Cincinnati Bengals' 'Closer' Mentality Continues to Help Them Win Big Games

Cincinnati is 8-6 on the season. They've won 3-straight games.

Author:
Elise Jesse
Publish date:
Dec 18, 2023 9:24 AM EST

In this story:

Cincinnati continues to maintain its reputation as a team full of closers. The Bengals beat the Vikings 27-24 on Saturday, rallying from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Bengals have gone 7-3 in games decided by four points or less dating back to Week 9 of last season. Even without star players like Joe Burrow, they've been resilient and found ways to win games.

“We’re great under pressure,” Tyler Boyd said. “When the pressure is on, when the pressure rises that’s when guys go on high alert, especially myself. When the pressure is on I want to be that guy to help this team win in any way I can whether its blocking or catching something you know that’s the mentality we have to have and it’s contagious in this locker room and from that point that’s how guys go about business.”

The Bengals have played three games in 13 days. They've managed to win all three, which includes two overtime victories with Jake Browning under center.

“We always have an opportunity, we’ve got a real special group here and any given second, minute something special could happen,” Boyd said.

Cincinnati was counted out. The team was looked at as a non-factor after Burrow went down with a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11. The narrative of Cincinnati failing to sign a “capable” backup quarterback was running wild until Browning completed 32-of-37 pass attempts for 354 yards in Jacksonville on Monday Night Football. Browning was doubted his whole NFL career until this moment.

The late Kobe Bryant once said, “Everything negative, pressure, challenges—it’s all an opportunity for me to rise.”

The reality of working in a performance based industry is that the negativity or positivity will pour in depending on how a guy plays when the lights are on. Browning’s reality was facing harsh critics and negativity before he had a chance to play in games that mattered in the league.

After finishing his senior season at Washington as the school’s all-time passing leader, Browning went undrafted.

He’d eventually sign with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019 and go through a series of transactions that included being waived and signed back to the practice squad. He was cut for the final time prior to the 2021 season. He wasn’t without a job for long, as the Bengals signed him to their practice squad exactly one week later.

Fast forward to Saturday's game and Browning was starting against the team that cut him more than two years ago. The Bengals needed him to rise to the occasion and play well against one of the NFL's best defenses.

He rose.

Browning led a 14-point comeback that included two fourth quarter touchdown passes. He helped the Bengals score 24 of their 27 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

After Evan McPherson's game-winning kick secured the Bengals' 27-24 win, Browning passionately yelled, “Shoulda never f****** cut me!”

That win was personal. He had a hand in derailing Minnesota’s playoff hopes, while simultaneously helping his team’s postseason position.

Browning fits right in with the team’s overall identity as a group of closers.

It's a trait the coaching staff saw in him during the preseason, which helped him win the backup quarterback competition with Trevor Siemian.

Fighting through adversity and doubt is nothing new for many on the team. The players seem to revel in outside skepticism and that has been well documented over the last three seasons.

“That’s when we come alive as team you know once the time starts counting down it's time for us to do something to win this game and it’s time for guys to step up and I feel like every guy, 22 guys was willing to step up and doing something to win that game,” Boyd said on Saturday. "Pratt had that walk off pick. Should have been the game right there but we had the penalty so we just had to continue to keep fighting against adversity and they came up short on the 3rd-and-1, 4th-and-1 and we was able to take advantage of that so every player is going to come around and try to help this team anyway they can.”

Ask any guy in Cincinnati’s locker room if they think this team deserves a spot in the playoffs. They’ll confidently let you know that they belong.

“That goes back to our culture,” Germaine Pratt told All Bengals. “Zac (Taylor) started a culture here that is unbreakable. Everybody looks each other in the eyes and next man steps up, there’s no drop off, you’ve got to step up and make plays.”

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