Bengals now hold a spot in NFL playoffs if the season ended today

From 2019 to 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals won a grand total of six games.

With a Week 12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati would pass that total with seven victories while remaining in firm contention for a playoff spot.

After today’s 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bengals improved to 6-4 overall and are now holding one of the AFC Wildcard spots in the 2021-22 NFL playoffs.

In addition to beating a playoff-contending Raiders team today, the Bengals got help in several other games that increased their playoff positioning. The biggest was the Buffalo Bills getting blown out by the Indianapolis Colts. That allowed Cincinnati to move ahead of Buffalo in the playoff standings, according to ESPN’s NFL playoff picture.

The Bengals also pulled to within two games of catching the Tennessee Titans for the No. 1 seed in the AFC after the former lost at home to the 2-8 Houston Texans.

As far as the teams currently ahead of the Bengals, they get to host the Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens over the next six weeks, so they’ll get plenty of chances to move further up the standings.

But first thing’s first. Beat Pittsburgh.