When asked about why the season was going so badly, Bengals receiver Chad Ocho Cinco had his own philosophy:

"I have my own little philosophy on what's going on. And I broke it down like this: Never, ever, ever, ever go against the monster, because the monster always wins. Get it? So y'all put that in your own perspective and you'll understand where I'm coming from and why things are going the way it's going right now."

I asked if he'd kissed the monster lately: "No, it's hard to get to him. He's really high. No, I'm just playing."

Chad said it was a riddle. I think we all have an idea about who he's talking about, but not sure if Chad would acknowledge it. Nor, probably, should he, considering where he gets his paychecks.

As for his kiss of Marvin Lewis during Sunday's game: "That was my star. That was the whole point. That was the star."

Before Sunday's game, Ocho Cinco said he was going to kiss "the star" at Dallas.

On thing Ocho Cinco wouldn't do is criticize the team's playcalling: "I would never, ever, ever judge the play calling. I think it's on us as the players to execute whatever's called. So whatever's called, we should be able to execute it and execute it to its fullest. So if we're not throwing the ball, then the little things that we are doing -- the running, the short passes -- we've got to make that work, you know? If that means driving down the field 75, 60, 80 yards every time we touch it until we're able to get the ball downfield, then we've got to do it."

Ocho Cinco said the team isn't executing the short plays, so it can't expect to execute the long ones. He said they're working hard, it's just not working.