Game result: The Bengals beat the Browns 24-6. Cleveland gave Cincinnati trouble early, but Joe Burrow and company pulled away late to secure the win. The win allows the Bengals to remain alive for at least one more week in the playoff race. They host the Broncos in Week 17 with a chance to keep their playoff hopes alive into Week 18.
NFL playoff picture: What does Browns-Bengals mean for AFC standings
The Browns face the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
Matt Warren is Associate Director of NFL coverage for SB Nation and previously covered the Buffalo Bills for Buffalo Rumblings for more than a decade. If it has to do with math, he covered it, from NFL playoff standings to salary cap analysis.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff chances are on their last legs and they face two playoff-bound opponents in the final two weeks of the season. Cincy needs help in order to make the playoffs, but they also need to take care of their own business starting on Sunday.
The Bengals are favored to do that, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and they’ve been installed as an 8.5-point favorite.
Bengals playoff picture
It’s not really time to sugarcoat things. The Bengals need to win out to make the playoffs. They are 2.5 games out of the playoffs with only three games left to play. Cincy needs to get to 9-8 to have any chance and they need the Broncos to lose to get to 9-8.
Tiebreaker implications
This game doesn’t have much of a tiebreaker impact other than the overall record. The Bengals already have a loss to the Chargers, and Cincinnati plays the Broncos in Week 17. If Denver, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati are all tied at the end, the first tiebreaker would eliminate either the Broncos or Chargers as only one team from each division can advance into the tiebreak.
At 9-8, the Bengals will be ahead of the Broncos and behind the Chargers thanks to the head-to-head results.
If the Dolphins or Colts can make a run, other things might come into play. In that case, this would help in the AFC record tiebreaker, for sure, and potentially in the record vs common opponents.
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