Cincinnati Bengals: Takeaways from blowout loss vs. Saints
By Kenn Korb
They Can Still Make The Playoffs Anyway
Despite all their proven issues, this team’s window is as open as any of the non-elites in the AFC to grab a playoff spot. They almost certainly won’t be getting the AFC North crown, and the Chargers are surely set to get the #5 wild card seed, but the #6 seed is wide open.
As of now, Cincinnati’s 33 percent odds for the playoffs rank seventh in the AFC, with only the up-and-down Tennessee Titans standing in their way with 49 percent. The schedule lines up exceptionally well for the Bengals in the final weeks of this season: at Baltimore, vs. Cleveland, vs. Denver, at Los Angeles Chargers, vs. Oakland, at Cleveland and at Pittsburgh.
That’s an insanely palatable set of matchups. The two toughest matchups are on the road, but those are games this team would be unlikely to win no matter the location (Chargers, Steelers); besides that, everything else is winnable. They’ll likely get three games against rookie quarterbacks, and they definitely are going to have five games against opponents under .500 when they play.
This lineup of games makes a 5-2 end to the year eminently possible. Beat all the teams their record would indicate they should, and they’ll stand at 10-6 — a record rarely left out of the playoff mix. Even if they drop one of those winnable contests (say, losing to Baltimore without Green this week), 9-7 still puts them in a great spot.
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They have tiebreakers over Miami and Indianapolis (possible 9-7 teams), and there’s four prime chances for an inconsistent Tennessee team to lose along the way (along with the possibility of laying an egg against one of New York’s squads).
It’s going to be be ugly, but the opportunity to make the playoffs despite all their problems is alive and well. Only time will tell if they are up to the task.