SHORT WEEK WOES: No one in the Cincinnati locker room used it as an excuse, but traveling on a short week sure made the Bengals seem much less sharp than they looked throughout their now-kaput four-game winning streak. Dalton threw 53 passes, none of them going for touchdowns. That ties the highest number of throws by an NFL quarterback in a touchdown-less game all season, matching the mark of Josh Freeman for Minnesota against the New York Giants on Oct. 21.
SEASON SAVER?: Dolphins players said afterward that they challenged themselves this week, knowing that the stakes were high 鈥?a four-game slide,Jerseys NFL China, a massive sacks-allowed total, an off-the-field issue that is keeping offensive lineman Jonathan Martin away from the team ... it was all taking a clear toll. Now they go into a quick break on an absolute high. "It was time for us to step up and we had to make a decision 鈥?what are we going to be? And I thought they answered the bell pretty well tonight," Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said.