CINCINNATI -- From the top down at Paul Brown Stadium this week, the message has been simple: Raise your level of play.
Coach Marvin Lewis and his most-valued veterans have been trickling that message throughout the facility in an attempt to get every player on the Cincinnati Bengals' roster to realize that beating the San Francisco 49ers to earn a fifth straight playoff berth won't hinge only on the right arm of AJ McCarron, the team's new quarterback. With a second-year signal-caller thrust into the starting role, it's important for others to elevate their performance too.