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Playoff hopes in the balance when the Broncos face the Bengals in Cincy

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Playoff hopes in the balance when the Broncos face the Bengals in Cincy
News

News

Playoff hopes in the balance when the Broncos face the Bengals in Cincy

2024-12-27 07:19 Last Updated At:07:31

Denver (9-6) at Cincinnati (7-8)

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST, NFL Network

BetMGM NFL Odds: Bengals by 3.

Against the spread: Broncos 11-4, Bengals 9-6.

Series record: Broncos lead 22-11.

Last meeting: Bengals beat Broncos 15-10 on Dec. 19, 2021, at Denver.

Last week: Chargers beat Broncos 34-27; Bengals beat Browns 24-6.

Broncos offense: overall (22), rush (19), pass (22), scoring (10).

Broncos defense: overall (9), rush (5), pass (18), scoring (4).

Bengals offense: overall (10), rush (29), pass (1), scoring (6).

Bengals defense: overall (28), rush (21), pass (26), scoring (28).

Turnover differential: Broncos plus-6, Bengals: plus-4.

CB Riley Moss. The second-year pro is returning from a sprained MCL that sidelined him for a month. Denver’s defense wasn’t the same without Moss, who has 71 tackles, eight pass breakups and an interception in his first season as a starter opposite Patrick Surtain. With him back, the Broncos could return to their favored man coverage after their zone coverage was exploited by the Browns, Colts and Chargers.

QB Joe Burrow is having perhaps the best season of his career. He passed for 252 yards and three TDs last week against the Browns and is among the NFL leaders in most passing categories. Burrow has thrown at least three TD passes in each of his past seven games.

Bengals passing game against the Broncos secondary. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined for 14 receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns against the Browns last Sunday. After Week 16, Chase led the NFL leaders in receptions, yards and touchdowns. The Broncos passing defense is ranked eighth in the NFL. Surtain has allowed 234 receiving yards this season, the fewest allowed by a cornerback in a season through 16 games since at least 2018.

The Broncos are as healthy as they've been all season. The only player who was limited at practice this week was RB Jaleel McLaughlin (thigh), but he was a full participant by Wednesday.

Bengals: DE Sam Hubbard (knee) and DT Sheldon Rankins (illness) are out for Saturday. WR Tee Higgins (ankle/knee), DT Amarius Mims (ankle) and S Geno Stone (illness) are questionable. TE Tanner Hudson (knee) is doubtful.

The teams have traded wins in their past four meetings since 2016. ... The Broncos' longest win streak was eight from 1983 to 1998. ... The Bengals have managed to win two in a row in the series just twice in 1971 and '72; and 1975 and '76. The largest margin of victory was a 45-14 win by Denver in 1991.

Denver QB Bo Nix is three touchdown throws shy of becoming the fifth rookie in NFL history to throw for 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns his rookie season. The others: Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield and Justin Herbert. ... WR Courtland Sutton needs 72 yards to reach 1,000 for just the second time in his career (2019). ... The Broncos have scored 166 points in their past five games, their most in a five-game span since 2014. ... Zach Allen's 26 quarterback hits are the most by an interior defensive lineman in the NFL this season. His 67 QB pressures are the second most by an interior DL, behind only the Chiefs' Chris Jones (74). ... Nik Bonitto has sacks in 10 games so far, two shy of the Broncos record held by Von Miller. ... Brandon Jones is the first Broncos safety since Hall of Famer Steve Atwater in 1995 to have 100 or more tackles and three or more interceptions in a season. ... Cincinnati's defense forced three turnovers and had five sacks in the win over Cleveland last week. ... Burrow was sacked four times by the Browns, but also passed for three touchdowns. ... Cincinnati has won its past three games to improve to 7-8 on the season and can get to .500 in the final home game of the season. ... All of the Bengals' seven wins have come against teams with losing records. ... Seven of Cincinnati's eight losses have been by one score. ... Bengals K Cade York is 4 of 5 on field goals since being promoted from the practice squad to replace the injured Evan McPherson. York was drafted by the Browns in 2022 ... Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson has 13 1/2 sacks.

