CINCINNATI \u2014\u00a0For the first time since 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals are playing out the string in late December and are eliminated from postseason contention with multiple games left to play.<\/p>\n
The Bengals\u2019 4-10 record is a frustrating reality for a team that entered the year with playoff ambitions.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
While the Bengals are eliminated, coach Zac Taylor said that quarterback Joe Burrow will start the remaining games with an eye on competing
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Down the stretch, Burrow and the offense are looking to bounce back from last week\u2019s shutout loss against the Baltimore Ravens
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The Bengals face a vulnerable Miami Dolphins team that also has a losing record<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes down to being able to win when we need to and showing up in these big games and these big moments,\u201d captain and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a part of those special teams. A lot of guys in this locker room were a part of it here in 2021 and 2022 being able to push to that point. It\u2019s a lot of things that it\u2019s going to take for us to get back in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Bengals are eliminated, coach Zac Taylor said that quarterback Joe Burrow will start the remaining games with an eye on competing.<\/p>\n
Taylor said that there\u2019s a lot that he\u2019s hoping to get out of the Bengals\u2019 final three games, beginning Sunday in Miami. Burrow views the stretch run similarly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you get the opportunity to strap up the pads and put the cleats on and go in front of the world and prove your worth through all the hard work that you\u2019ve put in, prove that you\u2019re improving week to week, that\u2019s what we\u2019re all trying to do,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get better and better ourselves. We have three opportunities to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Down the stretch, Burrow and the offense are looking to bounce back from last week\u2019s shutout loss against the Baltimore Ravens. Also, there\u2019s an opportunity to see continued progress from the young defense.<\/p>\n
The Bengals have been relying on a lot of young pieces, including defensive end Myles Murphy, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr., linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, safety Jordan Battle and cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill. While the Bengals\u2019 defense was on pace for a historically bad season a month ago, the unit has rebounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some things they\u2019re improving on that we\u2019re going to build off of,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cAnyone watching the game can see that\u2019s an improvement being made, and there are a lot of young players participating in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive coordinator Al Golden said that encouraging signs include the strong performance from the Bengals\u2019 defense since the bye week in early November on third downs and in the red zone. He said that Murphy, Knight, Carter Turner and Battle have all made meaningful strides over the last few weeks, and Golden\u2019s growing confidence in the young defense has helped him build game plans with more advanced concepts.<\/p>\n
Still, a defense that ranks last in the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed this season needs to get much better in the big picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get callous to (criticism),\u201d Golden said. \u201cYou get to a point where you don\u2019t take it personal. You try to be professional. I get it. Third and 7, they scored a touchdown. I would be critical, too. And if I was a fan, I\u2019d be angry, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bengals face a vulnerable Miami Dolphins team that also has a losing record. After benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins will be giving rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers his first NFL start on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got three weeks,\u201d Bengals captain and center Ted Karras said. \u201cEveryone else will be looking to 2026. We\u2019ve got a month left of football. (I want to see) focus, energy and toughness. That\u2019s all I think about. I pray for that every day. We\u2019ve got to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014\u00a0For the first time since 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals are playing out the string in late December…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[1615,1613,2910,228,227,256,2296,7,88,6,996,14382,45204,45203,1614,9,1004],"class_list":{"0":"post-609655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-app-sports","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-bengals","12":"tag-cincinnati","13":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","14":"tag-cincinnatibengals","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-ohio","19":"tag-ohio-cincinnati-bengals","20":"tag-ohio-cincinnati-top-stories","21":"tag-ohio-dayton-top-stories","22":"tag-spectrum-news-staff","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115740208276208874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}