The Cincinnati Bengals have a small, outside chance of making the NFL playoffs this year.
Granted, the chance in Week 18 when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers is much, much better than it was the week prior.
Still, the Bengals need help. Here’s a quick breakdown.
The Case
From a general fan interest perspective, the Bengals should be in the playoffs. They’re much, much more appealing than any other possible wild-card team at this point. Joe Burrow might be the runaway MVP if his team had won a few more games. Ja’Marr Chase looks like he’s going to run away with the super-rare Triple Crown. Tee Higgins is coming off a three-touchdown outing. Even the defense is starting to come to life.
Did anyone mention that if the Bengals sneak in, they would go to Buffalo first, then deal with Kansas City later? That’s the same path they took to the Super Bowl a few years ago. Fans know all too well that the Bengals are a threat to beat those teams, last seed in the bracket or not. They lost to the Chiefs by just one point in Arrowhead all the way back in September this season. They lost to Baltimore twice by a total of four combined points.
Fans might want to see the Bengals in the playoff bracket…but other teams might not.
But will Bengals make playoffs?
It’s extremely unlikely. With the way the Bengals are playing right now, they have a good shot at taking down the Steelers on Saturday night.
But they also need Kansas City Chiefs backups to beat the Denver Broncos. Even if that happens, they also need Aaron Rodgers and the hapless New York Jets to beat the Miami Dolphins.
This is why yet another slow start under Zac Taylor was so, so damaging back in September. Starting 1-4 was a nightmare scenario.
It’s not impossible for the Bengals to still make it. But they need a trio of very specific things to happen over the weekend.
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