Is it November yet?

0-for-October in Cincinnati is finally over. 

The Reds couldn't advance.

Then Bengals failed to win a game, going 0-3 over the month.

The Bearcats had a shot to beat a ranked team on Friday night, but fell a field goal short in overtime against Louisville. And that came a week after spoiling a perfect record to the Toledo Rockets, no less.

For Cincy, October has been rough.

Today, though there will be no despair. The Queen City Sport Report guarantees to you, the reader, the fan, that a loss will not be had. 

The Bengals, we promise, will not disappoint today.

Marvin Lewis, Andy Dalton, and the talented A.J. Green will not lose. Not again.

The Bengals are on bye today.

Enjoy a Sunday outside the loss column, Cincinnati.

Wake me up when September ends

Cincinnati Reds (93-62)

9/28 @ Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m., CIN Homer Bailey (12-10) vs. PIT A.J. Burnett (16-8)
9/29 @ Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m., CIN Mike Leake (8-9) vs. PIT Kyle McPherson (0-2)
9/30 @ Pittsburgh, 1:35 p.m., CIN Johnny Cueto (19-9) vs. PIT Wandy Rodriguez (12-13)

With today's final matchup against the Brewers, the Redlegs close out the regular season home schedule at Great American Ballpark. Then it's off to Pittsburgh, the city of midseason hopes, to face the team that many predicted would win the division. The Pirates, of course, faded away about a month ago, the stellar pitching staff becoming average at best. For the Reds, it may seem like an opportunity to coast out with a division title, but there are greater things at stake here. Prior to today's game against Milwaukee, Cincinnati is just a game back of Washington for the best record in baseball, and with it, the top seed in the playoffs. By topping the Nationals, the Reds could potentially avoid meeting the hot San Francisco Giants until further down the road, and face a wild-card team whose ace likely will have been used up in the one-game playoff. It's not the end of the season by any means if the Reds can't dominate the Bucs, but gaining momentum going into the playoffs could certainly benefit Cincy.

UC Bearcats (2-0)

9/29 Home vs. Virginia Tech (3-1) (Ranked 25th in USA Today Poll), 3:30 p.m.

Possibly the premier matchup of the week for the Queen City, as both teams are on the verge of cracking into the top ranks. In Cincinnati's opening game, they routed Pittsburgh 34-10. Two weeks ago, the Hokies traveled to Heinz Field only to be defeated 35-17 by the Panthers. Does this tip the scales in favor of the Big East team? Likely close, but Nippert Stadium is definitely going to be crazy come Saturday afternoon.

Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)

9/30 @ Jacksonville (1-2) , 4:05 p.m., CIN

Andy Dalton could have a decent day against a sub-par Jacksonville secondary, but look for running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis to be the hero for the Bengals in Florida. The Jaguars have the 31st ranked rush defense in the league three weeks in, and aren't showing signs of improvement. It's safe to say that the Bengals will likely score big in this one. On the defensive side of the ball,  Blaine Gabbert hasn't proven to be a threatening NFL quarterback yet, posting only 260, 53, and 155 yards the first three games. The true threat to Cincinnati lies in the the Jacksonville backfield with RB Maurice Jones-Drew. Jones-Drew has, without question, been a top-five running back this season. There aren't many aerial weapons to take pressure off him, but MJD gets it done, and the Bengals rush defense has given up 99+ yards every game so far to much lesser backs.

W's all around! Weekend wrap-up

With today's results, each of the Cincinnati teams put one in the win column this weekend. Here's some quick hits from around the Queen City of how things stacked-up.

UC Bearcats

9/15 Bearcats 23, Delaware State 7

Senior RB George Winn -- 147 yards

Senior WR Damon Julian -- 62 yards, 1 touchdown

Junior QB Munchie Leguax -- 20 of 27 passing, 207 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 fumbles, 2 interceptions

The Bearcats did what was expected by dominating Delaware State. Turnovers were a major problem, though, and could cause problems if carelessness with the ball continues into Big East play.

