Cincinnati Bengals: How they could still make the 2018 Playoffs
By Kenn Korb
The odds are extremely low, but there is at least in theory a path for the Cincinnati Bengals to still make the 2018 playoffs. Here’s what would need to happen.
Early in the 2018 season, things were looking very promising for the Cincinnati Bengals. Behind a high-scoring offense and a defense forcing timely turnovers, they blazed out to a 4-1 start. At that time, it seemed the team was capable of not just the playoffs, but maybe even breaking through and giving head coach Marvin Lewis the first postseason victory of his 15-year tenure.
Unfortunately, everything since that hot start has been a dark comedy of failures and disappointment. In that hot start, star tight end Tyler Eifert became the first of many key injury chips to fall. Since then, we’ve seen Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and seemingly every important defensive contributor not named Geno Atkins be stricken down and unable to play.
That 4-1 record quickly melted; a close loss to Pittsburgh and a blowout to Kansas City blew away any hopes for this team to compete with the best, while the team struggled even in games against the dregs of the league such as Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
With a few games remaining, we see this team on a 1-6 skid, missing most of their best players, and surely expected to peter out to a second consecutive sub-.500 season. Still, it isn’t quite over yet. This team isn’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. According to the New York Times, they still have a two percent shot at a playoff bid. It’s about as unlikely as things get, but while the chance is there it can’t be completely written off.
Here’s what would need to happen for this franchise to shock the world (and probably themselves) to force their way into this year’s postseason.
Win Out
Obviously. At 5-7, even one more loss would leave this team with 8-8 as their best-case scenario. That wouldn’t be great, since only 11 teams (the ones in that list, plus the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers in 2014) have ever made the postseason with a non-winning record. 9-7 is probably going to be the record which gets the No. 6 seed in the AFC, so if Cincinnati can get there they have a shot.
It won’t be easy, of course. Even if they were completely healthy right now, games on the road against the Chargers and Steelers were never going to be easy; now, it could seem impossible.
The timing of these matchups helps, however. The Chargers game is the definition of a trap for Los Angeles’ AFC team. They just came off a hugely impressive comeback on the road against Pittsburgh, and are set to go on the road again to play the Chiefs in a game which could possibly shift the dynamic of the AFC playoffs. As for Pittsburgh, depending how their other three games go, it could be a meaningless contest for them in terms of the standings.
Combine the possibly fortuitous timing of those matchups with winnable (even now) contests against Cleveland and Oakland, and there is a (barely) visible path hidden here. Cincinnati just has to find a way to coax those wins out of the limited remaining talents on their decimated roster.