With just six weeks left in the regular season, the Cincinnati Bengals are hoping for a major turnaround and quickly if they are to sneak into the playoffs. During the bye week, the Bengals saw the Denver Broncos defeat the Las Vegas Raiders to move to 7-5. We’ll get to more on that in a minute.
First, let’s take a quick look at the AFC North standings, a race that tightened at the top following a Thursday night upset in Cleveland. While that race will likely come down to the wire, the Bengals’ chances are very slim. They are four games back with six to play. The silver lining is they still have two games against the Steelers. The downside is they have already been swept by the Ravens.
AFC North standings
1. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-3
2. Baltimore Ravens 8-4
3. Cincinnati Bengals 4-7
4. Cleveland Browns 3-8
Let’s get back to the wild card race. The Bengals are now 2.5 games out of the playoffs following Denver’s win. The Bengals also have two other teams they have to jump over, the 5-6 Miami Dolphins and the 5-7 Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals host the Broncos in Week 17, either the 28th or 29th of December.
Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for the four teams:
| Bengals | Broncos | Dolphins | Colts |
| vs. Steelers | vs. Browns | at Packers | at Patriots |
| at Cowboys | BYE | vs. Jets | BYE |
| at Titans | vs. Colts | at Texans | at Broncos |
| vs. Browns | at Charger | vs. 49ers | vs. Titans |
| vs. Broncos | at Bengals | at Browns | at Giants |
| at Steelers | vs. Chiefs | at Jets | vs. Jaguars |
Current AFC Playoff standings
1. Kansas City Chiefs 10-1
2. Buffalo Bills 9-2
3. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-3
4. Houston Texans 7-5
5. Baltimore Ravens 8-4
6. Los Angeles Chargers 7-4
7. Denver Broncos 7-5
8. Miami Dolphins 5-6
9. Indianapolis Colts 5-7
10. Cincinnati Bengals 4-7
11. Cleveland Browns 3-8
12. New York Jets 3-8
13. Tennessee Titans 3-8
14. New England Patriots 3-9
15. Jacksonville Jaguars 2-9
16. Las Vegas Raiders 2-9
