The Bengals have rebounded from a 3-5 midseason hole to get to within one game of the playoffs now at 8-6. If they beat today's opponent, they're in (and that would be the first time they made the playoffs in consecutive years since 1981-82). The only problem? Today's opponent: The Steelers.
Since Marvin Lewis took over for the Bengals in 2003, they Bengals have beaten the Steelers a total of five times. That's horrible.
The problem with the Steelers is that they are just more physical and Big Ben is just about impossible to sack. It just seems when there are big plays to be made, the Steelers step up and convert and the Bengals thrown an incompletion.
But as a Bengals have, being in playoff contention this late in the season is about as good as it gets!
The only chance the Bengals have is if their QB of the future, Andy Dalton, to play a flawless game. Right now, that's not going to happen. Yes, Dalton lucked out and made the playoffs his rookie year, and he has avoided a sophomore slump, but he is still too streaky to offer up a division title right now.
I was listening to ESPN a few weeks ago, and Ron Jaworski said when he watches Dalton, he is always frustrated because while Dalton doesn't make a ton of mistakes (liked Ponder or Locker or Gabbert), but he leaves too many scoring plays on the field. That means he misses wide open receivers or he takes sacks or throws the ball away. And this is a shame given they have the best big play receiver in the NFL, AJ Green.
So if the Bengals can win the turnover game, Dalton can give us his best game of the year, and if the defense can get to Big Ben, the Bengals can squeak out a win.
We'll see. But regardless of the outcome, it's nice to be watching relevant football games this time of the year rather than looking forward to April's draft.
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