Bengals Beat: What Really Is At Stake For Bengals In Season Finale Against Browns

CINCINNATI — For the first time since 2020, the Bengals are playing a meaningless regular season game.

But don’t tell that to Zac Taylor.

The Bengals head coach insists that there’s more than just pride on the line when they play the Browns Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

Like in 2020, the Bengals are playing a team heading to the playoffs while they will be going through season-ending physicals the next day. They sure hope that the result isn’t the same as 2020. The Bengals were ending a season that – like this one – featured a season-ending injury to Joe Burrow in mid-November.

They were coming off emotional wins against Pittsburgh on Monday night football (24-14) and Houston on the road (37-31). They took on the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor and the Ravens, featuring Lamar Jackson, blew the doors off the Bengals, 38-3.

What happened in that game had little to do with what happened 12 months later when the Bengals advanced to the third Super Bowl in team history. So, don’t project what happens Sunday into what might take place going into 2024.

The Bengals will likely play Jake Browning but beyond that, it remains to be seen. What’s the message for the players in a game that will only determine Cincinnati’s draft position?

“We have a lot left to play for this week,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Our fans have supported us. We get a home game. Chance to reward ourselves with a hard fought win and find a way to get that done. Momentum to finish the season. And positivity that’s there. And the fans that continue to support us and cheer for this team and put their heart and soul into supporting us get a chance to watch us play a home game and find a way to win.”

That draft position could realistically range anywhere from tenth to their current spot at 16 or in the upper teens.

As far as milestones, Ja’Marr Chase needs four catches for 100 and three yards for 1,200 yards. Joe Mixon needs 77 rushing yards for his fourth career 1,000-yard season in his eight-year career and his first since 2021. Trey Hendrickson has a chance to add to his official single-season team sack record of 17. The unofficial one belongs to Coy Bacon, who had 22 in 1976.

“The encouraging thing is you’re out of playoff contention, obviously, but you think through the roster,” Taylor said. “Is there anyone to worry about now? We have a roster full of guys I know will put the best foot forward all week in practice and the game. We’ll have a great plan. We’re doing everything we can to win this game and end the season on a high note.”

The Bengals also can clinch a third-straight winning season for the first time since they had five straight from 2011-15.

“It’s better than the alternative,” Taylor said

They are also trying to avoid their third winless season in the division in team history. They lost every game in the AFC Central in 1993 (0-6) and went 0-6 in the first year of the AFC North in 2003.

“The No. 1 thing for us is to win the game. Whatever we gotta do to win the game. I think that’s something we have done because we have a lot of young talent on the team, is find roles for these guys, whether it be special teams or offense or defense as the season has gone. These guys have played a lot for us.

“So when you just overall, over the course of the season, look at young guys and what are their roles as they get more experience as the season goes, a lot of those guys play significant roles for us. It’s not like there’s a lot of guys out there who haven’t done anything for us. But our No. 1 objective is to win this game by any means necessary. However that looks is however it looks.”

While Chase and Tee Higgins are nursing injuries, neither had been ruled out heading into Wednesday.

“When we get to Wednesday, maybe we’ll have a better idea of where guys are at with practice,” Taylor said.

Chase said he played through some discomfort on Sunday in Kansas City.

“He dealt with pain all week,” Taylor said. “We gave him every hour to sort out how it’s going to be. We got a lot of guys like that, like Ja’Marr. They just want to help this team win. And they know how important it is. It lifts the spirit of everybody when Ja’Marr Chase walks on the field and plays. Obviously, he’s not 100 percent healthy. But he did everything he could to try to win the game. I mean, ran a million routes and fought his tail off. And it’s a physical game. It’s a physical game.”

Still belief in a great Scott:

When safety Nick Scott was benched during the loss to the Ravens in Baltimore, it was assumed that Jordan Battle would take over for the rest of the season, and he did as the starter for the last six games. Scott, who signed as a free agent for three years and $12 million, has seen the field only sparingly, coming in as a third safety or replacing Battle if the rookie needed a blow. Scott has seen just 69 snaps in the seven games, beginning with Baltimore on Nov. 16. It’s been a hellacious season for Scott who, with second-year safety Dax Hill, has struggled in communication and coverage as he assumed Vonn Bell’s role in the secondary.

“Nick is a guy that we continue to be optimistic about,” Taylor said. “We had safeties that we think have a lot of talent as well. There are three guys in the mix there who all bring traits and qualities that we like. With the two young safeties, they’ve gotten a lot of valuable experience this year. Some of it is you’ll learn from that experience, good and bad. We’ll continue to be behind those guys and continue to see a lot of positive things from that room as a whole.”

Clearly, with two seasons left on the deal, the Bengals will continue to show support for Scott in hopes he finds the next gear next year.

Fourth and forever:

The endless talk continues over the Bengals’ inability to gain a yard when they need it most, a theme that has haunted the team the last three seasons, including Super Bowl LVI. It ain’t going away as long as the Bengals continue to show a failure in that area like they did before halftime in Pittsburgh and in the third quarter Sunday with the Bengals holding a tenuous 17-13 lead.

“The fourth-and-1, they got us on that one,” Taylor said of the double-A gap blitz. “From there it was one drive an intentional grounding call on a first and 10 that puts us in a second and 20. One time we are in a good situation we get a sack on second-and-5. There were different things we thought we were putting ourselves in decent position but a play sets you back and got yourself in a situation where its third and long. Which we’d done a good job of avoiding all game. That’s really when they teed off on teams and had a lot of success and that’s the game in the fourth quarter. That became tough.

“It’s a unique situation, that play, that front, that pressure was a major outlier there. There are things we could do better within the play as it unfolds but it’s tough. It’s a play we liked. We liked the presentation of the front initially. Then it just didn’t work out. There are things that we can continue to coach and scheme and do things better that way. That one is a little bit unique compared to some other ones that we’ve had in the past.”