Cincinnati Reds

9/14 Marlins 4, Reds 0 -- WP Jacob Turner, LP Bronson Arroyo, CIN 3B Todd Frazier 1 for 2

9/15 Marlins 6, Reds 4 -- WP Mark Buehrle, LP Johnny Cueto, CIN SS Wilson Valdez 2 for 4

9/16 Reds 5, Marlins 4 -- WP Logan Ondrusek, LP Carlos Zambrano, CIN SS Didi Gregorius 3 for 5

The Reds had disappointing outings from both Arroyo and Cueto, and have seemed to have lost any steam they had going into the postseason. The current lapse in pitching quality that has carried the team all year has severely exposed the offensive lack that the team suffers from. Regardless, a win today against Miami brings the magic number to clinch to five, with an off day tomorrow.

Cincinnati Bengals

9/16 Bengals 34, Browns 27

QB Andy Dalton -- 24 for 31 passing, 318 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interceptions

RB Benjarvus Green-Ellis -- 75 rushing yards, 0 touchdowns

WR Brandon Tate -- 3 recetpions, 71 yards, 1 touchdown

Cincinnati showed that a young core of receivers can produce great results, with Brandon Tate, A.J. Green, and Andrew Hawkins all hauling in a touchdown pass from Dalton. More concerning, though, is the fact that rookie Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden was able to put up 322 yards and a touchdown against Cincinnati after producing just 118 yards and four picks against Philadelphia in Week 1.

Monday Night Football: Bengals @ Ravens Fantasy Preview

The time has almost arrived for Monday Night Football and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals kick-off tomorrow night in Baltimore at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN, with a chance for an AFC North statement to be made by either team. Cincinnati is 9-19 on MNF, while Ravens are 8-9. Head-to-head, Baltimore leads the series 18-14.  Now, let’s be honest: while some of us may be watching for the true thrill of the rivalry, most will be cheering for our fantasy players. Here’s the position-by-position fantasy match-ups for both teams.

Quarterback

CIN – Andy Dalton – Position rank: T15; Completion %: 58.1; Yards: 3,398; Touchdowns: 20; Interceptions: 13; Rating: 80.4; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 195

BAL – Joe Flacco­ – Position rank: T15; Completion %: 57.6; Yards: 3,610; Touchdowns: 20; Interceptions: 12; Rating: 80.9; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 195

Edge: Wow, was not expecting this, but statistically Flacco and Dalton are practically identical. Quarterback is a toss-up.

Running Back

CIN – Benjarvus Green-Ellis – Position rank: 22; Yards: 826; Touchdowns 11; Fumbles: 0; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 138

BAL – Ray Rice – Position rank: 1; Yards: 2,068; Touchdowns 15; Fumbles: 2; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 283

Edge: Ray Rice and the Ravens. To be fair though, Green-Ellis was part of the pass-happy New England offense, and will see a much heavier workload in Cincinnati as the feature back.

#1 Wide Receiver

CIN – A.J. Green – Position rank: 16; Yards: 1,057; Touchdowns: 7; Fumbles: 1; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 144

BAL – Torrey Smith – Position rank: 22; Yards: 841; Touchdowns: 7; Fumbles: 1; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 123

Edge: A.J. Green and the Bengals. Both receivers had breakout years in 2011, their rookie season, and rose quickly to become Dalton and Flacco’s first choices.

Tight Ends

CIN – Jermaine Gresham­ – Position rank: 13; Yards: 596; Touchdowns: 6; Fumbles: 1; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 87

BAL – Ed Dickson – Position rank: 19; Yards: 528; Touchdowns: 5; Fumbles: 0; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 75

Edge: Jermaine Gresham and the Bengals. This one again is incredibly close, but outperformed Dickson as a rookie, with a rookie quarterback. Gresham is likely to be even more involved in the Cincinnati offense as a returning starter.

Defense/Special Teams

CIN – Position Rank: 9; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 133; Average fantasy points per week (in standard ESPN leagues): 8.3

BAL – Position rank: 3; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 283; Average fantasy points per week (in standard ESPN leagues): 17.7

Edge: Baltimore. The Ravens are known for their smash-mouth defense, led by Ray Lewis. This game could be decided by the ability of Baltimore to crash an offense’s party.

Kicker

CIN – Mike Nugent – Position rank: 7; Field goal attempts: 38; Field goals made: 33; Field goal %: 86.8; Fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues): 141

BAL – Justin Tucker – Rookie

Edge: Nugent and the Bengals. Tucker won the spot from Billy Cundiff, but it’s tough to go with an un-tested rookie.

OVERALL FANTASY EDGE:

Tough, but the Ravens’ defense is going to tip the scales, as been the case the last few years.