Cincinnati Bengals: 3 Reasons for win vs. Broncos in Week 11

Reevaluating the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 11 win over the Denver Broncos and determining why they were able to hold on for the 20-17 victory.

It appears I may have spoken too soon about the demise of the Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes. Coming into the week, it seemed crazy for a 3-6 Cincinnati team to have any legitimate chance at making the playoff field this season even with a victory. Now that Week 11 is over, however, we see that they are among a cluster of team at 4-6 who sit just one game out of the final AFC wild card spot.

A win against the Broncos wasn’t a given though, and for the second week in a row the game went down to the wire for the Bengals.

Here’s why, unlike in Week 11 against the Titans, Cincinnati was able to be on the winning end this time around:

3. The Stars In Stripes Came To Play

Cincinnati may not have a supremely deep and talented roster, but they do have a handful of high-level players mixed in who can change games on their own. This week, all those stars seemed to make a large impact at the same time, and it was a major boon to the team’s hopes for victory. The conversation has to start with the oft-maligned Cincinnati linebacker, Vontaze Burfict.

After getting unjustly ejected last week for making contact with a referee, Burfict responded with his best game of the season. He was a wrecking crew unto himself against the run all game, making solo stops with aplomb and causing a key fumble in the second half. He also was a positive against the pass, picking up a sack and helping secure the middle of the field for the Bengals’ defense. By the end of the day, he was easily PFF’s highest-graded player for the contest (89.9), per their Refocused recap.

It wasn’t only Burfict having an excellent day, either. A.J. Green lead the offense in targets (9), catches (4), and receiving yardage (50) while picking up the touchdown which gave Cincinnati a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Carlos Dunlap corralled Brock Osweiler for two of Cincinnati’s three sacks. Geno Atkins didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but he was the third-highest rated Bengal by Pro Football Focus for the afternoon.

This roster has a seemingly endless array of holes and weaknesses to combat each week; often, those weaknesses have proven too dire to overcome even with top five players at multiple positions on their team. When all of those star players can play at a high level at the same time, however, the contributions they make can prove enough to leave the team in position to win games regardless of whatever their problems may be.

It’s a tough strategy to rely on and expect consistent production and success, but it’s what the team has. For now, that’s apparently enough to be just one game out of the playoff picture after eleven weeks.