(My Sportsbook) - Red flags were raised when it was rumored that the Cincinnati Bengals were bringing in embattled running back Larry Johnson for a visit. After all, the reports came just one day after No. 1 back Cedric Benson left this past Sunday's win over Pittsburgh early due to a hip injury.

Head coach Marvin Lewis clarified later on Monday, commenting that Johnson's visit, which he said had been in the works since last week, had nothing to do with Benson's injury before adding that his starting running back has a chance to play this weekend at Oakland.

Benson, who leads the NFL with 205 rushing attempts this year, ran the ball just seven times for 22 yards in Sunday's 18-12 victory over the Steelers that gave the Bengals (7-2) sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Lewis said that it was an aggravation of a previous injury that had been bothering Benson.

"He really doesn't feel much worse for the wear," Lewis said of Benson. "He has an opportunity this week. We'll be real cautious with him as we approach the game. If he's not healthy, he would not go. Well see how he is as he goes through the week. Hopefully, he can make a comeback on this."

Lewis also addressed the Johnson rumors on Monday, confirming that the former Kansas City Chief was coming into visit but that he had not been signed. However, the club made it official on Tuesday by adding Johnson and releasing defensive tackle Orien Harris.

Johnson was cut by the Chiefs last Monday after getting suspended by the club for some off-the-field comments made on his Twitter account about Kansas City head coach Todd Haley. He also used a gay slur in another post before reportedly issuing another anti-gay remark the next day.

Lewis said that Johnson would not impact his current depth chart of Benson, Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard, and that Johnson's role would be as a fourth running back.

"If we did decide to go forward, his role would be as a fourth running back, and as a backup player on this team, doing all the things backup players do, and that's work their tails off in the kicking game and showing looks and so forth," said the head coach on Monday. "He would be an insurance policy if something would happen to our guys, where he would have a chance to be active."

In fact, Lewis said he would like to see Scott's role increase after the 2009 sixth-round pick ran 13 times for 33 yards versus the Steelers, while also scoring the game's lone touchdown on a 96-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.

Cincinnati might actually prove to be a good spot for Johnson after the Bengals helped Benson get his career back on track. Benson nearly found himself out of the league after playing and acting his way out of Chicago to begin his career.

"One of the things I told Larry was we would judge him on his future and not on his past," Lewis said. "We would judge him from that way forward. I told Ced that I think you can help him with that. You could validate with that."

BROWNS: If the Cleveland Browns have learned one thing this season, it is that no matter who is under center, points are going to be hard to come by.

Brady Quinn returned to the starting quarterback's role Monday night versus the Baltimore Ravens, but did little to get the offense going in a 16-0 loss. Although it marked the first time the Browns got shut out this year, it was the sixth time in nine games that the club has scored six or fewer points.

Guiding an offense that has scored an NFL-low 78 points this season, Quinn threw for 99 yards on 13-of-31 passing with two interceptions.

Head coach Eric Mangini tried to find some positives in Quinn's outing.

"I thought, especially through the first half, Brady did a nice job running the no huddle offense," said Mangini. "We went no huddle the whole game. I thought that the shifting, the motioning and some of the things that we were doing there helped us. I thought he was really efficient with it."

The game was actually scoreless at the half, but the Ravens scored twice in the first three minutes of the third quarter, including a Quinn interception returned for a touchdown.

"The points that we stressed at halftime, (we) just came out in the third quarter and did the opposite," said Mangini. "We had a blown coverage on one long pass play, followed up by two turnovers and a 0-0 game turns into a 16-0 game."

The loss was Cleveland's fourth straight and 14th in its past 15 games.

Quinn also sparked some controversy with a chop block on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs following an interception, a play that injured the linebacker and angered the Ravens. Quinn insisted after the game he wasn't trying to hurt Suggs and was very apologetic.

"I was trying to go for the ball carrier...I would never wish that upon anyone," said the quarterback. "I was upset about it on the field. He was someone I worked out in Arizona with. I will be praying for him. Again, we are sorry about that. That was never the intent. Again, I am sorry to Terrell and the rest of their team."

Cleveland, which is 1-8 and visits Detroit this weekend, also went through a scary period of its own when wide receiver Joshua Cribbs was taken off the field on a stretcher after a hard hit on the game's final play, in which Cribbs pitched to teammate Robert Royal after a short pass from Quinn.

