If the Bengals make the playoffs, here’s what the likeliest path looks like

The season felt over when the Cincinnati Bengals held a 4-8 record last month.

However, the team has put together a four-game win streak and is now back to .500 with an 8-8 record heading into the last week of the regular season. That has the Bengals very much in the hunt for the NFL Playoffs as well, as they’re battling alongside the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos for the final AFC Wild Card spot.

In order for the Bengals to make the playoffs now, the team needs to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, have the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, and the backup-heavy Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver. The Bengals would finish 9-8 and enter the postseason as the 7-seed in the AFC.

If that happens, the Bengals will then need to gear up for an absolute gauntlet path in the playoffs.

Joe Burrow and Cincinnati will head to Buffalo in the first round and take on Josh Allen and the Bills.

If the Bengals can make the playoffs and pull off that win, they would then have to go to Arrowhead Stadium for a date with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Divisional Round.

If the Bengals win those two games, there is a high possibility they would then see Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. The Bengals have just one win over Jackson since he became the Ravens starter in the 2018 season and none since the 2021 season.

No matter what you think will happen, the Bengals would draw the hardest playoff path in recent memory. But at this point, all of Bengaldom would gladly take it, as it’s going to be nothing short of a miracle for Cincinnati just to get in the playoffs.

Hope remains.