Bengals hunting down a .500 record on MNF
Cincinnati has defeated mostly awful teams so far
Believe it or not, the Cincinnati Bengals — who fired their offensive coordinator before the season was seven days old, who stumbled to an 0-3 start, and who were 3-6 just two weeks ago — aren’t out of the playoff hunt.
At 5-6, the Bengals can pull themselves up to .500 for the first time during the 2017 season with a home-field win Monday night against their arch-nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With the lowest AFC wild-card placeholders — Baltimore and Buffalo — only one victory ahead of them entering Sunday, at 6-5, the Bengals have about as much of a chance as any of the riffraff hovering just above or below .500 entering December.
Not that the Bengals would really deserve to reach the post-season.
The teams Cincinnati has defeated this season aren’t exactly world beaters: 0-11 Cleveland (twice), 3-8 Denver, 3-8 Indianapolis and 6-5 Buffalo. More than just shining their resume, defeating the 9-2 Steelers might give the Bengals legit momentum heading into the final quarter of the season, which features one powerhouse and three beat-ables: vs. 3-8 Chicago, at 9-2 Minnesota, vs. 6-5 Detroit, and at 6-5 Baltimore.
Cincinnati’s late November defeats of the Browns and Broncos featured the continued improved play from veteran starting quarterback Andy Dalton. He hasn’t been intercepted in six games, since the Bengals’ 29-14 loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 22.
When head coach Marv Lewis fired offensive coordinator Ken Zampese after Cincinnati’s 0-2 start and replaced him with Bill Lazor, the intention was to ditch the failing dink-and-dunk passing approach and take more downfield shots. That has worked.
“We’ve got to continually push the ball vertically,” Lewis said of Dalton. “Him not risking the football (has helped).”
Better news for the Bengals’ playoff chances is that they had their first good rushing output of the season last week against the Browns, getting 114 yards from rookie Joe Mixon.
“We’ve got to keep building on that for the rest of the season,” Lewis said.
Meantime, the Steelers might have to play without Pro Bowl receiver Antonio Brown. He has a toe injury that kept him from practising either Friday or Saturday, and is listed as questionable to play. NFL Network, however, described the toe injury as “minor” and said Brown is expected to play.