The key is to beat Denver, because it's altogether possible that they both will finish up 10-6 and if you have the head-to-head victory, you'll get in.
"Strickland Propane... Taste the meat, not the heat." - Hank Hill
The Bengals are a long shot at this point. The San Diego and Tampa games loom so large.
That's the funny part. After the Baltimore loss folks were writing them off, but I kept on thinking that they had really only been beaten in one game, the other losses were close and could have gone either way. Imagine if they win those two winnable games, despite everything else, they would be tied for first with the Ravens. I do agree with the above post that 10-6 probably gets them in if the loss is to Indy since KC and Denver will probably both finish at 10-6 also. I actually think it is better for us if Baltimore beats KC next week. Sure, you may have to play all road games as the WC, but it is more likely we will make it in that way than winning the division at this point. Although, if we win out (highly unlikely, but possible considering Denver and Indy may have already played their best football), we could end up tied with the Ratbirds. Not sure where tiebreakers stand, though.
Winning at Denver or Indy are both long shots. There's nothing this team has shown me that says they can beat those teams. Shutting out Cleveland isn't that big of a deal. The Ravens are not an offensive juggernaut.
I'm not trying to be a negative nelly, but if this is where our hopes rest, then we are in trouble.
And Pittsburgh isn't going to be a cakewalk.
Denver is a major unknown right now due to the switch to Cutler. If he does well, they are Super Bowl contenders. If he's like Plummer, they won't make the playoffs.
If Cutler struggles, the Bengals probably are the better overall team. When the offense is going well, there's not a team in the NFL that will hold the Bengals under 17 points. (The only thing that kept them under 20 against Baltimore was poor RZ execution.i.e. poor play at times) If the D can slow the run, which they've been doing for a while now, they will beat the Broncos with a struggling QB.
If Cutler is Big Ben vol. 2, they're in serious trouble.
If the Broncos can't run the ball effectively, I pray he's Big Ben volume 2. Big Ben absent an extremely strong running game is not a good quarterback.
Go look at the Ravens last five wins. Cudos to our D for their best performance of the year at exactly the right time. Makes me wonder if Marvin did not start getting more involved with the D after the SD debacle. That happened when things started getting ugly during the Frazier regime. If so, I think he has to consider becoming involved more going forward.
They were all against teams who gave up over 20 points a game to the entire league: Atlanta, New Orleans, Tennesee, Pittsburgh, and Cincy in game 1.Go look at the Ravens last five wins.
They've won with scores of 16, 15, and have lost with 3 and 7.
That's a third of their games where they've scored 16 points or less.
One of those teams they scored 16 on was Cleveland.
You are right: hats off to the Bengals "D"- for not allowing a pretty average offense to run over their average defense.
I'm liking their chances in Denver a little more as long as Cutler doesn't become Romo overnight. Denver only scores about 18 points a game, but then again, they haven't played the Bengals lol...
The Ravens scored in the 20s (usually mid to high) every game but this one since Billick took over as O coordinator. The D played well and I am not going to diminish that by holding a team that had been scoring in the 20s for 5 straight weeks to one late TD, and almost shut them out. Not to mention that is a major accomplishment to the same cast of characters that gave up 42 points in a half. Just giving credit where it is due.
Wild Card Teams:
Jets 7-5 (Buffalo, @ Minnesota, @Miami, Oakland)
Cincy 7-5 (Oakland, @ Indy, @ Denver, Pittsburgh)
Jacksonville 7-5 (Indy, @ Tenn, New England, @ KC)
Denver 7-4 (up 13-7 at half vs Seattle, @ SD, @ Arizona, Cincy, San Fran)
Kansas City 7-5 (Baltimore, @ SD, @ Oakland, Jacksonville)
Lets hope Denver loses tonight. At San Diego will be tough. @ Arizona & vs San Fran should be wins, and hopefully we can beat them. That would be our best case scenario putting Denver at 9 wins. I think they will end up with 11 wins.
- Jacksonville has a pretty tough schedule which puts them out of it IMO.
- Kansas City also has a hard last few games minus Oakland which also puts them out w/ only 9 wins
- Jets have it pretty easy
- Cincy has two winnable games, but also two tough games. Pray for a win against Denver or Indy
I think Denver has a very good chance of making it. The only other team would be the Jets with their easy schedule, but I don't think they are that great of a team so hopefully they lose two of their last 4 games.
The Bengals have a reasonable chance of making it, although it is definitely a long shot.
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