Marvin Lewis gets extension
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis signed a two-year contact extension with the team on Tuesday.
Giddy Buffalo fans are making a surge in donations to Andy Dalton’s foundation, their way of thanking the Bengals quarterback for his role in the Bills’ long-awaited playoff appearance.
Dalton’s foundation reported Tuesday it has received more than $170,000 in donations since the Bengals beat the Ravens 31-27 on Sunday. Dalton threw a 49-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left to eliminate the Ravens and open a spot for the Bills.
The Bills got the final AFC wild-card berth and ended their 17-year postseason drought, the longest among North America’s four major professional sports.
Bills fans are thanking Dalton by donating to his foundation.
Brown recovering from calf injury
Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver Antonio Brown is inching toward a return from a left calf injury.
Brown hasn’t played since injuring the calf in the first half of a loss to New England on Dec. 17. He posted video of himself working out on a treadmill on Monday. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says he ran into Brown on Tuesday and believes Brown’s rehab is “going well.”
The AFC North champion Steelers have the week off before hosting a playoff game on Jan. 14. Tomlin says if Pittsburgh had been forced to play this weekend there’s a chance Brown would be in the lineup. Brown led the NFL with 1,533 yards receiving this season despite missing the final 2½ games.
Cardinals’ Palmer retires
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is retiring after 15 NFL seasons.
Palmer, who turned 38 last week, made the announcement in an open letter released Tuesday by the Cardinals. Palmer missed the last nine games of what would be his final season with a broken left arm.
He called his long professional career “the most incredible experience of my life.”
The statement came one day after Cardinals coach Bruce Arians announced his retirement. Arians and Palmer spent the last five seasons together.
Palmer was a Heisman Trophy winner at USC and the No. 1-overall pick by Cincinnati in 2002. He threw for 46,247 yards, 12th-most in NFL history, in a career with the Bengals, Oakland and Arizona.
Lewis gets extension
Coach Marvin Lewis got a two-year contract extension Tuesday, providing more chances to try to get the Cincinnati Bengals that playoff victory that has eluded him for 15 seasons.
The agreement came after a second straight losing season and two days of discussions with owner Mike Brown. Lewis has the second-longest active coaching tenure in the NFL, behind Bill Belichick’s 18 seasons with New England.
Unlike Belichick, who has won five Super Bowls and made two other appearances in the title game, Lewis is 0-7 in the playoffs, the worst coaching record in NFL history.
The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the sixthlongest streak of futility in league history.