Cincinnati Bengals News: Bengals Eliminated From Playoffs, Week 18 Preview, and More on the PFN Bengals Podcast

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ playoff hopes are no more. Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, combined with other results around the AFC, officially eliminated Cincinnati from the postseason and turned its Week 18 game against the Cleveland Browns into a de facto exhibition contest.

On the most recent edition of The PFN Bengals Podcast, we recap Bengals-Chiefs, discuss the changes Cincinnati needs to make over the offseason, and preview Bengals-Browns.

PFN Bengals Podcast: Bengals’ Playoff Hopes Are Dead

Zac Taylor’s club can no longer gain entry to the playoffs after losing in Week 17, so the offseason is essentially here — even though the Bengals still have another game left on their schedule.

Cincinnati went into halftime with a lead against Kansas City, but the Bengals failed to score in the second half. The offense went quiet after intermission, while Lou Anarumo’s defense continued to give up the explosive plays that have plagued the unit all season.

MORE: Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Says Week 18 Has Plenty of Meaning

And what about that 4th-and-1 call? Cincinnati could have put the game away with a touchdown near the start of the fourth quarter, but a run up the gut into a wall of Chiefs defenders went nowhere. We analyze whether the Bengals should have considered another play call in that critical situation.

Attention now turns to the offseason, when Cincinnati will have plenty of cap space and a higher first-round draft pick than anticipated at the beginning of the year. What changes need to be made in 2024, and where could the Bengals deploy some of those financial resources?

Week 18 is meaningless in the grand scheme, but pending free agents and younger players looking for a shot still have something on the line. Who will see more snaps than usual against the Browns? Will Sunday be Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, or Jonah Williams’ final game in Cincinnati?

We’ll be returning to your airwaves each and every week — join us next week when we recap Bengals-Browns and preview Cincinnati’s 2024 offseason.

Want to predict the rest of the 2023 season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? Looking for the most up-to-date NFL standings? What about a breakdown of team depth charts or the NFL schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with that and more!