NFL notes: Late on on Bengals, concussions and much more

The Bengals were either busted or they got a bum rap.

Arizona’s Carson Palmer was about to spike the ball with a six seconds left, bringing Chandler Catanzaro on for a long field goal to break the 31-31 tie Sunday night when right guard Ted Larsen jumped out of his stance.

Because a false start would lead to a 10-second runoff, the Bengals thought they were headed for overtime, but the umpire immediately ran to the referee and told him Cincinnati’s Domato Peko had popped off, simulating the snap count.

According to umpire Bryan Neale, Peko was calling out offensive signals in an attempt to confuse the Cardinals and force a false start.

Peko protested that he was just calling out instructions to his teammates.

Neale, who had moved from the offensive backfield to the defensive backfield after the two-minute warning as per a new rule this year, was only a few steps away from Peko and flagged him for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The penalty moved the ball from the 28 to the 14, and Catanzaro nailed the 32-yarder with 2 seconds left.

“They were on the ball pretty quick and I am a big communicator on our defensive line,” Peko said. “Runs, passes. I am trying to communicate stuff. I was saying, `Get set, get set,’ because they were on the ball quick. They thought I said `hike’ or something.”

He added, “We were fighting the refs and the Cardinals.”

The penalty ruined what had been a late two score-comeback by Cincy.

“It’s disappointing to get back into the football game and then they drive down the field there. Who knows, they get the phantom call there at the end, it’s kind of ridiculous,” said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, a member of the NFL’s competition committee. “I trust what our player did and said. He’s alerting a run and not anything to do with what they’re saying.

“I don’t see how they make that call at that point in the game like that. I trust our guy to be honest with me.”

The Bengals were penalized 10 times for 108 yards, Arizona seven times for 40.

No Flacco for John Harbaugh

For every one of his games as an NFL coach, John Harbaugh has employed Joe Flacco as his starting quarterback.

Now it’s time for something completely different.

An MRI on Monday confirmed that Flacco tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee during the final minute of the Baltimore Ravens’ 16-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

It’s a season-ending injury, so Matt Schaub will start next Monday night for the Ravens (3-7) against the Cleveland Browns (2-8).

Flacco and Harbaugh both made their NFL debut in 2008, Flacco as a rookie starter and Harbaugh as a first-year coach. They worked 122 successive regular-season games together through Sunday.

Counting playoffs, Flacco made 136 straight starts, the most to begin a career by a quarterback in NFL history.

“I don’t know how many coaches have had that kind of a run with their quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “It’s definitely been a great blessing and something I’ve been very grateful for over the years.”

Harbaugh expects the duo to resume that bond next summer.

“I think it’s probably way early and obviously speculative, but indications that I’ve been given would be that he would be back at the start of training camp,” Harbaugh said. “However, as we well know, those are always things that get determined based on how the rehab goes.”

Though Flacco was anything but a scrambler, he has the ability to move in the pocket. He has 654 yards rushing over his career along with 13 touchdown runs.

Harbaugh is confident that won’t change when the quarterback returns.

“He’s going to certainly have plenty enough athleticism even if there’s a little dropoff there,” Harbaugh said. “I have every expectation he’ll bounce back 100 percent and be stronger than ever and be ready to roll next year.”

The injury occurred after the Ravens recovered a fumble at the St. Louis 41 with 54 seconds left. On first down, Flacco fired an incomplete pass – the last one he would attempt in 2015.

“I got hit right above the knee on my quad after I threw the slant,” Flacco said. “My foot just stayed in the ground and kind of got collapsed in and just everything went.”

Two handoffs and a spike followed before Justin Tucker kicked the game-winning field goal.

Flacco’s 122 straight starts ranked fifth in NFL history for a quarterback. It is a streak he did not take for granted, and when it ended he did not express anger or grief.

“I’ve been really fortunate,” he said after Sunday’s game. “I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to go that long. I wanted to go my whole career without missing anything. It’s just the nature of the game. It happens. I just have to go out there, rehab, get back and be stronger.”

