Cincinnati Bengals Worst Case Scenario for Final Five Weeks
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00:00There's one worst-case scenario for the Cincinnati Bengals, and it isn't losing.
00:07In fact, it's quite the opposite.
00:09If you can see the book to my right here, Enter the Jungle, which you can get at CincinnatiBengalsBook.com
00:15or wherever books are sold, I chronicle, season by season, every single season in Bengals
00:21history.
00:22So, I've seen what they've done in these situations, when they're 4-8, when they're
00:27out of the playoff hunt, when they somehow find a way to make a run and not be good enough
00:34to make the playoffs, but be just good enough to encourage the front office, to encourage
00:38ownership, to encourage fans that they're close to getting it right.
00:43That is what they can't do.
00:45That is the worst-case scenario for the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals.
00:49Because not only do you not want to be in the middle in the NFL, you don't want to be
00:52in the middle thinking that you're about to get back to the elite teams.
00:57And that's exactly what they could do, what they likely will do if, say, they go 4-1 down
01:01the stretch.
01:024-1 will not get them to the playoffs.
01:03In fact, they would be 8-9 on the year.
01:07And yet, if you finish 4-1 and you end the year with a big road win over Pittsburgh,
01:13well, you could totally—and by the way, they might not be playing for anything—you
01:16could totally see the path where the Bengals would say, ah, Lou kind of figured it out
01:20over the final five weeks, or Zach Taylor figured it out, or maybe we should bring back
01:25insert free agent that hasn't worked that should probably be cut, or insert veteran
01:29that isn't playing well that should probably be cut.
01:32No.
01:34That cannot, should not, hopefully will not happen.
01:37I'm not telling you to root against the Bengals.
01:39But what I am saying is the worst-case scenario is to end up with the 18th pick, to think
01:45that you're close, and you're really not.
01:48Joe Burrow is playing like the MVP.
01:49Jamar Chase is the best wide receiver in football.
01:52When those guys are on the field, you should have a chance to beat anybody, and they do.
01:57And that is why going 4-1 or 3-2 could certainly be in the cards for the Cincinnati Bengals
02:02team.
02:03And yet at the same time, I look at that and I say that out loud, and I hate it.
02:08I hate the idea of picking 18th, missing the playoffs for a second straight year, and being
02:13in the middle, pretending that this team is close.
02:17They need to make big changes this offseason, and the only way to do that, in my mind, the
02:21only way they will view that and understand that and digest that and make those changes
02:28is by maybe winning a game or two down the stretch.
02:31You finish with six wins, it's hard to say, oh, man, six and 11, we're close.
02:36You get to eight wins, you don't feel great.
02:39Even seven and 10, it's like, oh, well, game here, game there, a lot of one-score games.
02:43You could convince yourself.
02:45If the Bengals go two and four or worse down the stretch, I don't think they can even sell
02:49themselves on the idea that they're close.
02:52And you don't want them to be able to do that.
02:55Time and time again, they've done that in Bengals history, during the Marvin Lewis era,
02:59if you remember that, certainly before that, in the 90s, early 2000s, that was the case.
03:05They would win a couple of games down the stretch, even dating back to the 70s and 80s,
03:10win a couple of games down the stretch, ah, we're not that far away, not that far away,
03:15it can come together.
03:17No.
03:19It can be turned around.
03:21It can happen.
03:23They can be very, very good and contend in 2025.
03:26And we have plenty of time to talk about the changes, the things that need to happen.
03:31But the last thing I want, the worst case scenario, is for this Bengals team, Joe Burrow,
03:37Jamar Chase, playing at an elite level, to end up in the middle and think that they're
03:43close.
03:44Joe is amazing, Jamar is amazing, Tee Higgins is really good, but might not be on the team
03:49next year.
03:50You have to realize that you need big changes, that big changes are needed.
03:55And so what does that mean?
03:56You've got to lose some of these games down the stretch.
04:00The worst thing the Bengals could do is end up in the middle.
04:02Or, by the way, or win out and find a way to get into the playoffs.
04:06That's the other element.
04:07Go ahead and do that.
04:08There's a very low percentage chance that that happens, but fine.
04:11You want to talk about the winning element?
04:13Go 5-0, get into the playoffs, and then we'll talk.
04:17Fine with that.
04:18Not saying that I don't want that to happen or that you should root against that happening.
04:21It's just not going to happen.
04:23And so what you don't want to do is go 3-2 or 4-1 down the stretch, be at home in January
04:28when it matters, and be picking worse and thinking that you're close.
04:32This Bengals team is not close.