The Cincinnati Bengals are on bye in Week 6, which means they get to sit back and watch the AFC tangle itself into knots. That would be relaxing if the conference weren’t so jammed up.
Cincinnati is 3-2, a record that could easily be 5-0, but the Bengals are still only 10th in the AFC standings. So yes, the tiebreaker chatter starts now.
And the bad news is that there just aren’t many clean outcomes for Cincinnati this week.
Start with the Browns hosting the Ravens, which is exactly the kind of AFC North mess that should come with a warning label. If you want to root for Deshaun Watson, that’s your business.
I disrespectfully refuse. From a Bengals perspective, Cleveland winning would help inch Cincinnati closer to the top of the division, but it would also muddy the wild-card picture by pulling another team into the mix.
The Browns are a tough out because of that defense, no matter who is playing quarterback. As for the Ravens?
Rooting for them usually means helping them create more space in the division, and in this case, as Jonathan Frakes has famously said on many occasions, "Not this time."
The wild-card race is where the bye week gets especially ugly. Denver enters the week at 3-2, and the Broncos are one of those teams sitting ahead of Cincinnati.
Bo Nix has a lot working in his favor - a strong offensive line, a good defense, plenty of support - and not much seems to come of it. The Broncos are also facing a Seattle team that has looked uneven since losing at home to the 49ers, then falling to the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders, then barely escaping the winless Chargers.
That makes Denver another Bengals rooting opportunity, even if it’s not exactly an appealing one.
Then there’s Buffalo, which brings its own headache. Josh Allen is the kind of quarterback who can change the board all by himself, even with a defense that’s shaky for the most part.
He is the kind of player who keeps rolling anyway, and when he does, the Bills become a problem. Cincinnati would love a loss there from a standings standpoint, even if that means watching one of the league’s most chaotic stars keep doing his thing.
The cleanest Bengals rooting job of the weekend may be Steelers at Buccaneers, set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
Tampa Bay gets the nod here. Jalon Daniels may have caught lightning in a bottle in Thursday night’s win over the Cowboys, but this is a much different ask against a Steelers defense that can still make life difficult.
Since quarterback starts were first tracked in 1950, only one QB has done the following in each of his first 2 NFL starts: completed 70% of his passes, thrown a TD pass, and rushed for 20+ yards. That quarterback is Jalon Daniels.
He was undrafted.
Still, the Bengals need the Steelers to lose because Pittsburgh owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. A Steelers loss would matter for both the division race and the wild-card chase, which makes this the easiest call of the week for Cincinnati fans.
There’s also the Patriots to keep an eye on. Drake "The Schedule" Maye has looked good the last two games against the Bills and Raiders, though the level of competition is part of the story there.
Geno Smith has been playing very clean football this season, with two lost fumbles and no interceptions. If A.J.
Brown returns, the Patriots would be huge home favorites, but that’s still to be determined. What is clear is that the 3-2 Patriots can be dangerous when Maye isn’t doing a terrible Josh Allen impersonation, and any loss they take could matter later in a potential Bengals tiebreaker battle.
In Other News...
Bengals Kept The AFC North Race Alive With A Bigger Test Looming
Baltimores overtime win over Atlanta tightened the AFC North picture, and Cincinnati did its part to keep the division race from slipping away by knocking off Miami and ending a two-game skid. Clevelands loss to the Jets knocked the Browns off a three-game run, while Pittsburgh stayed in the mix with a win over Indianapolis and a strong showing from Jaylen Warren, leaving the division crowded again after Week 5.
For the Bengals, the timing matters almost as much as the result. A win like this buys some breathing room and resets the tone after a rough stretch, but the schedule does not offer much time to enjoy it with a bigger test ahead once the bye passes. With Baltimore now in front, Cincinnatis next stretch figures to tell a lot about whether this victory was just a needed pause in the slide or the start of something more meaningful. [Read more 🡒]
Jake Browning May Have Another Unexpected Shot At Starting
Jake Brownings latest move has landed him in a familiar sort of limbo. The former Bengals backup quarterback signed with the Chargers and sits third on Los Angeles quarterback depth chart behind Justin Herbert and DJ Uiagalelei, a spot that does not exactly scream immediate opportunity but does keep him one snap or one roster wrinkle away from relevance.
For Cincinnati fans, Brownings path is worth watching because the door in Los Angeles only opens if the situation above him changes. There has been speculation that the Chargers could consider trading Herbert, though the team has not confirmed any such plan, and any shift there would immediately alter Brownings standing. For now, it is another reminder that a quarterbacks next chance can arrive in the least expected way. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bengals Keep Exposing A Defensive Problem Cincinnati Still Has
The Bengals defensive issues have been a recurring theme, and a few familiar names are helping keep that conversation alive. Akeem Davis-Gaither, now with the Colts, has been one of the former Cincinnati defenders drawing attention for the way he is tackling and staying involved, while the broader picture still points back to the same concern the Bengals have been trying to solve. The piece also tracks where Trey Hendrickson stands as he works back from injury ahead of a matchup with the Ravens, another reminder of how much Cincinnatis edge presence still matters.
Joseph Ossais situation adds another layer to the story, especially with his status up in the air after leaving the Jets Week 5 win. For the Bengals, the thread connecting all of it is hard to ignore: former players are still being used as a measuring stick for a defense that has not fully steadied itself, and the current group is left trying to show it can be more reliable than the version fans keep seeing on film and in the rankings. [Read more 🡒]