CINCINNATI -- With one week to go before their bye, the Cincinnati Bengals have essentially been thrown a lifeline in the AFC North race.
They need to take advantage of it.
Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to run away with the division while the Bengals were floundering after the Cowboys handed them one of their worst losses in years.
But the Steelers (4-3) suffered an ugly loss to the Dolphins, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sidelined with a knee injury, and the Ravens' (3-4) hopes for the season took a blow when they suffered four straight losses.
The division could be wide open for the taking.
If the Bengals can beat the Washington Redskins in London this weekend, they’ll conclude the first half of the season with a 4-4 record and head into the bye week with a new outlook.
The Bengals already have their hardest games behind them, with the nightmare stretch of the Broncos (5-2), Cowboys (5-1) and Patriots (6-1) completed. Those just might be three of the best teams in the league. The Bengals don’t have a team left on their schedule as good as those they’ve already played.
This weekend will be a big test for the Bengals, whose three wins have come against teams with a combined 5-16 record. The Redskins’ four-game win streak was snapped against a hot Lions team last week, but they present a much bigger challenge than the floundering Browns, who were blown out by the Bengals on Sunday.
The Bengals need to strike while the iron is hot. They’re coming off their best offensive performance in decades, finally have injured tight end Tyler Eifert back and were able to get running back Jeremy Hill, who has been working through a chest injury, back to his old self as he had a career performance (168 yards on nine carries).
They also might have caught the Redskins at a vulnerable time with their best cornerback, Josh Norman, in the concussion protocol after leaving Sunday’s game with a head injury. If Norman isn’t available to help cover wide receiver A.J. Green, the scales tip heavily in favor of the Bengals' offense.
If the Bengals can’t move forward after last week, it would be a telling reflection of how the rest of the season will go.
The Bengals have undoubtedly heard about “must-win” games often this year, which tends to happen when a team falls below .500. So why is a win this week so important?
It could change the whole outlook of the season.
Win, and the Bengals can essentially wipe the entire first half of the season clean, entering Week 10 at 0-0 with the Eagles and Steelers (both at home) seemingly the most difficult games on the schedule. The Steelers have to play a red-hot Cowboys team on Nov. 13, potentially without Roethlisberger.
Lose, and the Bengals would be 3-5 at the midpoint of the season with no wins against a winning team. They would be trying to get back to an even record against the Giants (4-3) and Bills (4-3) in Weeks 10 and 11. Certainly winnable games, but by no means easy ones.
It may just be “the next game” but it could go a long way to determining whether the Bengals enter November on even ground with the Steelers in the AFC North race -- or spend the second half of the season catching up.