll respond with one word: “Disruptive.” [NOLA]

• Kick returner Stefan Logan is hoping to expand his niche with the Lions and be more than “just a kick returner.” [WXYZ]

• A really early look at the Lions 53-man roster. How many players should they keep at each position? [PoD]

The Cincinnati Bengals’ players have actually been doing a fairly decent job of staying off the police radar through the majority of the lockout, and we all know this to be an unusual amount of restraint for that franchise. But as if there’s some sort of primordial internal radar that comes with that striped helmet, several Bengals have reverted to type just as the labor strife comes to an end.

The latest Bengal to exhibit mid-season form is running back Cedric Benson(notes), who may have just tanked any free agent value he had with yet another arrest in Texas. Benson was charged with assault on a family member early Sunday morning, yet another legal battle in the Lone Star State since he came to the NFL. In June of 2008, Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated, an incident that led to his release from the Chicago Bears. Last year, Benson was charged with assault in a bar fight. 

In just the last week, cornerback Pacman Jones (who should just about be out of chances at this point) and safety Marvin White were arrested in separate incidents. The upside: If you want proof that the lockout is almost over, the Bengals are making up for lost time and adding to the NFL’s police blotter at a rapid rate.

In other legal news, two Indianapolis Colts — Jerry Hughes(notes) and Stephen Hodge(notes) — were arrested early Sunday morning for public intoxication at a Dallas nightclub. The two TCU alums will have a bit more to answer for when the lockout is over, as the Colts aren’t known for the same level of tolerance in such matters.

Here’s some actual non-arrest stuff! Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith, who gave us a tremendous interview this week here and here, is rumored to have two primary teams on his destination list if his current team decides to trade him: the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. Smith has said that he would like to be traded to a playoff contender; the Panthers went a league-worst 2-14 in 2010.

The lockout talks will continue Monday and Tuesday, and the NFLPA is contacting all the named plaintiffs in the Brady v. NFL lawsuit to settle the action as a positive step toward labor peace.

When the lockout does end (most likely next Thursday, after the owners ratify the new collective bargaining agreement), Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio says that first-round quarterback Blaine Gabbert(notes) may not start right away, because he was impacted in his development by the work stoppage.

Del Rio is one of several coaches who may get a reprieve from the hot seat because of the lack of offseason preparation afforded staffs as a result of the lockout. Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans and Tony Sparano of the Miami Dolphins are two other coaches who may see the same hidden benefits.