With 8:44 to go in the game against the Buffalo Bills, Joe Burrow evaded a free rusher and found Mike Gesicki in the endzone to take a 28-18 lead. Even with how atrocious the defense had been all year, it felt like the team was beginning to turn a corner. The Bengals shut down the Baltimore Ravens last week and was well on their way to beating the Bills in the snow.
Then, Al Golden’s defense must have thought Josh Allen was Year 17 Peyton Manning and forgot that he’s the best running quarterback in the NFL. Allen stepped up, evaded the blitz, saw there was nobody in the same zip code as him in the open field, and took off for a 40-yard touchdown.
When the Bengals got the ball back, it looked like they were driving to put the game away. Burrow checked out of a run to try and hit what would have been a wide-open Ja’Marr Chase for a chunk play. Instead, Christian Benford lept up, intercepted it, and returned it for a touchdown. What started as a good decision turned the game on its head.
Then, a great play by the Bills’ defensive line forced another interception. The Bengals’ defense got Buffalo to fourth-and-goal, but couldn’t get the stop.
Burrow led the offense on a four-play touchdown drive to make it a four-point game, and, somehow, there was hope. Then, on 3rd & 15, Golden’s defense let Allen scramble for 17 yards, icing the game.
This isn’t a playoff team. If the NFL had a college football system where the most deserving teams (give or take) make it, Cincinnati wouldn’t be in the discussion. However, the AFC North is weak.
There is still a path to the postseason for the Bengals. That path is about as unlikely and narrow as can be, but there’s a path.
The Bengals’ Playoff Path Is Complicated After Choking in Buffalo
There is no wild card hope for the Bengals this year. At 4-9, the best-case scenario is to finish 8-9. It will mark the team’s first losing season since 2020, Burrow’s rookie season. The last two seasons have been meh at 9-8 each, but the team hasn’t made the playoffs since getting bounced by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship following the 2022 season.
The road ahead for the Bengals is as follows:
- vs. Baltimore Ravens
- at Miami Dolphins
- vs Arizona Cardinals
- vs. Cleveland Browns
Four games stand between the Bengals and the offseason. There are plenty of decisions that need to be made, from the top down. But, for the time being, the Bengals are one of the 12 AFC teams still in the hunt for the playoffs.
Plain and simple, the Bengals must win out. The only semi-feasible hope the team has is to have a three-way tie to top the division, just as it was last week. Now, the job gets significantly harder.
Bengals Need Help
The path ahead for the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers:
- vs. Miami Dolphins
- at Detroit Lions
- at Cleveland Browns
- vs Baltimore Ravens
The Steelers beating the Ravens this week didn’t help. The Steelers need to lose at least three of their remaining schedule. With three losses, Pittsburgh finishes 8-9. The way the schedule works out, that would require at least two divisional losses, helping the Bengals out. The Lions and Ravens can win; the concern is the Dolphins and Browns. Miami beat the Jets yesterday, so it knows it can beat someone, but the Dolphins are not a good team. The Browns could manage a win due to divisional weirdness, but how many people are really betting on the Shedeur Sanders-led Browns to beat the Steelers?
However, the last time the Steelers played in Cleveland, the Browns won, 24-19, so who knows.
As for the Ravens, it’s similar:
- at Cincinnati Bengals
- vs. New England Patriots
- at Green Bay Packers
- at Pittsburgh Steelers
At 6-7, the Ravens need to lose to the Bengals this weekend and at least once more. Ideally, that loss comes at the hands of the Patriots and/or Packers, two of the NFL’s best, and wins at Pittsburgh.
A loss to the Ravens would eliminate the Bengals.
Of the two scenarios the Bengals cannot fully control, this is more likely. It would give the Bengals their first season sweep of the Ravens since 2021.
Again, this is not a playoff-worthy team. In any normal season, the Bengals would have already been eliminated at 4-9. Fans will look back at this year and think “what if” about Burrow’s injury, his return from injury, and the losses to the Jets, Bears, Patriots, and Bills.
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