Bengals fans: AJ McCarron is right here to remain

Dalton’s hand reportedly does not need surgery to heal and if the team gets through this game against the Niners, then he will be evaluated on a weekly basis.

Tomlin talk: Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he spoke with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on Monday about the pregame incident when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict and Steelers linebacker Vince Williams went after each other. “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. While he made a handful of pretty throws up the seams and his deep touchdown to A.J. Green was as good a pass as we saw around the NFL Sunday, the second year quarterback still looked like the deer in headlights at times. If he does practice this week, Luck cannot yet predict whether he could play in Sunday’s game against AFC South co-leader Houston.

“That’s history, ” McCarron said on Monday. “He exudes confidence. Been that way since the day he walked in here”. So whatever it takes for him to win, that’s what he’s going to do.

“Unfortunately we had the turnovers (on Sunday)”.

He completed 22 of 32 passes on Sunday with a 90.6 passer rating under the most hard circumstances possible against an opponent in Pittsburgh looking to keep its playoff hopes alive.

“Rex (Burkhead) threw it to the referee and the referee chucked it over to another one”, he said.

“It’s a big blow (losing Dalton)”. “This is why we drafted him”. It’ll be McCarron’s first career start. As he promised on Sunday, the former University of Alabama star was among the first players to arrive at the stadium on Monday. 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.

He said he’d been too busy watching film of Denver’s 15-12 loss to Oakland and meeting with the team to get together with Manning or the medical staff and determine this week’s plan for No. 18.

AJ McCarron has the potential to lead this team to the Bengals fifth straight playoff appearance, and could clinch the AFC North with a winnable game in San Francisco and the Steelers hosting the Denver Broncos. Winning the Super Bowl has been a definite possibility the entire season, but Dalton’s injury makes that a mere pipe dream. (Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson: “It took us long enough”).

AJ McCarron will make Andy Dalton feel like Drew Bledsoe. Manziel has been the starter for two of the Browns three wins this year.

Notes: McCarron didn’t get the football from either of his first two NFL touchdown passes. Gio Bernard had 40 yards for Cincinnati, which managed just 64 yards against a staunch Steelers defense. Vincent Rey Cincinnati with 93 tackles, Reggie Nelson has 61 tackles and eight interceptions, and Dre Kirkpatrick has 56 tackles. His favorite target was tight end Heath Miller, who had 10 catches for 66 yards. They’ve won four of their past five games, scored at least 30 points for a franchise-record five consecutive games and are back in the division race now that Andy Dalton’s on the shelf for an extended period with a fractured thumb. Kevin Huber averaged better than 46 yards on two punts. Players from both teams exchanged words and shoves at midfield during warmups and were separated by coaches. The animosity carried over into the game.