Schaub enters with 139 games of NFL experience, but playing behind Flacco is a job that involves watching football on Sundays. The next snap the 34-year-old Schaub takes will be his first of the season on game day.

“He’s looked good in practice,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a veteran. He’s been there before.”

Harbaugh expects the Ravens intend to sign a backup for Schaub in the next few days. He said Bryn Renner, who played in the preseason, is a candidate for the practice squad.

Fox outfoxes Fox

Over in Chicago, Gary Kubiak saw his Broncos penalized eight times for 118 yards, while the Bears drew not a single flag.

Yet, John Fox made one of the more debated decisions in the NFL in Week 11, when a spate of calls and non-calls by coaches, officials, players and even concussion spotters grabbed attention:

Often criticized for being too conservative in Denver – remember when he had Peyton Manning take a knee with three timeouts and 31 seconds left after Joe Flacco’s 70-yard TD toss in the playoffs? – Fox ditched his restrained roots Sunday. It came back to haunt him.

Fox’s new team was trailing his old team 17-9 with 10 minutes left at Soldier Field, with the Bears facing fourth-and-goal from the 4. Uncharacteristically, Fox went for it.

Jay Cutler never looked at the left side where he would have found Marc Mariani wide open, and instead overthrew Jeremy Langford in the end zone.

The decision proved crucial when the Bears’ 2-point conversion failed in the final minute of Chicago’s 17-15 loss.

“You know, the Broncos went for it on fourth down and didn’t convert, either,” Fox said.

On fourth-and-1 from the 2, Brock Osweiler handed off to Ronnie Hillman, but the 6-foot-8 quarterback’s size 17 shoes tripped up his running back. Hillman stumbled short of the first-down marker.

“I’ve got to get my big feet out of the way,” said Osweiler, who filled some big shoes in winning his first NFL start in place of an injured Manning.

Osweiler is preparing for his second consecutive start for the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning is seeking a second opinion on his injured left foot.

Manning flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, to meet with renowned foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson about his torn plantar fascia.

This doesn’t mean he had a setback in his rehab nor does it indicate Manning faces increased odds of a season-ending surgery, coach Gary Kubiak said.

“We shouldn’t read anything into it,” Kubiak said. “It was a decision made on Saturday. It’s taking place today and then we know more tomorrow.”

Kubiak told the team that Osweiler would start again next weekend when the Broncos (8-2) face the New England Patriots (9-0), who were hosting the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.

Several of Manning’s teammates said they didn’t feel that his seeking a second opinion on his injured foot raised any red flags.

“I would do the same thing,” tight end Owen Daniels said. “If I had a foot issue, I would want to go see the best in the world, as well, just to make sure you’re getting the right opinion. As an athlete, you respect what the team doctors have to say and what the trainers have to say, but you’ve got to do your due diligence.

“I’m not any more concerned than I was before,” Daniels said. “I just want him to get healthy and do whatever he can to do that.”

Manning stayed back in Denver when the Broncos beat the Bears 17-15 in Chicago, snapping a two-game losing streak.

In his first NFL start, Osweiler, Manning’s longtime backup, completed 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first turnover-free game of the season for the Broncos.

Manning didn’t practice or attend meetings last week as he received treatment on his left foot, bruised ribs and sore throwing shoulder, injuries that sidelined him at midseason for the first time in his 18-year career. He did miss all of 2011 after spinal fusion surgery before joining the Broncos as a free agent following his release from Indianapolis.

Kubiak said he won’t have a plan for Manning this week – whether he’d practice, serve as Osweiler’s backup, even be on the sideline Sunday night – until Manning returns from North Carolina.

“Peyton’s frustrated with the fact that he’s injured,” Kubiak said. “That’s hard for him, but he’s been great with me. We had a good, long conversation. We’ve had many. We talk all the time. That part is frustrating for him, but he is very excited for his football team. He’s happy for his team that we won a big game yesterday.

