Around the AFC

Impressive Bengals.

Cincinnati has rebounded to beat Las Vegas by 19 and Pittsburgh by 31 points since its bye week and among the most impressive Bengals statistics is their discipline/fundamentals. The Bengals have an Nfl-low 43 penalties, nine fewer than any other team and a whopping 37 fewer than seven teams. Cincinnati (7-4), which hosts the Chargers (6-5) on Sunday, has been streaky with three two-game winning streaks. If they beat the Bolts, the Bengals will have their first three-game winning streak since starting 2015 with eight consecutive victories. Cincinnati-broncos in Week 15 is looming as an intriguing showdown.

Missing Henry.

Titans running back Derrick Henry’s worth to his team, already documented and significant, has been amplified since he injured his foot Oct. 31 at Indianapolis. Despite missing the last four games, Henry still leads the NFL in carries (219) and is second in yards (937) and third in touchdowns (10). Tennessee, which is off this week, eclipsed 30 points five times in Henry’s eight games, but have managed 28, 23, 13 and 13 points during his absence (2-2 record); it lost at home to Houston and was routed at New England the last two weeks. Fortunately for Tennessee (8-4), it leads the AFC South by 2K games and holds the tie-breaker over Indianapolis via the series sweep.

Jackson’s price rising.

New England cornerback J.C. Jackson is one of the league’s top bargains this year, playing on the secondround restricted free agent tender of $3.384 million. He might make five times that in 2022 via either franchise tag/long-term deal from the Patriots or hitting the open market. Jackson’s 24 interceptions (seven this year) are the third-most by a player in his first four years since the 1970 merger. The first-place Patriots face Buffalo’s second-ranked scoring offense (29.6 points per game) on Monday.