The Bengals’ road to the playoffs would have been difficult with a loss Thursday night in Baltimore, regardless of the health situation of their quarterback. With dark clouds looming over Joe Burrow‘s torn ligament in his right wrist — a season-ending injury — nary a ray of sunshine lights Cincinnati on Friday.
Cincy is currently at 5-5, ranking 10th in the AFC, ahead of the remaining Week 11 games but far behind the AFC North-leading Ravens who are at 8-3. The Bengals fell to 0-3 in division games this season after Thursday’s loss, which includes two losses to Baltimore.
The Bengals’ last seven games are a challenging ordeal:
Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh (6-3)
Week 13: at Jacksonville (6-3)
Week 14: vs. Indianapolis (5-5)
Week 15: vs. Minnesota (6-4)
Week 16: at Pittsburgh (6-3)
Week 17: at Kansas City (7-2)
Week 18: vs. Cleveland (6-3)
Even if Burrow is healthy, recovering in the race after the early-season missteps would be a challenging proposition.
“It’s big. He’s a top two quarterback in this league,” cornerback Mike Hilton said of Burrow’s loss, via the team’s official website. “It definitely makes it harder, but no excuses. Next man up. Especially on the defense and we have to turn our notch up a little more and try to get our offense on short fields. We feel like he’ll be ready for next week.
Though the division may seem unattainable, our chance to reach the playoffs remains, and that is our primary objective. I believe that if we make it to the playoffs, we will be a formidable opponent.
Jake Browning took over Thursday night and looked better than he did during preseason action, but asking a QB with 15 career pass attempts to spearhead the offense for that stretch run is a precarious proposition.
The Bengals positioned themselves for another deep playoff run before a big 2024 offseason, wherein they’ll have to decide on the futures of key players like Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
Zac Taylor’s team had a rough start, with an initial 1-3 record, but managed to bounce back with four consecutive wins. Now, after consecutive losses and an injury to Burrow, the current AFC North champions are at risk of not making it to the postseason at all.
Taylor understands that enduring the present predicament will require a week-by-week strategy, with every roster member making a contribution.
“Don’t get it twisted on what kind of team we have,” Taylor said, via the Associated Press. “We have a chance to regroup. All the things that we really want to do are still in front of us. We control our own destiny at this point.”
He continued, “In an extended season such as this, the critical thing is to be able to regroup. We’ve encountered such circumstances before. It’s important to rally in these final seven weeks. We have a fantastic chance at home against Pittsburgh to embark on this path.”
