Chris Roling, Bengals WireSat, November 29, 2025 at 9:10 PM UTC·1 min readThe Cincinnati Bengals can focus on winning out the rest of the way with Joe Burrow under center and hope the other pieces fall into place that let them sneak into the playoffs.
At 4-8, it’s unlikely that Burrow and the Bengals make the playoffs.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut it’s also not impossible.
The NFL playoff standings entering the bulk of the Week 13 action show an AFC North that is still pretty open.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently explained what the Bengals roughly need:
“They’ll likely have to win out. If they do, they’ll have dealt the Ravens a seventh loss, and will need Baltimore to lose another game on top of that. Then, they’ll need Pittsburgh to lose three of its final six games. That would generate a three-way tie, with the Bengals winning the tiebreaker—and the division.”
RELATED: Bengals’ playoff outlook, standings update after win vs. Ravens
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNever say never, though. Nobody would have predicted New England would be winning the AFC right now at 10 wins. Or that a team like Kansas City would be 6-6 and out of the race right now.
The Bengals winning out is a tall ask. Beating Baltimore again and taking down Buffalo is tough. Miami in Week 16 has a sometimes-great offense. Arizona and Cleveland to close the season feel like trap games.
And even if they do win out, the Bengals won five straight to close last season and still missed the playoffs.
Burrow’s approach, as captured by Breer, is probably best for fans, regardless: “Let's just go and try to win the next one and then go from there,” he said. “And we'll do that every week and see where we're at at the end.”
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ current path to NFL playoffs requires plenty of help
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