Mangini said after the game that Cribbs had feeling in all parts of his body and was taken off on a board as a precautionary measure. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

RAVENS: If Baltimore had played anyone else other than the Browns on Monday night, kicker Steven Hauschka's performance would be more notable.

While the Ravens used a strong second half to secure a 16-0 victory, getting a 13-yard touchdown run from Ray Rice and a 48-yard pick-six from Dawan Landry in the first three minutes, Hauschka's performance left something to be desired.

The second-year kicker had an extra point try after Landry's touchdown blocked, while he also pushed a 36-yard field goal try wide in the first half. He later connected on a 44-yard field goal, though.

"I'm not sure if it is in the swing, but that is disappointing," said head coach John Harbaugh of Hauschka. "He's got to kick the ball better and with more confidence. We need our kicker to play better than that."

There were reports that the Ravens brought in a pair of kickers, Mike Nugent and Billy Cundiff, last week before ultimately deciding to stick with Hauschka, who killed a late rally attempt in a 17-7 loss to the Bengals on November 8 by missing a 38-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the game.

"Steve and I had a great talk [last] Tuesday night and he'll be the first to tell you that he needs to kick better than that," said Harbaugh. "He kicks better than that in practice and he's kicked better in games up until this point. He just didn't do the job [Monday] and I think he knows that."

Harbaugh's patience appears to have run out, however, as Hauschka was released by the Ravens on Tuesday. General manager Ozzie Newsome stated that he hoped to have a new kicker signed in time for Wednesday's practice.

Hauschka went 9-for-13 on field goal tries this year, including 5-for-7 between 30 and 39 yards. He had hit on all 27 extra-point attempts before the block.

Despite the performance by Hauschka, the Ravens were able to pick up a win after losing four of their previous five games. That kept them in the playoff mix, as the 5-4 club is a game back of second-place Pittsburgh and two back of division-leading Cincinnati.

Baltimore next endures a tough two-game stretch with home games against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts and rival Steelers. The Ravens will also likely do so without linebacker Terrell Suggs, who suffered a knee injury after getting chop-blocked by Browns quarterback Brady Quinn following an interception. The block angered the Ravens, especially linebacker Ray Lewis.

"Heck yeah it was a cheap shot," Lewis told the Baltimore Sun. "When you're running down and you're looking at the quarterback going at somebody's knees who doesn't even have the ball. I want to see if he gets the same fine I got or even higher. Now this man is out four or five weeks because of some baloney like that."

Lewis was referring to a $25,000 fine he received for a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Bengals' Chad Ochocinco during an October 11 loss to the Bengals.

It is unknown how long Suggs will be out, as he his slated to have an MRI on Tuesday. The Ravens also lost reserve safety Haruki Nakamura, who suffered a broken right ankle on the game's opening kickoff, in Monday's win.

STEELERS: The Pittsburgh Steelers aren't feeling very wild about their 18-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals this past weekend. However, they are going to have to get used to that feeling, as they might now be playing for a Wild Card spot.

Although the setback dropped the Steelers (6-3) just a game back of the division-leading Bengals, it is essentially a two-game deficit since Cincinnati swept the season series between the clubs.

Sunday's loss could have also featured a changing of the guard for the defending Super Bowl champions, who had an eight-game home winning streak halted by a Bengals club that used defense to handle the Steelers. Pittsburgh went 0-for-4 in the red zone and managed just four field goals by Jeff Reed.

"We got down [into the red zone] and we had some great plays," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 174 yards with an interception. "They batted a bunch of balls when we had guys open. We just didn't make the plays that we normally make."

Pittsburgh had won five straight prior to Sunday's setback, scoring at least 27 points in all five victories. However, they had no answer for the Bengals' defense again on Sunday.

"It's part of an NFL season," said offensive lineman Max Starks. "Of course, you hate to make that loss against a division opponent, especially the second time around. But that happens. It's the nature of this game. On any given Sunday, anybody can beat you."

Not all is lost yet for the Steelers, who see a bit of a break in their upcoming schedule. Three of their next four games are against Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland, which are a combined 5-22 this season.

That should allow Pittsburgh to keep the pressure on Cincinnati, but the club knows a shot at a division title might now be out of its hands.

The friendly upcoming schedule might also help the club if it is without safety Troy Polamalu for an extended period of time. The All-Pro played just one series on Sunday before aggravating a knee injury, one that caused him to miss four games earlier this year. His status for this Sunday's game in Kansas City is unknown.