Big game will now be battle of backup QBs

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Before the NFL season started, the Bengals-Broncos Monday night football game scheduled for Dec. 28 figured to be a shootout between quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Peyton Manning.

Now, due to injuries, it will be a battle of backups as Cincinnati’s AJ McCarron takes on Denver’s Brock Osweiler.

The game is still big for both teams since the Bengals (11-3) and Broncos (10-4) are battling for the number two seed in the playoffs, which will mean a bye the first weekend.

A bye week might allow Dalton to return from a fractured thumb on his throwing hand.

McCarron looked OK in Cincinnati’s 24-14 win at San Francisco last Sunday, although it should be noted that the 49ers are really awful.

What wasn’t OK was the Bengals’ anemic rushing attack, which will have to be a lot better if Cincy has any chance of winning at Denver or in the playoffs.

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Graham High School student Alexander Turner was the winner of the Champaign County Arts Council’s raffle for the original pencil drawing of R2-D2 from the 1985-86 ABC-TV series “Star Wars Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO.”

Turner said he hopes to pursue a career in animation.

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Trivia Time – Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr was selected in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL draft. Starr led the Packers to five NFL titles in the 1960s.

This week’s question – Who coached the Denver Broncos to an appearance in Super Bowl XII?

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By Steve Stout

[email protected]

Reach Steve Stout at 652-1331 (ext. 1776) or on Twitter @udcstout

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