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.

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