The Cincinnati Bengals can clinch the AFC North with a win against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, ending NFL Week 17, and the Bengals can move ahead of the Bills and improve their chances to finish as the No. 1 seed in the conference in the latest AFC playoff scenarios.
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The Bengals are in position to be crowned AFC North champions after the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-13 on a last-minute touchdown on Sunday Night Football. If the Bengals (11-4) lose to the Bills, their NFL Week 18 game against the Ravens (10-6) will decide the AFC North.
“At the end of the day, what people got to realize and understand, [we’re] the big dog of the AFC and that’s just what it is,” Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon told the Bengals website. “For anything to happen, it goes through us. We know what our end goal is, and in order to get to that end goal we’ve got to get through Buffalo. We’ve got to keep one week at a time and everything else takes care of itself.”
Cincinnati is a 1.5-point home underdog Monday, via FanDuel. Be sure to check out our OddsShopper tool for the best NFL odds.
If the Bengals lose to the Bills and then to the Ravens, they would finish second in the AFC North by losing the tiebreaker, having been swept in two games by Baltimore. Cincinnati, the defending AFC champion, would become the No. 5 or No. 6 seed as an AFC Wild Card, with Baltimore the No. 3 seed as the AFC North winner.
Buffalo, which has clinched the AFC East, would maintain its hold on the No. 1 seed with a win Monday. The Bills would then need to defeat the New England Patriots in Week 18 to wrap up the bye and home field advantage.
If the Bills (12-3) lose to the Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) would rise to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and could wrap it up with a win at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
The Bengals get the No. 2 seed with wins against the Bills and Ravens. To then get the No. 1 seed, the Chiefs would have to lose to the Raiders.
With a win against the Bills on Monday, the Bengals would have a 15% chance at the No. 1 seed, according to FiveThirtyEight.
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Cincinnati could fall to the No. 6 seed with two losses and a win by the Los Angeles Chargers at the Denver Broncos in Week 18.
With sports betting having launched in Ohio, Bengals fans can get in on all this action with special sign-up bonuses at some of the best sportsbooks, including Bet365.
