It’s once again win or go home for the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 when the Denver Broncos come to town on Saturday. The good news for the Bengals is that if they win, they cannot be eliminated. Period. No other result in Week 17 can knock them out.
That means that if the Bengals win on Saturday, they will have a playoff-clinching scenario in Week 18, something that may have seemed unfathomable after the Bengals fell to 4-8 following their 44-38 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is partly why it was more beneficial for the Bengals to have the Broncos lose on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers. A Denver win would have made the path much more difficult for the Bengals. The path is still a little murky, though the Bengals are up to almost 15 percent to make the playoffs, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.
The Bengals have just one path to the playoffs. That’s it. That path is as follows:
1. Beat Denver Week 17
2. Beat Pittsburgh Week 18
3. Denver loses to Kansas City Week 18
4. Indianapolis loses one of their final two (at Giants, vs. Jaguars)
5. Miami loses one of their final two (at Browns, at Jets)
If all that happens, the Bengals would land the No. 7 seed and likely head to Buffalo on Wild Card Weekend. Another Joe Burrow vs. Josh Allen matchup? Sign us up.
