I understand the the frustration of losing Burrow, but we have no idea how much time he’s going to miss.
That was a tough loss last night, but there is still a lot of football left. The AFC is a clusterfuck, and a lot of teams are going to beat each other up.
I get the tiebreaker stuff, but if Bengals make a run a lot of that can correct itself naturally. They still have 6 AFC games left, and 3 North ones.The team looked good last night overall until the injury. They responded to that punch well and looked like they could take control of the game after the touchdown. I think the wind was taken out of their sails in the moment and it affected both sides of the ball. Shit happens.
Now if Burrow is out for a bunch of games then yeah, we are probably done. But I would at least wait until we learn more. If it’s short term then it’s possible. I think they can beat the Steelers at home with Browning.
Miracles could happen but they have a brutal schedule and so many teams ahead of them.
Burrow out
The odds are just stacked against them. They don’t just need to play well, they need to play great and literally go on a heater to have a chance. 10 wins probably isn’t enough. We also need other AFC teams to falter.
I’d feel differently if the defense wasn’t so bad. They’re … bad. Maybe Battle starting and getting Hubbard back will help… but damn.
Is it possible? Yes. If they can figure it out, that would be a fun experience but my expectations are low. There’s a chance we finish with 9-10 wins and still end up last in the division.
Burrow is out for the season - torn ligament. Having said that, here is a test of how creative our coaches can get.
Can we change our identity to a running team on offense with occasional play action passes? Can the rookies on defense step up?
I think it’s at least theoretically possible
Joe Mixon has been playing his heart out. If his body will stand up to getting the ball more often and the offensive line can start doing what ought to be the easier job of run blocking, we might still find a way to sneak into the playoff picture.
If you can’t beat the Steelers, Ravens, or Browns, home or away, even one time, do the playoffs matter?
Because you have one of the hardest schedules remaining, an awful conference record, and you basically need to go 6-1 to get a playoff place. With a backup QB.
It’s Joever