Hey, do you hate Mike Brown? Here's a quick quiz to find out:

1. Mike Brown
a) is the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals
b) is a nice old man
c) sucks

Continue reading this post »

This weekend against the Baltimore Ravens has one purpose in mind: If the Cincinnati Bengals win, they claim the sixth seed in the playoffs. It's the easiest path to the playoffs and the Bengals, who have won five of the last six against the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium, have a reasonable chance of making that happen. But god forbid, if they fail to secure a win, the Bengals can still make the playoffs with some help.

Continue reading this post »

With 19 seconds remaining during Thursday Night’s game against the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Dan Orlovsky placed a well thrown pass high enough where only Reggie Wayne had an opportunity to out-leap the secondary to haul in the reception. It was a game-winning touchdown, giving the Colts a 19-16 win over their division rivals in Houston. That being said, the unstoppable Orlovsky-Wayne connection helped the Cincinnati Bengals’ improbable playoff run.

Continue reading this post »

Entering Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams, Cincinnati preceded the weekend with playoff scenarios that depressingly dwindled following an upsetting and disastrous loss to the Houston Texans last weekend. Though the Bengals needed to rally to beat the Rams 20-13, with a little help in the form of three St. Louis personal foul penalties, the Bengals have re-entered playoff discussions with a little more strength then they had before Sunday’s conclusion. And that’s thanks to a little help around the league.

Continue reading this post »

As Jason pointed out Monday morning, the Cincinnati Bengals are one of three AFC North teams fighting to claim three of six playoff spots this year. With a win this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals will replace Pittsburgh for the fifth seed, which is the conference's first wild card berth. With both teams sporting an identical 8-4 record (again on the condition Cincinnati wins), the teams will have to check-off the list of tie-breaker scenarios for that wild card berth. Since head-to-head record will be split between the two teams, the first tie-breaker is negated. Cincinnati claims the second tie-breaker with a division record of 3-2, dropping Pittsburgh to 1-3 if the Bengals beat the Steelers this weekend.

Continue reading this post »

At this point last week the Cincinnati Bengals were listed as the top-seed in the American Football Conference if the season were to have ended. Considering that if the season ended eight weeks premature, the county is probably facing a catastrophe and the National Football League ceases operations. Worrying about where the Bengals are in the playoff picture might be below the thought process of say, survival. Then again if you're surrounded by a horde of aggressive aliens bent on dominating planet Earth, you could always reflect that the Cincinnati Bengals, not the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers or Baltimore Ravens were the AFC representatives for the regular season that ended at the same time humanity came to a crushing halt. Hopefully people don't draw parallels there.

Yet if aliens began their invasion this week and not last week, aside from the point of having horrible timing, where would the Bengals be seeded in this year's playoffs when humanity became enslaved?

Continue reading this post »

Even though the Cincinnati Bengals are out of the playoffs this season, it doesn't mean that we have to isolate ourselves from the NFL community as teams push for a playoff spot and improve their seeding. In case you couldn't tell based on the site, I love the Cincinnati Bengals. But I also love NFL football and NFL playoffs, even if the Bengals are imitating all of us, resting on the couch and watching the best against the best -- though when one defines a division champion without a winning record, that hardly seems like the "best".

Closer to home, the AFC North title has yet to be decided through 15 games. If the season were to end, the Pittsburgh Steelers would edge out the Baltimore Ravens based on a Strength of Victory tie-breaker. However, someone just wiped perspiration from their brow thinking they woke up in a future where apes ruled the planet and the NFL only played 15 games.

If the Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh clinches the AFC North and a first-round bye no matter what the Ravens do. If the Steelers lose to the Browns, then the Ravens have an opportunity to clinch the AFC North and a first-round bye. That's where the Bengals come in during this week's Wreck Your Team Campaign. If the Bengals beat the Ravens, after the Steelers already lost, then Pittsburgh goes back to clinching the AFC North and a first-round bye.