Bengals RB Chase Brown is poised for a breakout. Brown has 91 rushing yards in the win over Cleveland last week and 97 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee the previous week. The second-year player is averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) calls a play during the first half an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) calls a play during the first half an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

NEW YORK (AP) — Years before Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce was born, his father spent time in prison for an armed robbery conviction that prosecutors now say was tainted by a detective’s lies and “highly suggestive” photo identification techniques.

Jeffrey Koonce, now 67, will ask a suburban New York judge on Friday to vacate his conviction for a 1981 robbery at Vernon Stars Rod and Gun Club in Mount Vernon, where three people were struck by shotgun pellets as patrons were looted of cash and jewelry.

Koonce, who spent nearly eight years in prison, has always maintained his innocence. Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah is backing his request after her office uncovered trouble with the case.

Rocah’s Conviction Review Unit investigated the 1983 conviction and found evidence that Mount Vernon police pressured the lone victim-witness to implicate Koonce, made Koonce’s picture larger than others in a photo array and failed to interview alibi witnesses who corroborated his claim that he was elsewhere.

A Mount Vernon detective later lied about the composition of the photo arrays when he testified at pretrial hearings and Koonce’s trial, and a court subsequently ordered the department to change its unduly suggestive photo identification practices, Rocah said. One of the detectives involved in Koonce’s case later went to prison following a federal corruption sting.

In a statement, Rocah said Koonce’s conviction “was tainted by such questionable investigatory processes and procedures” that her office can no longer stand by it.

Koonce and his lawyer, Karen Newirth, are set to appear Friday before Westchester County Judge James McCarty to request that he vacate Koonce’s robbery and weapons possession convictions and dismiss the underlying indictment.

Koonce absconded from court during jury deliberations and was found about seven months later, sleeping on his girlfriend’s couch in the Bronx, according to newspaper reports from the time.

He was sentenced to 7½ to 15 years in prison for the robbery and served a shorter, simultaneous sentence for bail jumping. He was released on parole in August 1992. His brother, Paul, a high school sophomore at the time, also was charged in the robbery. He was acquitted.

Malcolm Koonce was born in 1998. The NFL's Raiders drafted him in 2021. Another son, Dejuan Koonce, is a retired New York State Trooper who was assigned to protective details for Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Police accused Jeffrey and Paul Koonce of being among the three men who held up the Vernon Stars club on June 20, 1981. Patrons were forced to lie face down on the floor and made to hand over about $500 in cash, jewelry and other valuables, police said.

One of the perpetrators had a sawed-off shotgun and fired off at least two rounds, striking a 15-year-old and two other patrons, police said.

Rocah’s office found that detectives used dubious tactics to compel a victim to identify Koonce as the shooter. He was the only person to do so. Others told investigators that it was too dark in the club to identify the perpetrators by their faces.

The witness, a high school freshman at the time, picked Koonce out of a photo array that featured Koonce’s enlarged photo and smaller images of men who didn’t look like him.

The witness later told Rocah’s office that he didn’t remember seeing any faces in the dark club and that other patrons immediately covered him after the shooting, obscuring his view.

Detectives then brought Koonce to the hospital where the witness was being treated so he could identify him in person. The witness told a pretrial hearing that he felt pressured to quickly identify Koonce. The trial judge called the tactic “impermissibly suggestive.”

Rocah’s office also found Mount Vernon detectives harmed Koonce by failing to interview all his alibi witnesses. They include a now-retired New York City police detective who said Koonce was with him in the city the night of the robbery.

FILE - Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce (51) runs off the field at halftime of an NFL preseason football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Aug. 10, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

FILE - Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce (51) runs off the field at halftime of an NFL preseason football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Aug. 10, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

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