Post BYE - Where do we stand?

[*ochocincos*]

(11-06-2022, 06:03 PM)GridironMonarch Wrote: Moving on past the BYE week...Azuwie out long term (pretty much for the year), Chase (temporarily) out, anyway...do we have a chance, guys?

I say yes...but my glass is usually half full.

What say you?

Going into TEN, you're likely (hopefully) looking at 6-4.

Right now, Bengals are sitting just outside the playoffs. 
Jets, Dolphins, and Chargers are in the wildcard spots.
Chargers are half a game ahead of the Bengals.
Patriots are tied with the Bengals right now.

Bengals are very likely going to have to get to 9 wins to make the playoffs, but they might not make it with that record depending on tiebreakers.
10 wins is probably the safe goal to get in.

With all that said and assuming Bengals get a win vs PIT (not guaranteed), Bengals will need to get (at least) 3 wins against the following remaining teams:
TEN (currently 5-2)
KC (currently 5-2)
BUF (currently 6-2)
CLE (already lost to them once, haven't beaten them since 2019)
BAL (already lost to them once, currently 5-3)
TB (currently 3-5 but arguably not as bad their record indicates)
NE (currently 5-4, made playoffs last year)

The teams the Bengals might be most likely to beat are NE and TB out of that group, but that'd still only put them at 8 wins.
They'll need to find (at least) one more win against TEN, KC, BUF, CLE, and BAL.
I can't see how the Bengals would be favored in any of those matchups given the current landscape.