The NFL made middle linebacker Odell Thurman’s one-year suspension official Wednesday, saying he can apply for reinstatement before next season, and Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis offered no clues on his future with the club.

The Bengals have the right to cut Thurman during his suspension if it is based on a football-only decision, but "I can't comment on that. He's been suspended from the league," Lewis said.

The Bengals have once again made it on the cover of Sports Illustrated.  The cover features Pittsburgh Steelers Hines ward getting hammered by Bengals Linebacker Caleb Miller.  The magazine is slated to hit news stands today.  The article hypes the Bengals and Steelers as having the best rivalry in football.  Headlined “The NFL’s Nastiest Rivalry: Bengals crunch Steelers,”  SI staff writer Tim Layden says the Bengals “set themselves up as top cats in the NFL’s toughest division.”

FOXBORO -- These aren’t your father’s Bengals. They’re not even the Bungles anymore.

Arguably the laughingstock of the NFL in the 1990s, Cincinnati has become one of the league’s most explosive teams under fourth-year head coach Marvin Lewis and is a legitimate contender for the AFC championship after ending a 15-year playoff drought in 2005.

Coming off last week’s impressive win at Pittsburgh, the undefeated Bengals will host the New England Patriots on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. at Paul Brown Stadium.

"We have a lot to work on," Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel said after New England’s 17-7 loss to Denver on Sunday. "We have to watch the film and practice hard like we know how to do and go out and play Patriots football in Cincinnati."

OK, I give.

Can someone please tell me what some of these Bengals knuckleheads are thinking?

Is a night on the town worth a lucrative NFL career? Is it worth all those flashy cars and big houses and a lifetime of security for their families? Is it worth trading a job that allows them to play a game in front of millions of viewers the world over for one in the lawn and garden department at Sears?

The places some of these guys go to to do their socializing must be unbelievable. Maybe they can’t wait to get their careers over so they can go home and tell their friends stories about hot bands they heard, the expensive liquor they drank and the beautiful women they, uh, danced with.

Or maybe, just maybe, they figure that when you’re a rich and famous football star, there are no consequences. Maybe they think they can do whatever they want as long as they want and nothing will ever happen to them.

We had a big win in Pittsburgh this past week. Every victory is a big one, and this one was no exception. Perhaps it was even slightly bigger than some others.

I don?t like to admit that. It?s important to stay level headed about the season and play all 16 regular season games with the same intensity. It?s also hard not to know that winning a division game on the road is an important step toward our goal this season.

On offense, they like to control the line of scrimmage and run the ball. On defense, they want to be physical, stop the run, and play an aggressive style of defense.

Even as they rise to Super Bowl contender, the Bengals are still learning from the NFL's best.

Tied atop the AFC North with Baltimore at 3-0, Cincinnati is coming off a comeback road win against the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers.

"Pittsburgh's a tough, competitive team, a tough organization," Bengals tackle Willie Anderson said. "They're still an organization that we're still striving to be like."

Up next is New England, with three NFL titles in five seasons.