There are a number of ways teams can view the last week of a National Football League season. There are those squads headed to the postseason that may take this week “off” to protect against injuries. There are those teams that may have packed in their campaign after a disappointing season and be more focused on the upcoming draft than the results this Sunday.
There are also each year a team or two that is not headed to the playoffs but have something to prove in their final game of the season. These teams can be lethal. They have nothing to lose and want to end their season showing their competition that they were good enough to be entering the postseason if only …..
The Cincinnati Bengals fall into this category this year.
The Bengals have one of the best quarterbacks in the league with Joe Burrow. As long as he stays on the field, the Bengals are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Take him out of the lineup, and well they have more trouble than a naked beekeeper.
I don’t know why, but the Bengals defense statistically plays a lot better when Burrow is playing offense. This year, Burrow missed another block of games with an injury and his team looked like a trout pulled from the water and flopping around in the boat. After starting the first two games, both Cincinnati wins, Burrow missed the next nine games, and the Bengals lost eight of them.
One might assume they lost because the offense struggled without their prize quarterback. But in fact, the quarterback position was not the primary problem at fault for the Bengals collapse. After a couple blowout losses, the Bengals even traded for veteran signal caller Joe Flacco, and he played pretty well … but the Bengals defense appeared to have missed their ride to the games.
Without Burrow adding his leadership to the Bengals cause, the defense allowed more than 20 points in every game, more than 30 points six times and more than 40 points twice. Their lone win while Burrow was sidelined was a 33-31 nailbiter over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But, with Burrow back the past five weeks, the Bengals have three wins. The past two games the defense has allowed 21 and 14 points which resulted in double-digit victories.
This is a Bengals team that is 5-2 when Burrow starts, and 1 and 9 when he is watching in street clothes.
This week, Burrow will put a cap on the Bengals 2025 season, and he and his team will want to win again to show the football world that they are not among the worst teams in football. They played like that for nine weeks but now want to show they are still a force to be reckoned with in the future.
Who stands in their way of making this statement?
The Cleveland Browns.
Fresh off their triumph to delay the Steelers possible trip into the postseason, the Browns visit Cincinnati to end the season against the team they opened this campaign against last September. Both the Browns and Bengals came into this season with high hopes and a narrow Cincinnati victory during the opening weekend, 17-16, left both teams with optimism for the season.
Then, reality set in, and the Browns and Bengals played this year on par with the likes of the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders. They both wanted to move out of that cellar dwelling category and in recent weeks they both have succeeded.
The Browns got the win they wanted last week when they didn’t allow the Steelers to clinch a playoff berth on their home field. The Bengals will get their final notch of success this Sunday when they win big over their AFC North Division rivals.
Qoxhi Picks: Cincinnati Bengals (-7½) over Cleveland Browns