The Bengals' season ended without a playoff berth despite a five-game winning streak.
Anyone associated with the Bengals or fans of the team didn't have to scoreboard watch for long on Sunday before the team's playoff hopes were dashed. After the Bengals won their fifth straight game on Saturday in Pittsburgh to finish with a 9-8 record they needed both the Miami Dolphins to lose to the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs to earn the final AFC playoff spot.
The Jets gave the Bengals the help they needed by beating Miami, 32-20, but Denver thumped Kansas City, 38-0. The Broncos scored a touchdown on each of their first two possessions and pulled away to a 24-0 halftime lead. By virtue of its win, Denver earned the final AFC playoff spot with a 10-7 record. Miami finished at 8-9 with the loss, but if it had won and Denver lost it would have beaten the Bengals and Broncos on tiebreakers. If the Bengals had finished 10-7 it would have earned the berth over Denver after winning the head-to-head matchup in overtime last week. The Bengals lost seven games by seven points or less, including three by three points or less, two of which were one-point losses. One of the one possession losses was an inexplicable one in the opener at home against the New England Patriots, 16-10. New England finished with a 4-13 record, and that includes a win on Sunday over the Buffalo Bills, who sat numerous starters. Several Bengals players talked after the Pittsburgh game about how proud they were to finish as strong as they did after a frustrating first 12 games, and head coach Zac Taylor said he was pleased that his team fought to the finish. 'There was never a sense of doubt in my mind of how this team would respond at any moment in the season, whatever our record was -- 4-8,' said Taylo
BENGALS NFL PLAYOFFS DENVER BRONCOS MIAMI DOLPHINS
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