McCarron set for Bengals start

(AP Photo/Frank Victores). Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, right, works the sidelines in the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Cincinnati.

Call it one for the thumb.

But what McCarron and the Bengals are about to try and do isn’t easy. Considering they play in the same division, he also knows what the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh’s Wild Card opponent, are capable of.

Andy Dalton has made progress with his fractured right thumb, but he isn’t 100 percent yet. The Bengals went 2-1 in his three starts.

Are the Bengals built for the playoffs?

Prior to practice, of which only the first 30 minutes were open to media, Dalton said he had not yet tried throwing and it would be up to the coaches when he would take that next step.

If/when that happens, it will add another interesting chapter to the quarterbacks’ relationship-one that goes back more than a decade.

Antonio Brown who had 1834 yards this year is only second behind Julio Jones, according to NFL.com. The week before that, the Steelers got Broncos backup Brock Osweiler. Receiver Mohamed Sanu has taken snaps in wildcat formations and could be an emergency quarterback.

McCarron wasn’t sure if that mattered as much, though, other than the fact he will see Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler’s look for a second time in live action.

In twelve games with Andy Dalton (excluding his brief appearance against the Steelers), the Bengals averaged 27.8 points a game and scored more than 24 points in nine of those games. The Chiefs then did the unthinkable and won their next 10 games and gained a spot in the AFC wildcard game vs the Texans. The Chiefs haven’t won a single playoff game since 1993, when Joe Montana was the starting quarterback. It was before McCarron won three national championships (two as a starter) at Alabama. “I think if you don’t turn the ball over in this league, you put your team in a situation to win the ballgame and that’s what it comes down to”.

“I feel like I am finally getting some reps, know the offense a little bit more and am more used to it”, he said. Brown was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December, while Steelers’ placekicker Chris Boswell was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month.

In his first extended action in relief of Dalton against Pittsburgh, though, McCarron threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown in the Bengals’ 33-20 defeat. Foster, though, and other Steelers do not believe the bad blood from those two games will carry over into the next one. They just can’t lose it. If they do that, there is a good chance that they win this game. The only loss was to Denver in overtime on the road.

The defense can rush the quarterback, they have a good secondary, and their offense is balanced. He has thrown nine total interceptions in the last six games. I throw two interceptions…We did still capitalize on some drives. The Red Rifle had his cast removed yesterday, but that does not necessarily mean that he will be able to play anytime soon.

Notes: The Bengals have sold all of their single-game tickets for Saturday….

-Linebacker Jayson DiManche was signed Tuesday to the practice squad. McCarron recalled that after the loss to Pittsburgh, he talked to Ben Roethlisberger and told him that he’d watched him play with Miami (Ohio) in the 2003 GMAC Bowl in Mobile.

“After the game, I went under the stadium to the locker room and saw his mom, dad, sister and him”, McCarron recalled.