Originally Posted by Sassy Squatch:
Eh, not really?
Chargers, Cowboys, and Eagles are at best a toss up depending on which version shows up.
That division always mauls the fuck out of each other.
Panthers, Giants, Titans, Broncos, and Raiders should all be easy wins on paper but given the games they've already lost I wouldn't even feel comfortable pencilling those in as surefire wins.
Are the Panthers a bad team or are they a decent team that had an abysmal QB? Bengals lost at home to a bad NE team, IDK if the Panthers, at home, with a new QB are worse than NE. I would expect that the Bengals are going to win next week but they have to win. I'm not ready to write off the Bengals but I think losing to Carolina would be the final nail in the coffin.
Like being as generous as possible maybe CIN overlooked the Pats, lost to THE Pat and then lost last night because of a superbowl hangover but I also think you don't go 0-2 against NE and Washington without some serious issues. How are they going to stop the Ravens rush?
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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
9-8 is pretty much their ceiling at this point.
They have 6 games against the AFC North left and they have no defense to speak of.
AFC North games are built on uglying it up and winning late with defensive stands. The Bengals ain't winning those. If they're lucky they manage to go 3-3 in those games.
So they need to find 6 other wins? Not impossible, but not easy. Giants, Panthers, Faid, Broncos, Titans and then hope to steal 1 of the three against Dallas/Philly/LAC?
Does 9-8 get them into the playoffs? No, i don't think it does.
But hey, maybe they'll get to take advantage of that cake last place schedule again next season. So they've got that going for them....which is nice.
Despite the Steelers record, no one is running away with that division. The Ravens aren’t good enough to do that and the Steelers certainly aren’t.
In the next two weeks the Bengals ceiling is 2-3. If they do that, since they play each other, then that also means the Ravens ceiling is 2-3. At that point it’s basically starting over for the division race even if they are both behind the Steelers still.
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