CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals are taking on the Chicago Bears today.
Cincinnati comes into the game with a 4-2 record. They are also tied for first place in the AFC North. Chicago comes in with a 3-2 record which has them in third place in the NFC North.
The Pittsburgh Steelers held on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings so the Bengals have to win to remain in first place before they head into the bye week.
Cincinnati is wearing their all black uniforms while the Bears are sporting their white jerseys with blue pants.
The Bengals won the toss and have elected to receive the ball.
Below is a live blog of the game:4:15 p.m.: Andre Caldwell takes the opening kickoff to the 22-yard line.
4:20 p.m.: Carson Palmer hits Chad Ochocinco for 19 yards. Cedric Benson runs to midfield on the next play.
4:22 p.m.: Palmer hits Chris Henry for a 17-yard pass play to convert a 3rd down. Benson runs down the 10 yard line on the next play.
4:24 p.m.: Bengals try a wildcat play with Benson for a short gain. Benson runs for a short gain on second down.
4:25 p.m.: Palmer hits Henry for touchdown! Bengals up 7-0. Impressive opening drive.
4:28 p.m.: Bears start their first possession from their own 29.
4:32 p.m.: Chicago converts a 3rd and short with Matt Forte. Bears close to midfield. Jay Cutler hits Devin Hester for a first down into Bengals' territory.
4:35 p.m.: Dhani Jones blows up pass play. Forces Bears back into their own territory. Bengals stop Bears on 3rd and long. Chicago forced to punt to Quann Cosby, ball goes into endzone for a touchback. Bengals take over at their own 20.
4:39 p.m.: Benson runs for 18 then rushes for 7 more. He has almost 60 yards rushing already today against his former team. Bengals offensive line is looking good so far. Palmer hits Ochocinco for a first down near midfield. Bengals offense is rolling.
4:42 p.m.: Bernard Scott makes a nice move and runs for a first down to the Bears' 21 yard line.
4:45 p.m.: Benson runs down to the Bears 12. Seven carries for 66 yards in the first quarter for Benson. He takes it down to the 8 yard line, first and goal Bengals. Bengals offensive line is dominating the line of scrimmage !o far today. Palmer hits Ochocinco for a touchdown! Cincinnati is up 14-0 with a minute left in the opening quarter.
4:51 p.m.: Bears take over. Peko sacks Cutler on the first play. Keith Rivers makes a nice play to stop Forte on a swine pass. Bengals are playing like a first place team so far today.
4:52 p.m.: First quarter comes to an end with the crowd giving the Bengals a standing ovation for leading 14-0.
4:54 p.m.: Chicago fumbles the snap, Cutler recovers but is sacked on 3rd down. Bengals getting the ball back. Lets see if they can keep their foot on the accelerator.
4:59 p.m.: Palmer makes a tremendous throw to Coles who makes an awesome catch down the sidelines into Bears territory. Palmer hits Ochocinco for two consecutive passes. They are in rhythm today. First and goal Bengals.
5:02 p.m.: Palmer hits Foschi for a touchdown. Three td passes for Palmer so far today. Cincinnati is rolling, up 21-0 early in the second quarter.
5:07 p.m.: Palmer gathers the offense on the sidelines and tells them they need to keep it on the Bears and that 28-0 is not good enough for this game. Meanwhile, Cutler throws two incomplete passes before finally hitting Knox for a first down.
5:11 p.m.: Johnathan Joseph makes a nice play to strip the ball from Hester. Bengals recover and take over. Palmer hits Jeremi Johnson for a first down near midfield.
5:15 p.m.: Palmer hits Ochocinco for another first down. Chad has seven catches so far for 88 yards. Benson has 82 yards rushing so far in the first half.
5:16 p.m.: Ochocinco catches another first down. Eight catches for over 100 yards. This is his first back-to-back 100 yard receiving games since 2007. The Bengals are carving up the Bears defense so far. Benson runs down to the 11 yard line. He's closing in on the 100 yard mark.
