Bengals vs. Lions 2013, Week 7: Live coverage, score updates and more

For the Bengals, Sunday’s win was just another example that the franchise has turned a corner, according to Josh Kirkendall at Bengals blog Cincy Jungle. The Bengals overcame several potentially crippling injuries and bad early mistakes to score a defining win.

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Hall was injured in the first quarter of Sunday’s game while covering Lions’ wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Initially called an “Achilles injury”, its severity is as yet unconfirmed. With Hall out of the lineup Johnson caught nine passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

If Hall is lost for the season it would cause a huge weakness for Cincinnati’s secondary. Entering Sunday’s game he totaled 20 tackles, seven passes defended and one interception, but more importantly he was a much-needed veteran presence for the defense.

Calvin Johnson, who entered the weekend as a game-time decision, rewarded fantasy owners who looked past his injury-limited dud last week. Johnson exploded for nine receptions, 155 yards and two touchdowns. Matthew Stafford had a big game as well, piling up 357 yards, three scores and no picks.

The Lions entered the game as 2½-point favorites, according to Oddssharks.com, meaning they failed to cover in defeat.

Johnson spins not once, but twice -- including an impressive 360 dunk on the goalpost -- to put an exclamation point on the touchdown.

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It’s a significant loss for the Bengals because Hall, the team’s top cover corner, has been matched up against the Lions big-play wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Hall suffered the injury while going up to defend a pass to Johnson in the endzone during the first quarter.

Hall has 14 tackles, one interception and six passes defensed so far in 2013.

Kellen Moore, Jonte Green, Theo Riddick, LeRoy Harris and Jason Fox are also inactive for the Lions.

Visit NFL.com for complete injury listings.

Game Date/Time and Location: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET at Ford Field, Detroit, Mich.

TV schedule and distribution map: CBS; The506.com

The veteran receiver did participate in all three practices this week for the Lions, when he normally misses Wednesday practice for a routine “rest day.” Johnson is listed as probable for Sunday’s game.

Kickoff against the Bengals is set for 1 p.m. ET.

The defense has been the strong point for Cincinnati, ranking eighth in yards against per game, while being a top-10 unit in that department against both the run and pass. Most importantly, the Bengals only allow 18.5 points per game, seventh-best in the league.

Anthony Cosenza of Cincy Jungle writes about his thoughts from the first six weeks of the campaign:

The Lions are listed as 2.5-point favorites at home. With and without that spread, the CBS Sports panel is split with a vote of 5-3 to in favor of the Lions. The Yahoo! Sports panel has a even split in this matchup, as each writer picked a different team.

The SB Nation five-man crew is likes Detroit to win the Week 7 contest. In fact, NFL editor Ryan Van Bibber is the lone wolf in favor of the Bengals.

Detroit is 4-2 on the season as well, and opened as narrow favorites over the Bengals. According to OddsShark, the line opened up with Detroit as 3-point favorites, and it has stayed at that number on most books. The line has narrowed on some, though, with Detroit slipping to 2.5-point favorites.

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