AFC Playoff Preview Steelers at the Bengals

When Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton broke his thumb in Week 14, all hope appeared to be lost that the Bengals would finally break their depressing playoff losing streak this season. One is the track record of success – in the regular season, at least – the team has had in that span, with no season featuring fewer than nine wins.

Cincinnati will need McCarron to be on top of his game if it is going to end a winless playoff drought that lasts more than two decades. They owe part of their position in the playoffs to bad luck befalling opposing teams’ quarterbacks. Their goal has to be to make Cincinnati one-dimensional. But there’s a kernel of truth to this perception of the Bengals.

So a defense that has turned it over seven times in McCarron’s three starts would be helpful again.

So, the Bengals are preparing for the Steelers as if AJ McCarron will start the wild-card round Saturday night against the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium.

The Packers will take a lot of baggage with them to Washington (or, to be more accurate: Landover, Maryland), starting with their uncharacteristically punchless offense. Sometimes it has been warranted.

“I’m doing more strengthening and making sure my conditioning’s there, running and cardio and things like that”, Dalton said Friday.

But what McCarron and the Bengals are about to try and do isn’t easy.

If Dalton can’t play, the Bengals will have to rely on second-year pro A.J. With McCarron under center, Cincinnati has gone 2-1 as he passed for 832 yards and six touchdowns. It’s easy to blame the quarterback for losses, and at times that’s merited. A win Saturday could change the image and fortune of the franchise. An MRI showed no break and the Steelers will list him as day-to-day with a chance to play Saturday. “It’s new folks, new faces, and a new situation”. “I feel like this team is no different than the ones he played with at Alabama”.

Seeing Dalton sporting a black cast on his right hand while watching helplessly from the sideline for the remainder of that game was perfectly indicative of the gloomy fate that the Bengals seemed destined for as a result of his injury. This is a great group of guys we have; guys want to win games. Their 8.8-point average margin of victory is their best mark since 1989. “You can’t get any more excited than this”.

DEFENSE YIELDS YARDS, NOT POINTS: Cincinnati’s defense followed its form of allowing yards but not points. McCarron has been solid at quarterback, but he doesn’t have the same level of experience as Dalton. One troubling late-season trend is the disappearance of Martavis Bryant, who had one reception for zero yards.

Before agonizing over middle linebacker Rey Maualuga’s lateral off an interception that sealed Sunday’s win over the Ravens with 24 seconds left, Lewis paid homage to offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and his staff. Key starters, particularly on defense, are set to hit free agency in the offseason, and the Bengals aren’t likely to retain all of them. But unlike Cincinnati, Baltimore also has a Super Bowl title in that time frame.