The fact we sit here on Thanksgiving weekend of this season gone sideways and discussing the playoff position of the Bengals almost feels wrong. Bengals fans know what playoff teams look like. Though they can’t speak as accurately about playoff-winning teams, six of the last eight seasons they watched playoff-level football.
What we’ve seen through 10 weeks of the season in Cincinnati is not that.
Yet, thanks to the parity paradise of the NFL, here they are with six games left, one game out of the final playoff spot in the AFC.
The Ravens (5-5) technically hold the last spot at this point, tied with Buffalo (5-5).