cincykent Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 The Bengals must win their next 4 games if they are going to win the division. Pittsburgh will go at least 12-4. They won one of their toughest games last Monday night. The Bengals need at least a split with the Steelers and then sweep the Ravens and Browns. It may come down to the last week at KC. We have to hope the Steelers lose to Indy and another AFC team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Though it pains me to do so, I must agree. The Steelers looks strong once again, and if we want any hope of taking the division, we better win a solid 13 games. The difference between winning the AFC North and getting 2nd place could be the difference between a first round bye, and a road playoff game in the first round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turningpoint Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 which sucks ass.it could actually be the difference between home field throughout and a road playoff game.2 PBS games vs no PBS games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShulaSteakhouse Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Agreed. The Bengals have to start matching/playing like the Steelers if they want to get to the playoffs, the AFC is too tough.As great as the 4-1 start is, the Bengals' are capable of playing better ball and will need to from here on out.CJ is right - losing games like last week's is typical of the old Bengals - if you want to win and go into the postseason - you need to be like the Steelers' were Monday night and close out a game properly that's that close - ecspecially when you are the better team ultimately.This Sunday should be very telling of what direction this team is going to go in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Must win the next four? Well, every win helps but for my money we pretty much have five must-win games left:Pitt x2Baltimore x2Cleveland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekshank Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 If Roethlisberger's absense results in a loss vs Jax, this goes a long way to alleviate our loss in our only primetime game. The Steelers did look strong against SD... but I still think Ben's injury is going to hamper him more than most think.He's not Mike Vick out there... but a HUGE part of his game is his elusiveness and strength. Both take a big hit with a less than 100% knee, and he immediately becomes easier to tackle. He wiggles his way out of many sacks, and finds ways to get 1st downs afterwards. If he starts getting sacked instead of making 1st downs on those plays, Pittsburgh is very beatable.I am nearly 100% he won't play this week, and would be surprised if he played next week @ Cincy. Even if he does... there is no denying that he will be in some pain, so Pittsburgh becomes mortal.All that to say... If they find a way to win these next two games, and beat us in our house, we aren't going to win the division - end of discussion. On the other hand, if they lose the next two games, we are in great position to stay on top all season long.They won @SD, we need to win @KC at the end of the season. They lost to NE, if we beat Buffalo (which we are likely to do) that is another big step we can take in an advantage over them.My guess... we end the season with the same record... and who knows what the tie-breaker will be by then, since I expect both of us to split with eachother, and sweep Baltimore and Cleveland. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBin2k7 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Let's just say that we don't win the division. The AFC playoff picture could shape up something like this.I am guessing NE still finds a way to win the east, and DEN wins the west, INDY and PITT take both divisions,Miami is not ready, Buffalo and the Jets and Baltimore have serious Offensive concerns, Tennessee is too young, and Oakland is behind the eight ball.For the final two wildcard berths, I believe we are going to have to battle Jacksonville (3-2), Kansas City (2-2) and San Diego (2-3).looking at San Diego's schedule, would leave me to believe if they make it through they are worthy of playoffs. Next 4 games, at OAK, at PHI, KC, at NYJ. That is very tough and with 3 losses already, they would at the very least need a split. I think something that is working to our advantage is that the AFC west is playing the NFC east, and the east is proving to be a tough division so the losses for KC and SD may pile up.I think we could be in very good shape if we end up 10-6 or 9-7. Now I know winning the division would be great, but just getting in the playoffs would be good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadraftnick Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 We owe Tenn for that game from last year. I think that game more than any was one that should have been won. The Bengals were coming of the Monday night football victory against the Broncos. They came out looking hung over and it went down hill after that. If you look at a tape of that game It looked like guys were not even getting down in their stance. Add in a couple of bad calls and you get a big L. One more win would have made them 9-7 and play offs.One thing I would like to know why are we playing them in Tenn two years in a row?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincykent Posted October 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 There are only 3 games we should be listed as an underdog: at Pittsburgh, at Kansas City, and Indy at home. That would leave us at 12-4. All the other games are must wins. The wild card teams should come from the AFC North and South. The AFC West should beat each other up and must play the NFC East. The AFC East has to play the NFC South(Atlanta, Tampa, and Carolina should do some damage). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walzav29 Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 The Steelers have a tougher schedule. It comes down to at least splitting with the Steelers and beating teams like the Titans. They will be tough, but the good teams beat these guys. You just knew the Colts would whip them and they are a division rival. That's how you get to be elite. Hey we beat teh Browns on the road. Tomorrow is huge. It will be interesting how the Bengals play as the pressure builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 To me, the importance of the Titans game is iits status as a winnable road game.This game wraps up the first "chunk" (for lack of a better word) of the season for me. There's been a lot of talk about how the Bengals have played only poor teams, but little note of where they have played those teams. The Titans are the Bengals' 4th road game in their first 6 games...and a win tomorrow puts us at an amazing 3-1 on the road, on top of 2-0 at home.The second "chunk" of the season is the next 5 games, 4 of them home games. The only away game is Baltimore, a short trip which conveniently comes smack dab in the middle of this chunk, so they get 2 2-game homestands. The teams get tougher...but home field should help. Then there are the final five games, 3 on the road and 2 at home.In short, winning tomorrow puts us on track to go into December with 8-9 wins already under our belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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