Cincinnati has done all it can.
Now the wait begins.
With their fifth straight win on Saturday, a 19-17 nail-biter over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals kept hope alive for a postseason berth that felt impossible directly after the last time the two teams squared off on Dec. 1.
Even now, amid a remarkable turnaround, the odds are unkind. Both the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins must lose Sunday for the Bengals to claim the AFC's final playoff spot. Such a small window won't prevent head coach Zac Taylor from highlighting his team's resilience, though.
"Guys just believed this was one we had to have," Taylor said Saturday following the victory. "These guys came with the right attitude. They've had the right attitude. They've stuck together. I think this is an appropriate end to this game. It's what we've done the last five weeks. These guys, just at 4-8, probably one of the lowest moments we've had, you know, sitting there and staring at that record with the expectations we had. And the choice the guys made was let's stick with the process, stick with what we're doing, believe in each other. Everybody gave their most. We won five in a row and put ourselves in a position to cross our fingers tomorrow and cheer like a lot of fans."
Taylor's Bengals have scratched and clawed their way back into contention after a disastrous 4-8 start highlighted by brutally narrow defeats and a defense letting down an offense led by Joe Burrow, who enters Sunday the league leader with 43 passing touchdowns and 4,918 passing yards, and Ja'Marr Chase, likely to become the sixth player in the Super Bowl era to win the receiving triple crown.
Both methods of losing were on display during the first Bengals-Steelers game of the 2024 season, when Pittsburgh scored 44 points (its most in a game since 2018) to spoil Cincinnati's 38-point performance.
It marked the Bengals' fourth loss while eclipsing 30 points on the season, dropping Burrow and Co. to four games below .500 with five games to play.
Looking up at most of the conference, the Bengals refused to lose moving forward. They downed the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans on the road before trouncing the Cleveland Browns and outlasting the Denver Broncos in overtime to give themselves something to play for in Week 18 -- in enemy territory against the rivals responsible for delivering them to rock bottom five weeks prior.
But unlike their previous 44-38 loss to Pittsburgh and their other four games of the current win streak, during which they've averaged 29.5 points, the Bengals stalled Saturday night. Fittingly, they needed their defense, maligned all year, to help seal a win.
After immediately marching down the field to begin the game with a touchdown, Cincinnati failed to find the end zone the remainder of the contest. Instead, a 10-0 first-quarter lead felt precarious throughout, as the Bengals had to resort to field goals on their three red-zone drives to come.
That left them just a 12-point lead with 11:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, which became a five-point advantage after the slumbering Steelers woke up to reach the end zone on a drive that took less than three minutes.
Cincinnati's offense would muster just eight plays and 14 yards across its following two possessions.
Cincinnati's defense, meanwhile, remained up to task, forcing a three-and-out on Pittsburgh's next drive and then limiting the Steelers to a field goal once a muffed punt by D.J. Ivey set them up at the Bengals' 38-yard line.
When the Bengals D was called on to close out the game, up two with 1:40 left, the NFL's 29th-ranked scoring unit entering Week 18 snuffed out the Steelers on downs. In preserving the win, Cincy finished with 193 total yards allowed and 119 passing yards allowed, both season lows.
"It was a big win," Burrow said. "One that we were excited about and one where we needed a lot of different people to step up. So now we can sit back and hope for the best."
None stepped up bigger than defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who logged a sack on each of Pittsburgh's last two possessions and added 3.5 total to bring his NFL-best mark to 17.5.
With a roster highlighted by so many topping the league at their position -- Burrow, Chase and Hendrickson -- plus the momentum of riding a five-game streak, it's enticing to envision the disruption a plucky Bengals squad could cause should they eke out a berth.
"We know the talent that we have," Burrow said. "We've been in those spots before. I know that if we get in we can make some noise with the players and the coaches that we have in this building."
Taylor was even more demonstrative regarding his team's capabilities.
"They're not going to want us in this tournament," the coach said. "I promise you."
