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Cincinnati Bengals: Post-Christmas wishes for Week 17

By Kenn Korb

CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 14: Joe Mixon #28 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs the ball upfield during the first quarter of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 14: Joe Mixon #28 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs the ball upfield during the first quarter of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 07: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens throws a pass in the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 07: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens throws a pass in the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Baltimore Beats Cleveland

It’s never fun to root for your rivals to win, but there are a couple notable exceptions to that rule. The first is that if them winning will help your own team in some way. The other is if them winning will actually do damage to one or more of your rivals.

At this point, we know with near certainty that there is going to be only one AFC North team in this year’s playoffs, and it is either Baltimore or Pittsburgh.

If you’ve gotta root for a rival this weekend, it’s obviously Baltimore. The Bengals definitely have no qualms about hating the Ravens, but right now it may be the other two division-mates who get under their skin the most. The Steelers do for the obvious reasons listed in the previous section, and the Browns have gone on to embarrass Cincinnati twice this year and relegate them to the AFC North basement.

Baltimore winning would give a couple of positive outcomes for Bengals fans. It immediately gives the Browns another loss, and locks them into yet another season of having a losing record (7-8-1 with a loss; 8-7-1 with a victory), which would be a nice little comeuppance for a team which has key players who have been blatantly disrespectful in their victories this season.

More importantly, it would be the decisive blow to the Steelers’ playoff hopes; even if they do beat Cincinnati, they cannot make the playoffs if Baltimore wins their matchup.

While beating Pittsburgh themselves to keep them out of the playoffs would be as good as it gets in terms of spoiling their playoff hopes, having another rival they despise make it happen instead is a decent consolation prize.

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