TIME: 1 p.m. Sunday PLACE: Paul Brown Stadium (synthetic)
LOCAL RADIO: Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst) WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530) and WEBN-FM (102.7) on the 41-station Bengals radio network.
NATIONAL RADIO: Sports USA Radio: Larry Kahn (play-by-play), Mark Carrier (analyst), Troy West (sideline reporter).
TV: CBS broadcast crew of Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Dan Fouts (analyst), Evan Washburn (sideline) on Channel 12 in Cincinnati, Channel 7 in Dayton, Ohio, and Channel 27 in Lexington, KY.
INJURIES
CIN:
DOUBTFUL: Pro Bowl TE Tyler Eifert (ankle) returned to practice this week for the first time since last year in limited fashion.
QUESTIONABLE: Slot CB Darqueze Dennard (hamstring) went full Friday and Thursday after being limited Wednesday. Backup RT Eric Winston (back) missed Wednesday and Thursday and went full Friday. THE REST:QB Andy Dalton (hip) got treatment during the week but practiced full every day.
Starting CB Dre Kirkpatrick (hamstring), and starting TE C.J. Uzomah (ribs) went full Thursday and Friday after sitting Wednesday and should be ready. So should backup DT Pat Sims (heel) after he was limted Wednesday and went full Thursday and Friday. Backup WR James Wright (knee) was limited Wednesday and for the third straight week sat Thursday, so he should be a go again because he went full Friday.
DEN:
OUT:Starting OLB DeMarcus Ware (forearm), starting RT Donald Stephenson (calf).* *starting TE Virgil Green (calf).
THE SERIES
The 2-0 Broncos lead the 1-1 Bengals, 20-9, 3-2 at PBS, 7-7 in Cincinnati
NOTEWORTHY
»» This is a summit of two of the top AFC teams since 2011, when the Bengals drafted A.J. Green and Andy Dalton and Hall-of-Fame quarterback John Elway selected linebacker Von Miller in one of his first acts as Broncos GM. Since then, Denver (60) and Cincinnati (53) have the second and third most regular-season wins in the AFC behind New England's 64.
»» Since 2011 the Bengals and Broncos have met four times and each game has been decided by eight points or less. The last three games have featured fourth-quarter comebacks with the Broncos pulling it off in PBS in 2012 and last year in Denver, and the Bengals coming back from a 28-27 deficit in 2014 at PBS.
»» The last time the Bengals lost at PBS in September is five years to the day of Sunday's game, a home-opener loss to the 49ers in the first 13-8 game in NFL history.
»» Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak is 6-0 against Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and has beaten him with three different starting QBs: Matt Schaub, T.J. Yates, and Brock Osweiler. He faces Lewis Sunday with another new one in Trevor Siemian in his third NFL start. Yates won his first NFL start for the Texans on the last play of a 20-19 game at PBS on Dec. 11, 2011.
»»This is the ninth time the Bengals have either opened the season or had a home opener against the Broncos with Denver holding a 6-2 edge.
»» Four Bengals head coaches have had an Opening Day against Denver: Paul Brown, Bill Johnson, Sam Wyche, and Marvin Lewis.
»»The first win in Bengals history came in their home opener at Nippert Stadium in a 24-10 victory over the Broncos on Sept. 15, 1968. John Stofa threw for 224 yards and two TDs and the Bengals defense held Hall-of-Fame running back Floyd Little to 30 yards on 13 carries.
»» Lewis' first of 217 games as Bengals head coach came against the Mike Shanahan Broncos at PBS on Sept. 7, 2003. Bengals running back Corey Dillon could manage just 34 yards on 14 carries and quarterback Jon Kitna threw two interceptions in a 30-10 loss while Broncos running back Clinton Portis had 120 yards rushing to Jake Plummer's 115 yards passing.
»» The last time the Bengals opened a season at home came against the Broncos on Sept. 13, 2009 in Josh McDaniels' first game as Denver head coach. Holding a 7-6 lead with 11 seconds left the Bengals were running out the clock 87 yards away on the Denver 13 when cornerback Leon Hall inadverdently tipped a ball corralled by wide receiver Brandon Stokley for the longest winning TD play from scrimmage in the final minute of the fourth quarter in NFL history.
»» A total of six Bengals are left from that '09 opener: left tackle Andrew Whitworth, nose tackle Domata Peko, defensive tackle Pat Sims, middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, right end Michael Johnson, and punter Kevin Huber. It was quite an introduction to the NFL for rookies Maualuga, Johnson, and Huber.
NFL RANKINGS
CIN: T-20th in scoring, 10th in offense (31st rushing, 3rd passing); T-16th in scoring defense, T-15th in defense (32nd rushing, 11th passing), T-14th in turnover margin at even.
DEN: T-9th in scoring, 16th in offense (4th rushing, 26th passing); T-10th in scoring defense, 6th in defense (24th rushing, 2nd passing), T-20th in turnover margin at minus-1.
COACHES
CIN: Marvin Lewis 113-102-2 in 14th season, 2-6 vs. Broncos
DEN: Gary Kubiak80-70 in 10th season overall, 17-4 in second season with Broncos, 6-0 vs. Bengals and Lewis.
* *
PHILIP RIVERS WEATHER UPDATE
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio is calling for no chance of rain under partly cloudy skies in downtown Cincinnati with temperatures in the mid-80s at kickoff and reaching a high of 86 degrees at 3 p.m. Winds out of the southeast at 5-10 miles per hour.
NUMBERS GAME
.606 - Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis' PBS winning percentage
.666 - Bengals QB Andy Dalton's winning percentage at PBS
.578 - Lewis' September winning percentage
6-1 - Dalton's record at PBS in September
6 - Consecutive PBS games in September won by Bengals
9-4 - Lewis' record in PBS openers
4-1 - Dalton's record in PBS openers
54 - Dalton's career-high passes last week in Pittsburgh
59 - Denver QB Trevor Siemian's passes this season
732 - Dalton's NFL-leading passing yards
444 - Siemian's career passing yards
5,856 - Dalton's season yardage pace
5,477 - Peyton Manning's NFL record in 2013 for Denver
309 - Yards Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green needs to pass Cris Collinsworth into fourth place on the club's all-time receiving yards list
102 - Yards for Bengals rookie WR Tyler Boyd
154 - Yards for Bengals rookie WR Mohamed Sanu in 2012
*201 - Yards for Bengals rookie WR Marvin Jones in 2012 *
37-103 - Rushes and yards for Bengals in two games this season.
33-108 - Rushes and yards for Bengals in last year's OT loss in Denver
30-95 - Combined carries and yards for Bengals RBs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard
40-166 - combined carries and yards for Broncos RB C.J. Anderson
7 - Anderson's NFL-leading rushes of at least 10 yards
10 - Bernard's rushing attempts this season
31 - Average carries for Kubiak-coached teams vs. Bengals
11 - Broncos' NFL-leading defensive TDs since 2015
1 - Bengals defensive TDs since 2015 (Leon Hall 19-yard INT vs. Rams)
17 - Broncos LB Von Miller's career forced fumbles
18 - Bengals LE Carlos Dunlap and Bengals RE Michael Johnson combined career forced fumbles