5:18 p.m.: Bengals call timeout with 2:55 left in the first half as they try to go up four scores.
5:22 p.m.: Palmer hits Coles for a touchdown! Great play call as Coles scores on the screen pass. Bengals continue to dominate. They're up 28-0 late in the first half.
5:26 p.m.: Leon Hall picks off Cutler after the ball bounces up in the air. Bengals take over deep in Bears territory. Benson over 100 yards on the ground.
5:30 p.m.: Palmer hits Caldwell for a bubble screen, just short of the first down. Bears stop Benson in the backfield for a loss on third down which drops his rushing yards to 98. Cincinnati settles for a field goal to go up 31-0 with 1:19 left in the first half. Cincinnati has scored on all five of their possessions in the first half.
5:36 p.m.: Hall breaks up long pass attempt to Hester. Bears convert third down on next play. Cutler hits Hester into Bengals territory. Cutler spikes the ball with 17 seconds remaining in the half.
5:41 p.m.: Gould gets Bears on the score board with a field goal. At the half, Cincinnati leads in impressive fashion, 31-3.
5:55 p.m.: Second half underway as Bears take the kick to the 28 yard line. Cutler hits tight end Olsen for first down. Very generous spot by the refs as it looked like he was short of the first down. Marvin Lewis challenges the ruling of first down.
5:59 p.m.: Refs determine Marvin Lewis was right. Bears come up short but go for it on fourth down as they are desperate to get anything going on offense. Cutler jumps forward for first down.
6:06 p.m.: Chicago fumbles snap, but recovers. Next play for a short gain. Cutler hits Knox on 3rd and 25, but comes up short. Bears once again go for it on fourth down, but Leon Hall picks it off for the Bengals. Hall runs it back to the 40 yard line. That's his second interception of the game and third of the season. Hall and Joseph each have three picks on the season so far.
6:12 p.m.: Benson goes back over 100 yards. Ochocinco catches another pass. Bengals driving into Bears territory. It looks like Benson fumbled the ball, but refs ruled he was down. Bears challenge the ruling.
6:18 p.m.: After several minutes of review, the refs determined Benson did not fumble the ball. Bengals retain possession. Palmer hits Coles for first down but a penalty nullified the play. Palmer hits Scott on a dump pass which almost results in a first down. Bears called for a personal foul which gives the Bengals another first down. The Bears haven't really looked like a good team at all this afternoon.
6:22 p.m.: Palmer hits Ochocinco for a touchdown, the second hookup for a touchdown of the day. Bengals pouring it on, up 38-3. Chad has 10 catches for 128 yards.
6:28 p.m.: Chris Crocker picks off Cutler. Bears have turned the ball over four times today.
6:33 p.m.: Benson bursts through the middle and runs it down to the 1 yard line as the third quarter comes to an end.
6:36 p.m.: Benson cashes it in for a touchdown against his former team. He has run for 153 yards on 29 carries. The Bengals have put up almost 400 yards of offense. Bengals are up 45-3 in the fourth quarter.
6:44 p.m.: Bears offense is finally starting to put something together as they drive deep into Bengals territory.
6:46 p.m.: Cutler hits Hester at the six-yard line. Next play, Cutler hits Hester for the Bears first touchdown. Bengals lead 45-10 with under 12 minutes to play.
6:51 p.m.: Benson running all over the Bears. He has 172 yards so far on the day.
6:54 p.m.: Bengals forced to punt but they retain possession after the Bears run into Kevin Huber. Benson picks up several more yards on the next play.
6:58 p.m.: J.T. O'Sullivan has entered the game in place of Carson Palmer. But it's not because of an injury. The game is pretty much over and there is no sense in putting Palmer in a situation where he could be injured.
7:12 p.m.: Bengals punt ball back to Bears who run the clock out to end the game. The Bengals are now 5-2 and remain in first place in the AFC North!