“I can tell you that he is doing everything he can possibly do to get himself healthy and get back in position to get back on the field. Going through stuff like this is aggravating for anybody, but his frame of mind is as good as it can be. We’ve had great conversations.”

As for Osweiler’s starting debut, Kubiak said, “it’s encouraging. The thing that he’s going to be able to do is see a lot of good things, but he’s also going to look at some things and say, `I could have been better in this situation.’ I think he’s going to take a lot from that. But it was encouraging, I think, for a first start in this league.”

Concussions on quarterbacks, and others

The movie “Concussion” won’t be released until next month, but the St. Louis Rams gave everyone a preview Sunday.

Quarterback Case Keenum’s helmet slammed off the ground with a little more than a minute left in a tie game at Baltimore, and nobody did anything to see if he was OK.

Now, the league is investigating whether correct concussion protocol was followed.

An NFL spokesman said a review was begun after the game “to determine the facts of the injury … and why (Keenum) was not removed from the game for the necessary evaluation by a team physician or the unaffiliated neuro-trauma consultant, as required by our concussion protocols.”

That review is continuing through discussions with the Rams and their medical staff, the spotter, game officials, NFL medical advisers and the players’ union.

Meanwhile, the NFL plans to reinforce the procedures for this week, with three games scheduled for Thanksgiving Day.

The back of Keenum’s helmet slammed into the ground. His hands immediately went toward his head. Lineman Garrett Reynolds tried to help him up but Keenum had a tough time getting to his feet, appearing staggered. But he stayed in the game.

Former NFL center Dan Koppen tweeted: “Keenum is still in the game how??? Why do we have concussion protocol then?”

Two plays later, Keenum fumbled, the Ravens recovered and kicked a last-second field goal for a 16-13 win.

Meanwhile, Brian Hoyer is done with the team’s concussion protocol and will start for the Houston Texans on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Hoyer was injured early in the third quarter on Nov. 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals and sat out on Sunday against the New York Jets.

T.J. Yates took over when Hoyer was hurt against the Bengals and threw the game-winning touchdown in a 10-6 victory. He had two touchdown passes on Sunday to help the Texans to a 24-17 win over the Jets, giving the team three wins in a row for the first time since 2012.

The Texans (5-5) are tied with the Indianapolis Colts for first place in the AFC South.

Darrelle Revis’ concussion symptoms have not improved a day after injuring his head against the Houston Texans, leaving the New York Jets cornerback’s availability for the team’s next game in doubt.

Revis was injured in the third quarter of the Jets’ 24-17 loss Sunday. Coach Todd Bowles said that Revis “wasn’t feeling any better today.”

Revis is going through the NFL’s concussion protocol and needs to be cleared before he can practice as the Jets prepare for Miami.

Fitzpatrick keeps job

The New York Jets are sticking with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback despite the team losing four of its last five games after a 4-1 start to the season.

Coach Todd Bowles said that there wasn’t much discussion as far as making a change to Geno Smith at the position. Fitzpatrick threw interceptions to end each of the Jets’ last two drives Sunday in a 24-17 loss at Houston.

Bowles says Fitzpatrick missed some throws in the game, but adds that the entire team has lots to correct.

Fitzpatrick insisted that he’s “the right man for the job” to help get the Jets moving back in the right direction. He says he had no problems while playing for the first time since having his left thumb surgically repaired.

Rodgers’ Rocket

Green Bay had a six-point lead with third-and-9 at the Minnesota 27 as the fourth quarter began. Aaron Rodgers rolled right with the Vikings in pursuit and threw a vintage zinger into the end zone for James Jones to make a tiptoe catch as his momentum took him out of bounds.

There was little risk for Rodgers on the play because he put the ball along the sideline where Terence Newman could not have intercepted it. But there’s hardly another quarterback in the league who would’ve even tried. With a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, the Packers took a 27-13 lead instead of settling for a field goal that would’ve kept the Vikings in it.

