Bengals playoff scenarios: What Cincinnati needs to happen in Week 18 to clinch Wild Card spot
By Lior Lampert
Week 18 of the 2024 NFL campaign is upon us, which means the playoffs are right around the corner. However, the 14 teams vying for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans aren't officially set. The third and final Wild Card spots in the AFC and NFC remain available. But multiple squads in each conference are still mathematically alive, including the Cincinnati Bengals, thanks to a late-season surge.
Cincinnati has won four straight games to improve to 8-8 and put themselves within striking distance of the Denver Broncos for the AFC's seventh seed. Nonetheless, to backdoor into the postseason, they will need help. With that in mind, what must transpire for the Bengals to get in? And how viable is their path?
Bengals playoff scenarios: What Cincinnati needs to happen in Week 18 to clinch Wild Card spot
First and foremost, nothing else matters for the Bengals if they can't handle their business and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cincinnati has to overcome facing a divisional foe with a strong defensive unit in a hostile road environment at Acrisure Stadium. If they can do that, they will shift their attention to the Broncos and Miami Dolphins' matchups, respectively.
Denver hosts a Kansas City Chiefs group that has already clinched first place in the conference and will rest several key players. Given the circumstances, the Broncos are 10.5-point favorites for this AFC West showdown. Regardless, the Bengals will root hard for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions to win because they need Denver to lose to stay alive.
Moreover, the Bengals need the Dolphins to lose or tie against the New York Jets in their regular-season finale. Miami notably holds the tiebreaker over Cincinnati due to their superior conference record. Yet, the AFC East runner-ups will be without star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for this pivotal clash due to a hip injury.
Fortunately for the Bengals, they play on Saturday, while the Broncos and Dolphins both kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. So, Cincinnati can scoreboard-watch and see how their fate unravels, assuming they defeat the Steelers. Should Cincy prevail in Pittsburgh, they will become massive (temporary) Chiefs and Jets fans.
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