FANTASY PLAYS: Dalton’s injury a bad blow at playoff time

However, what is worse is that they also lost starting quarterback Andy Dalton, who broke his thumb while tackling the Steelers’ Stephon Tuitt after an interception during the team’s opening drive.

“It’s unfortunate that it happened at this point in the season”, Dalton said after Sunday’s 33-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. TE Tyler Eifert and OL Jake Fisher weren’t cleared from the concussion protocol and missed practice on Wednesday.

Dalton met with a hand specialist Monday to determine the extent of the injury.

“This kid has a great personality”, coach Marvin Lewis said.

“I think they’re still writing that story”, coach Mike Tomlin said. He won’t play this week. At best, he’ll miss the next two weeks but the likelihood is that we’ve seen the last of the Red Rifle this season.

Tide troubles: Sunday in San Francisco McCarron will try to be the first quarterback from the University of Alabama to win a start in the National Football League in 28 years. He’s won two Super Bowl titles and been to another, but he (rightfully) hasn’t received full credit for it because each of those teams were led by dominant defenses (first or third in points allowed each trip).

His temporary replacement, 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck, is so banged up with shoulder, neck and rib injuries he was wearing a sling Monday on his left arm, to help prevent muscle spasms, head coach Chuck Pagano said. So again I ask, should we really be all that anxious?

The Steelers solidified their standing in the AFC playoff chase with their victory Sunday in Cincinnati, but unless there is a minor miracle between now and the end of the regular season they will be playing at Heinz Field for the final time this season Sunday afternoon when the Denver Broncos (10-3) come to town for another contest with AFC playoff implications aplenty. New England (11-2) is in line for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with the Bengals and Broncos tied for the second spot. San Francisco’s defense will play better at home, as it has all season; but even with a backup QB, Cincinnati has too much talent overall to lose to the 49ers. It’ll be McCarron’s first career start. That’s because Oakland’s Khalil Mack produced five sacks in the second half of a 15-12 win against Denver and Brock Osweiler, who called the defender’s performance “phenomenal” and “tremendous”.

Instead, McCarron will get all of the plays with the starting offense in practice to get ready. He will practice with the starters this week, and the game plan will be tailored to what he likes to do. Green’s punt was partially McCarron’s fault – he and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson had been urging the low-key receiver to celebrate a little more after scoring.

“We went through a good week last week, gave him the weekend off, so we’ll see where we’re at”, Kubiak said. “Nothing’s changed. We’re chasing the same goals, the same dreams”.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get Andy back at some point, and we’ll move forward”. Don’t include URLs to Web sites. Croyle posted an 0-10 career record, while McElroy, who served one year as a backup in Cincinnati, was 0-1.

Inexplicably, he stared down cornerback William Gay but let go an ill-advised sideline floater to Mohamed Sanu. He praised the quarterback’s arm and knowledge on the field and told NFL.com that he does not want the quarterback handing the ball off every play.