“When I threw my hand up, I didn’t think he was going to be able to squeeze it in that corner, but I forget who’s on my team. I forget who I’m playing with sometimes,” Jones said. “He threw it so hard, so fast, Newman realized he couldn’t get to it and we were able to make a play.”

Falcons floundering

A team that wins its first five games almost always makes the NFL playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons are in danger of bucking that trend.

Now, rookie coach Dan Quinn has to make sure a season that began with such promise doesn’t spiral totally out of control.

After losing three straight and four of their past five, the Falcons returned to their training complex for a series of meetings, trying to figure out what went wrong. If there’s any sense of panic, Quinn and his players won’t acknowledge it.

“The bear is not loose here inside the building. I want to make sure we’re really clear on that,” Quinn said. “We’ve got a really talented team and a coaching staff that really believes in these guys.”

When the Falcons began 5-0, they looked like a lock for the playoffs. Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, 66 of 72 teams – a staggering 92 percent – have gone on to the postseason after getting off to such a strong start, according to STATS.

But Atlanta’s once-comfortable position is now threatened after three losses by a total of seven points, the latest a 24-21 setback to the Indianapolis Colts in which the Falcons squandered a pair of two-touchdown leads. Two other teams, Seattle and Tampa Bay, have climbed within a game of Atlanta for the second NFC wild card.

Winning the division is unlikely with Carolina on top at 10-0.

At the beginning of the season, the Falcons (6-4) were winning all the close games. But they’ve slipped to 3-3 in contests decided by four points or less, largely because of puzzling breakdowns on the offensive side and, more specifically, the struggles of quarterback Matt Ryan.

In Sunday’s loss, Matty Ice threw a crucial interception from his end zone that was returned 6 yards for a tying touchdown by linebacker D’Qwell Jackson. The Colts won 24-21 on Adam Vinatieri’s 43-yard field goal with 52 seconds to go.

The Falcons, who host Minnesota next Sunday, jumped to leads of 14-0 and 21-7 with three drives covering at least 80 yards. After that, it looked like a totally different offense.

Atlanta had only 52 yards over its final seven possessions, with as many turnovers as first downs (three each). Two of the drives were snuffed out on their very first play, one by Tevin Coleman’s fumble, the other by Ryan’s devastating interception.

There’s no chance of the Falcons making a change at quarterback. Not with Sean Renfree as the top backup.

So it all rests with Ryan.

“If there’s decisions to be made in terms of where to go (with passes), how to feature him, we’ll do that,” Quinn said. “But there’s a lot of things he’s doing well, too. It kind of gets overlooked sometimes when an interception of that magnitude takes place.”

Indeed, Ryan threw a season-high three touchdown passes against the Colts, two of them to little-used fullback Patrick DiMarco. Overall, the quarterback has 15 touchdown passes and is on pace for the most prolific yardage season of his eight-year career.

But that doesn’t excuse some huge blunders.

Against the Colts, Ryan squandered a scoring chance early when he overthrew Roddy White in the end zone, allowing Dwight Lowery to make a diving interception. Then, looking like a rookie instead of a veteran who prides himself on preparation, Ryan was totally fooled by Jackson with the Falcons backed up inside their 1-yard line in the fourth quarter. The linebacker faked as though he was coming up to stuff the run, then dropped back into pass coverage.

Ryan threw it right to the Colt, who returned it for a touchdown in the blink of an eye.

“It’s a throw he just should not have made, one he could’ve easily checked down into the flat,” Quinn said. “Those are the decisions we count on him like crazy for us. For all those things he did in the game very well, that’s one he’d like to have back.”

The loss ruined DiMarco’s career day. The fourth-year player had only one career touchdown coming into the game; in fact, he’d never scored two touchdowns in a game at any level of football.

He had both balls in his locker and plans to get them engraved. But the moment was overshadowed by the bitter defeat.

“I wish we would have won,” DiMarco said. “It would have made things a lot more sweet.”