- The Lions' special teams play has been much, much better this season, but they have had some hiccups on field goal attempts. It was very costly during the loss at Arizona. It was certainly hurtful when Cincinnati's Carlos Dunlap burst through and blocked an attempt late in the second quarter. How can a defender break through the middle of the line essentially untouched on a short attempt like that? Great question. I only know this, there is no good answer for it from the Lions' perspective. In some sense, it caused a 10-point swing. A potential 13-7 Lions' lead turned in 14-10 Bengals' halftime edge because Cincinnati responded after the block with a TD drive.
- I don't believe people can accurately say Matthew Stafford doesn't make the receivers he plays with better. Looks to me like he is carving out NFL careers for Joseph Fauria (undrafted rookie free agent) and Kris Durham (castoff)..
- Yeah. I thought Bengals' safety Reggie Nelson should have gotten one of those hitting a defenseless receiver penalties when he clocked Calvin Johnson. They flag that play all the time. Why not there? The inconsistency of the calls on those type of plays is disappointing. Ndamukong Suh does that type of thing he'd get fined $200,000 and be thrown out of the game.
- We got a strong dose, again, of what makes the Bengals' A.J. Green such a great wide receiver during the second quarter on back-to-back receptions from Andy Dalton.
- Kind of weird to see another team take an after-the-whistle penalty against the Lions. What a dumb play by a solid veteran player, Bengals' tight end Jermaine Gresham. It took the wind out of the sails as the Bengals appeared to be on scoring march. Cincinnati kicker Mike Nugent ended up missing a 47-yard field goal attempt instead.