If the NFL regular season ended right now, the Cincinnati Bengals would not be in the playoffs. Fortunately, it won’t be completed until Thanksgiving, but the Bengals face an extremely difficult challenge, especially with Joe Burrow out for the rest of the season.
Let’s take a look at the playoff bracket as we approach Week 12.
In the AFC, Bengals supporters may not only have to watch a postseason without their team, but they may also have to watch the Ravens retain the number one seed. That would not be a fun moment.
On the NFC side, we’d see two divisional matchups on wild card weekend, followed by a potentially exciting matchup between the Saints and Cowboys, depending on which versions of both teams appear.
There are still several weeks left in the season, but with the Bengals’ best quarterback out, making the playoffs will be difficult.
Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson spoke with The Next Man Up as Bengals quarterback Jake Browning sat down for this week’s conversation. Browning prepares for his first NFL start Sunday at Paycor Stadium (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12 ) against the 6-4 Steelers in the rush of the AFC playoff picture with the same even-keel approach he brought to his victorious training camp Joe Burrow Backup derby.
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The conversation:
GH: A slew of backup quarterbacks are winning games this season. Josh Dobbs has won with two teams. What do you think when you see those names winning games?
JB: I think it speaks to the quality of backups that are in the NFL now. But also I think as I watch some of those, it’s coaches calling plays to let them go win the game. You watch some guys and you can tell they’re trying to protect the quarterback and call plays just so the quarterback doesn’t lose the game.
That’s kind of been my thing to the coaches. ‘Hey, let’s call whatever plays are going to help us beat the Steelers,’ and not be as worried as much about whether they’re protecting me with certain play calls or trying to run the ball just to give me plays off or something like that. Let’s call plays to go win the game.
GH: How do you break down Pittsburgh? You’ve helped Joe break these guys down. What makes them tick? How do you beat them?
JB: We’re still early in the week, but obviously they’ve got a really good pass rush. Feels like they’ve had a really good pass rush for like 70 years. They’re a good team. They do what they do, and they do it really well.
They’re going to challenge you on the outside and try to make you one-dimensional stopping the run. I think it really starts with their pass rush and the two guys on the edge and the two on the interior. I mean, we know Larry (Ogunjobi at defensive tackle). Larry makes a lot of splash plays. Shows up on film. Cam Heyward has been there forever. The two edge guys are two of the better ones. One is the best in the NFL and the other one’s not talked about as much but really good, too
GH: Joe’s got the rep for getting the ball out fast. You seem to be willing to unload it, too.
JB: Yeah, I’m not looking to pat the baby back there. But part of that is mixing up when you’re going to take your shots. You don’t want to just sit there and quick game the whole game. You don’t want to let DBs just play downhill. You want to challenge them. It’s just anytime you’re going against a good pass rush, whether it’s Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or basically this whole division, you want to pick and choose your spots. You still have to challenge people down the field.
GH: Head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan are going to ask you what your favorite plays are. What do you like? Obviously, I don’t want you to tell me that ….
JB: I wasn’t planning on it
