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The Cincinnati Bengals have to be kicking themselves. That’s two straight weeks the team failed to take advantage of a loss by the Baltimore Ravens that would have put them in first place in the AFC North.
Instead, after their 26-23 overtime loss to the San San Francisco 49ers, the Bengals are now one of five teams in the AFC sitting at 7-6 and are now on the outside looking in when talking playoffs.
First, a look at the division race, where all four teams are .500 or better heading into Week 15. The recent struggles of the Bengals and Ravens have allowed the Cleveland Browns to get back into the mix, especially after their win over the Ravens on Sunday.
Cincinnati actually fell to third place in the division, behind the Browns, thanks to the Week 9 loss to the Browns. That’s now a big hindrance to the Bengals in such a logjam in the wild card race. However, the Bengals still have games against both Baltimore and Cleveland among their final four games, so they still control their destiny in the division. Also helping Cincinnati is that both Baltimore and Cleveland face the Packers in the next two weeks.
AFC North Standings
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-5 overall, 1-3 division
- Cleveland Browns: 7-6, 2-2
- Cincinnati Bengals: 7-6, 3-1
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-6-1, 2-2
In the wild card race, as mentioned earlier, there are now five teams sitting at 7-6. The two currently in the playoffs are the Indianapolis Colts and the Buffalo Bills. On the outside are the Browns, Bengals and Cincinnati’s Week 15 opponent, the Denver Broncos.
And right behind them are the 6-6-1 Steelers, the 6-7 Las Vegas Raiders and the 6-7 Miami Dolphins.
While the Bengals are 5-3 in conference, it’s not doing them much good right now, because of the aforementioned hindrance with being tied with the Browns. Division ties are broken first, so the Bengals get bumped out by the Browns before breaking ties between teams outside of divisions. And Cleveland loses out to both the Colts and Bills on conference record. That helps lead to the Bengals currently ranking ninth in the conference standings.
AFC Playoff Standings
- New England Patriots 9-4
- Tennessee Titans 9-4
- Kansas City Chiefs 9-4
- Baltimore Ravens 9-4
- Los Angeles Chargers 8-5
- Indianapolis Colts 7-6
- Buffalo Bills 7-6
- Cleveland Browns 7-6
- Cincinnati Bengals 7-6
- Denver Broncos 7-6
- Pittsburgh Steelers 6-6-1
- Las Vegas Raiders 6-7
- Miami Dolphins 6-7
Week 15 is now a huge game for the Bengals, against a fellow 7-6 team in the Broncos in Denver. Then it’s home for two huge games against the Ravens and Chiefs before wrapping up the regular season in Cleveland.
Baltimore’s remaining schedule is home to Green Bay, at Cincinnati, home to the Rams and home to Pittsburgh.
Cleveland’s remaining schedule is home to Las Vegas, at Green Bay, at Pittsburgh, home to Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh’s remaining schedule is home to Tennessee, at Kansas City, home to Cleveland, at Baltimore.
It’s a brutal stretch for everyone in the division. It’s completely up for grabs. But needless to say, the Bengals have to start winning again and that has to start Sunday. A loss to Denver to fall to 7-7 would be devastating to their playoff hopes. They already lost to the Chargers and a team like Buffalo has a very favorable schedule with home games against the Panthers, Falcons and Jets left on the schedule.
A win would put them at 8-6 and 6-3 in the conference. The hope would be that Cleveland and Baltimore both lose. If all three were to be 8-6 after next week, the Browns would have the division lead thanks to head-to-head between all three teams (2-1 for CLE, 1-1 for CIN, 1-2 for BAL).
But the bottom line is that Cincinnati controls its own destiny. If they win out, they win the division. Plain and simple.
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