You might say, "I'd rather the Ravens be the division champions over the Steelers." And I might say, there's no circumstance in this world in which I want the Ravens, Steelers or Browns to beat the Bengals. Well, in reality, there's no circumstance in this world in which I want the Bengals to lose. Period. Not even for a draft pick.

The Patriots (first seed), Steelers, Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs (AFC West Champions) and New York Jets (Wild Card #2) already have a playoff spot clinched. That leaves the AFC South. With a win over the Tennessee Titans, the Indianapolis Colts head back to the postseason, no matter what the Jacksonville Jaguars do. Now, if the Jaguars beat the Houston Texans and the Titans beat the Colts, then the Jaguars are in the playoffs and the Colts miss the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.

In terms of seeding, New England has clinched home-field advantage and the first seed. Either Pittsburgh or Baltimore will clinch the other first-round bye and the second seed -- the other team will clinch the fifth seed as the best Wild Card team. If the Chiefs and Colts win this weekend, Kansas City will be the third seed and the Colts will be the fourth seed. However, if the Chiefs lose and the Colts win, the seeds are swapped and the Colts become the third seed. If the Colts lose and the Jaguars win, then the Chiefs lock the third seed no matter what they do against Oakland.

The National Football League's 2010 season is winding down and as the season winds down, games take on added urgency. The teams meant to stick around for the postseason will begin their playoff run today. Teams like the Indianapolis Colts, while controlling their own destiny, could still be one loss away from missing the playoffs entirely. As of this week, the Patriots and Steelers are the only teams in the AFC to clinch a playoff spot.

While muddled in terms of seeding, the rest of the playoffs could literally fall into place this weekend.

Here's the playoff scenarios broken down by the NFL

The New England Patriots can clinch the AFC East AND Homefield Advantage with:

1. A win over the Buffalo Bills OR
2. A New York Jets loss to the Chicago Bears

The Pittsburgh Steelers can clinch the AFC North and a first-round bye with:

1. A win over the Carolina Panthers AND
2. A Baltimore Ravens loss to the Cleveland Browns

The Kansas City Chiefs can clinch the AFC West with:

1. A win over the Tennessee Titans and a San Diego loss or tie OR
2. A Kansas City tie and a San Diego loss

The Baltimore Ravens can clinch a playoff spot with:

1. A win over the Cleveland Browns OR
2. Kansas City loss + Jacksonville loss or tie OR
3. Kansas City loss + Indianapolis loss or tie OR
4. San Diego loss or tie + Jacksonville loss or tie OR
5. San Diego loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie

The New York Jets can clinch a playoff spot with:

1. A win over the Chicago Bears OR
2. A Jacksonville loss or tie OR
3. Indianapolis loss or tie

So basically, if the Patriots and Steelers win, they'll have the top two seeds and the first round byes. If the Chiefs win and San Diego loses, the Chiefs win the AFC West. And if both the Ravens and Jets win, they both clinch a playoff spot, which will most likely be the two wild card spots. The only playoff spot that can't be determined this weekend is the AFC South Championship between the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars.

As for the NFC.

Atlanta Falcons can clinch NFC South and homefield advantage with:

1. A win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football

The Philadelphia Eagles can clinch the NFC East with:

1. A win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football OR
2. A tie and a New York Giants loss or tie to the Green Bay Packers OR
3. A New York Giants loss to the Green Bay Packers

The Philadelphia Eagles can clinch a playoff spot with:

1. An Eagles tie with Minnesota OR
2. Tampa Bay loss or tie

The Chicago Bears can clinch a first-round bye with:

1. A win over the New York Jets AND
2. A Philadelphia Eagles loss to the Minnesota Vikings AND
3. A New York Giants loss to the Green Bay Packers

The New Orleans Saints can clinch a playoff spot with:

1. A win over the Atlanta Falcons OR
2. Tampa Bay loss

The New York Giants can clinch a playoff spot with:

1. A win over the Green Bay Packers