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The Bengals’ playoffs hopes are fading at 3-6-1, though there is still hope of winning the AFC North.
However, because the Bengals are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention, some of the outcomes in Week 12 games could affect how high of a pick they have in the 2017 NFL Draft. Depending on how the rest of the season plays out, we should expect the Bengals to win at least one or two more games.
But that’s not going to be enough to make the playoffs, so Bengals fans should be rooting for certain teams to win to increase the Bengals’ draft positioning.
That’s easy to do since Cincinnati can only make the playoffs now by winning the AFC North, which makes it easy to root for just about any NFL team outside of the division while still rooting for every other AFC North team to lose.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills - Sunday, Nov. 27, 1:00 p.m. EST
Believe it or not, Bengals fans should just go ahead and root for the Bills in this one. Even though Buffalo handed Cincinnati a gut-wrenching loss in Week 11, it’s better now that the Bills win out and stay ahead of the Bengals in terms of draft positioning.
After all, Cincinnati has no shot at winning a Wild Card spot now, so finishing ahead of Buffalo in the AFC standings has no effect on the playoffs. Let’s just hope the Bengals don’t become what the Bills have been for nearly two decades; a team that wins 5-7 games every year and never makes the playoffs, but never lands that big-time draft pick either.
DECISION: Bills.
Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears - Sunday, Nov. 27, 1:00 p.m. EST
The same reason applies here. The 5-5 Titans should just keep winning and stay ahead of the Bengals in the standings if neither team ends up making the playoffs. It is crazy though to think the team that originally had the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft may actually finish ahead of a Bengals team that went 12-4 last year.
DECISION: Titans.
Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons - Sunday, Nov. 27, 1:00 p.m. EST
While the Bengals may be down this season, it has been nice to see them have more continued success than Carson Palmer has had since he quit on Cincinnati. Quitting is rarely a good move, and it’s nice to see it’s not really paying off for Palmer in terms of wins.
DECISION: Falcons.
Seattle Seahawks at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Sunday, Nov. 27, 4:05 p.m. EST
The 5-5 Buccaneers have done enough to stay ahead of the Bengals by two games thus far. If they can just win one or two more games, they’ll finish ahead of Cincinnati in the playoff standings. Since the Bengals’ only hope of getting to the playoffs is by winning the division, go ahead and root for Jameis Winston’s squad.
DECISION: Bucs
New England Patriots at New York Jets - Sunday, Nov. 27, 4:25 p.m. EST
Here’s another game where draft positioning is the only thing really at stake for the Bengals, who are still ahead of the 3-7 Jets in the standings. This would also make one of Cincinnati’s few wins of the season look better, not to mention a Patriots loss is always fun to watch.
DECISION: Jets