Joe Burrow and Bengals Carrying Regular Season Momentum Into Playoffs: 'Still A Lot of Room To Improve'

The Bengals host the Ravens next week in the Wild Card Round.

Author:
Nicole Zembrodt
Publish date:
Jan 9, 2023 7:25 AM EST

In this story:

The Bengals beat the Ravens on Sunday to finish the season 12-4 and AFC North champions for a second consecutive season.

Cincinnati finished the season on an eight-game winning streak to secure their division title and spot in the postseason.

"These guys have worked their tails off to be in this position," Zac Taylor said. "Anything less and we wouldn't be in this position right now. There's not another team that's won the last eight games in a row [maybe San Francisco]. Really proud of the way these guys have focused and find different ways to win."

Entering the year, the Bengals had the 10th-hardest overall schedule in the NFL. Their schedule through Week 10 ranked was fourth-easiest. From Week 11 to Week 18, they had the hardest schedule in the league, which was the largest swing among all teams this season.

Cincinnati had a 47% chance to make the playoffs at their bye in Week 10.

In the second half of the season, the Bengals have averaged 314 yards per game, outscored opponents 190-131, and Joe Burrow put together an MVP-type campaign. Their defense allowed one 300+ passing game, gave up an average of 79.6 total rushing yards per game, and made critical stops when needed.

"I love where we're at," Burrow said. "We've won eight games in a row. Going into the playoffs with a lot of momentum. Happy with where we're at at, still a lot of room to improve."

With the victory, the Bengals locked in the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. They will host Baltimore next weekend in the Wild Card Round, playing their division rival for a third time this season.

Burrow believes through the trials and tribulations this team has gone through this season has set them up to make a deep run in the playoffs.

"We've faced a lot of adversity," Burrow said. "Guys going down, guys stepping up. Guys that may be haven't played a lot of football in the past have now played a lot of football and gotten some opportunities and made the most out of them. We have guys that have been in these moments, had this experience, and know what it's going to take these next three or four weeks."

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