It’s not but Christmas Eve nor kickoff for the Cincinnati Bengals, however they’ve already been bestowed a present that may carry on giving via mid-January.
The Bengals clinched a playoff berth on Thursday evening thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defeat of the New York Jets.
With the Jets’ loss, the Bengals (10-4) punched their postseason ticket two days earlier than their Week 16 sport in opposition to the host New England Patriots on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
A season after advancing to the Super Bowl, the reigning AFC champions are again within the dance. It marks the primary time Cincinnati has booked back-to-back journeys to the playoffs since advancing to 5 consecutive postseasons between 2011-2015.
Having sparked concern about being a one-season surprise following their 0-2 begin to the season, the Bengals rebounded and at the moment are one of many hottest groups within the NFL, having gained six straight heading into Saturday. Cincinnati’s emergence from its 0-2 gap is hardly commonplace, as groups that began their season in stated style have made the playoffs simply 11.3% of the time coming into 2022. Not for the reason that 2018 Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans has a workforce that started the 12 months 0-2 made the playoffs.
Cincinnati’s Christmas Eve conflict with the Patriots nonetheless has playoff implications aplenty, nonetheless.
The Bengals will look to take a step nearer to clinching back-to-back AFC North titles, whereas the Patriots will goal to preserve their faint playoff hopes alive. Meanwhile, a New England loss — coupled with the Jets’ setback Thursday — would usher the Baltimore Ravens into the playoffs and is required for a possible Los Angeles Chargers clinch on Monday.
For now, although, the Jaguars’ win is trigger for Bengals celebration.
