Bengals Locked in After Win Over Ravens, Focused On Beating Bills: 'It's Time To Go Get It'

Cincinnati has won four playoff games over the past two seasons.

Author:
Elise Jesse
Updated:
Jan 17, 2023 4:40 PM EST
Original:
Jan 17, 2023

In this story:

In the final week of the regular season the Cincinnati Bengals knew a win would also mean they’d avoid a coin flip deciding where they’d play in the opening weekend of the playoffs.

As guys walked through the tunnel from the field to the locker room they were noticeably happy, B.J. Hill sang part of the Bengals fight song as he entered the double doors leading to the locker room. The team finally felt like they could celebrate a big goal they preached all year: win the AFC North for a second-straight season. The joy and excitement over a Week 18 win was obvious from the cigar smoke that billowed from Cincinnati’s locker room as the regular season came to a close.

They faced the same Baltimore Ravens on Sunday with a trip to the Divisional Round of the playoffs on the line. They knew it would be a harder fought battle, but fans saw the same end result: a win over their AFC North rival.

A new season started on Sunday night. As players walked through the tunnel from the postseason field many had a look of a stoicism. The players weren’t joking or laughing in fact, as Trayvon Williams walked in he had this to say,

“We work too hard man. Nobody care about us. Nobody believe in us, but us!”

The only player to have a slight smirk on his face was Cincinnati’s own Sam Hubbard, who had the biggest play of his life when he ran 17.4 miles per hour with a Tyler Huntley fumble 98-yards for a touchdown. Hubbard had a poker face until he thanked the security guards who were congratulating him and Joe Burrow for their efforts as they walked in together.

Once inside the locker room Burrow was walking around giving fist bumps to every defensive player, one of which went to Vonn Bell who was far from celebrating the team’s first win in the playoffs.

“Its exhausting,” Bell said with a smile. “It took every ounce out of us and that’s just playoff football. We knew it was going to come down to the end and we knew we were going to have to make that game changing play, it went down to the final seconds but hey, its playoff football. We are in January, that’s one down, three more to go.”

As Tyler Boyd walked into the locker room he repeated the same sentiment yelling, “We ain’t done yet!”

The players weren’t upset or angry after their second straight win over the Ravens in two weeks but they’ve made a hard pivot from celebrating to a focused mindset as they reach for their next goal which involves a Super Bowl ring.

“We’ve been here before, we still have unfinished business, still playing ball, we still have to get to that level where we left off,” Boyd said. “Ain’t nothing bigger than that main stage which was the Super Bowl. We got the taste out of our mouth’s last year and now it’s time to go get it.”

The hunger to reach the Super Bowl stage for a second straight year has not gone away. Their appetite for wins is only growing and they’re ready to eat in Buffalo next week.

“Everyone is supremely dedicated, we are very one track minded and that track is to win,” Ted Karras said. “Everyone’s doing whatever they need to do to be successful and help this team be successful and it’s showing itself in wins.”

Josh Allen gave the Dolphins three turnovers as the Bills barely scraped by with a 34-31 win on Sunday afternoon and that has the Bengals defense licking their chops going into the divisional round. Their 16 takeaways during their current 9-game win streak hasn’t hit the spot, its made them ravenous for more.

Cincinnati and Buffalo meet in the divisional round this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on CBS. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

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