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The Cincinnati Bengals would see quite the familiar foe if the playoffs started today.
They don’t, of course, but as the current fifth seed in the AFC, the Bengals would play the fourth-seeded Tennessee Titans if the playoffs started now.
Cincinnati would like to keep climbing the standings, but that will still require some magic in the current AFC North:
- Ravens 9-4
- Bengals 9-4
- Browns 5-8
- Steelers 5-8
Baltimore holds the tiebreaker over Cincinnati and they fight it out again to end the season in Week 18. The Ravens are currently without Lamar Jackson, yet just picked up a win over the Steelers anyway.
Even if the Bengals end up as a wild card, they might not see the Titans, either. Tennessee just lost to Jacksonville and has only a shaky grip on the AFC South.
The outlook for the AFC:
- Bills 10-3
- Chiefs 10-3
- Ravens 9-4
- Titans 7-6
- Bengals 9-4
- Dolphins 8-5
- Chargers 7-6
- Jets 7-6
- Patriots 6-6
The Bengals can still win the AFC North, but generally speaking, have a much tougher schedule than the Ravens despite Baltimore missing its star quarterback for a small stretch of time. Weirdly enough, slipping into the third seed might mean the Bengals face a tougher matchup than getting the Titans again.
Either way, four weeks remain for this to change, but it sure doesn’t hurt to get a look at where things stand.
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