Cincinnati wide receiver Jerome Simpson pulled off the defining play of his career on Saturday, vaulting over an Arizona linebacker and landing on his feet in the end zone during a 23-16 victory. The play was celebrated, but Bengals coach Marvin Lewis wasn't thrilled by it. "You just have to be careful," Lewis said. "There's other ways to score. It's him and a linebacker, so just cut back and score the easy way. For effect, it sure was big."

The Bengals ensured just their third winning record in the last 21 years and are one win away from a playoff bid. However, with poor attendance marking an impressive season, Bengals players are now asking for fans to turn out for the team's home finale against the rival Ravens next Sunday. "I just want to thank the fans who were out there today," defensive tackle Domata Peko said. "We really felt you guys out there, and that helped us out big time. I really want to encourage all of the Cincinnati fans to come out and cheer us on as we try to make the playoffs." If the Bengals (9-6) can knock off the Ravens (11-4), Cincinnati would be headed to the playoffs and in search of its first postseason victory since the 1990 season.

Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson flipped into the end zone on Saturday against the Cardinals, a play that instantly made him a viral hit. Simpson flipped over Arizona's Daryl Washington on a 19-yard reception from the two-yard line and he landed about three yards deep in the end zone. "It was one of things that just came (on) instinct. I just wanted to make a play for my team and get in the end zone," said Simpson, who had five catches for 42 yards. "It seemed like he was going to hit me and I didn't want to get hit, and I used my athletic ability and my jumping ability."

Bengals principal owner Mike Brown will now own a bigger chuck of the franchise. The team announced that the existing owners of the team have exercised the contractual right to match an offer made by a group of New York investors for a minority interest in the team held by Austin E. "Dutch" Knowlton. "This transaction solidifies the local ownership of the Cincinnati Bengals, with the Brown family continuing to hold the controlling interest," the team announced. However, the most intriguing line of the team-issued release was the last one. "We are proud to be the owners of the NFL's Cincinnati franchise," Mike Brown said, on behalf of the Brown family. "We are committed to steps that will continue the Bengals as an asset for Greater Cincinnati." That Brown would even mention keeping the team in "Greater Cincinnati" implies the existence of a possibility that the team would leave "Greater Cincinnati." It's a possibility that has never been seriously mentioned, especially since the team plays in a fairly new stadium for which the taxpayers of "Greater Cincinnati" footed most if not all of the bill.

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson will sit out Sunday's game at Cincinnati with a strained left hamstring. Johnson hurt himself chasing down a deep pass from rookie T.J. Yates late in the third quarter of last week's 17-10 win over Atlanta. He was playing his second game after missing six with a right hamstring injury that required minor surgery to repair. Houston coach Gary Kubiak has said that Johnson's latest hamstring injury is not as serious as the earlier one.