With 15 catches for 192 yards and a touchdown since the bye week, Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham is on one of the better runs of his young career.

The 15 receptions equal the most he’s had in any three-game span, and the 192 yards are 3 shy of the same distinction.

“He’s playing like we expect Jermaine to keep playing,” head coach Marvin Lewis said of Gresham, the Bengals’ first-round draft pick in 2010. “He’s really had a good season, and he’s getting better each and every week.”

Three weeks ago against Denver, Gresham caught six passes for a career-high 108 yards to become the first Bengals tight end since Tony McGee in 1995 to go over the 100-yard mark. He only had three catches the following week against the New York Giants, but one was good for his third touchdown of the season. And Sunday in Kansas City, Gresham put both his talent and passion on display while grabbing six passes for 69 yards.

“He was fired up,” Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said. “It was good to see.”

Gresham and Kansas City safety Eric Berry began jawing with each other early in the game, and it certainly seemed to have an effect on Gresham, who made the key play in the game at Berry’s expense.

On third-and-goal at the Chiefs’ 11 midway through the second quarter, Gresham grabbed a pass from Dalton at the 5 and dragged Berry and another Kansas City defender to within inches of the goal line.

“I was just living in the moment and trying to make a play for my team,” Gresham said. “That’s just me. That’s the way I was brought up. You just have to play with a lot of emotion.”

Had Gresham gone down where he was hit at the 5, the Bengals would have attempted a field goal to extend their lead to 10-3. Instead, offensive coordinator Jay Gruden called a naked bootleg that Dalton scored on easily to make it 14-3 on the way to a 28-6 rout.

“He’s playing with a little bit of fire in his belly and running it well after the catch,” Gruden said of Gresham. “Eric Berry is one heck of a safety, and it’s great motivation for him. You could tell Jermaine was competing, and that was exciting to see. Because when he competes like that, he’s a tough tight end to deal with.”

With 43 catches for 517 yards this season, Gresham needs 13 catches 80 yards to surpass the career highs he set last year on the way to his first Pro Bowl. He’s on pace to finish with 69 receptions and 827 yards, which would be the most by a Bengals tight end since Dan Ross had 71 catches for 910 yards in the 1981 Super Bowl season.

TV blackout

The Bengals announced Friday they are several thousand tickets shy of a sellout, which means Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders will be not be televised locally. It’s the second consecutive game that has failed to sell out. The Dec. 9 contest against the Dallas Cowboys already is listed as a sell out, but tickets remain for the Dec. 30 season finale against Baltimore.