NFL
The two results needed for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs
The Joe Burrow-inspired Bengals survived a scare against the Pittsburgh Steelers to keep their postseason hopes alive.
The Cincinnati Bengals were not convincing, but they got the job done against the Pittsburgh Steelers and closed out their regular season campaign with a 19-17 victory.
The Bengals went into the Week 18 action knowing that a defeat would eliminate them from postseason contention. They needed a fifth consecutive win to give themselves a chance of continuing this season beyond the weekend. Cincinnati remain in the mix ahead of Sunday’s games but are not currently in possession of the final wild card playoff spot in the AFC.
The victory in Pittsburgh takes Bengals to a 9-8 record for the 2024 season. They are battling for the final postseason berth with the Miami Dolphins (8-8) and the Denver Broncos (9-7). For the Bengals to leapfrog those teams they would need both to lose on Sunday. The Dolphins face the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos are heading to the New York Jets.
Defeats for both would leave the Bengals and the Broncos tied with a 9-8 record but the former would progress to the playoffs by virtue of their 30-24 win in the game between the two teams last month. As such, they have the better head-to-head record.
Neither the Chiefs nor the Jets have anything on the line in their final fixtures of the regular season but they will not be pushovers. The Chiefs are looking to continue their incredible 15-1 form while the Jets will want to pull off a surprise in what could prove to be Aaron Rodgers' final NFL game.
The Kansas City Chiefs have already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, giving them a bye week for the Wild Card round on January 11-13. The Chiefs will enter the fray for the Divisional Round on January 18-19 and will take on the lowest seed of the winners from the Wild Card round. They may not have been at their sparkling best in 2024 but no one will be relishing a meeting with the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
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