Early in Wednesday’s press conference, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was asked if Sunday’s game against the Raiders was as close to a must-win game as the Bengals are going to see.
Burrow went even further in his reponse. Burrow called the matchup with the Raiders a must-win game and explained why that is the case.
“We’re 3-5,” Burrow said. “You go to 3-6, then you gotta basically win out to get in. Urgency’s very high every week from here on out.”
Calling games must-win affairs can be hyperbolic and the math says the Bengals will be alive regardless of their result this week, but it’s hard to frame this week’s game any other way.
Among the reasons the Bengals are 3-5 is that they’ve lost all four of their home games and losing to the Raiders in their building will make it all but impossible to believe they are capable of the kind of play that would allow them to advance to the postseason this year.
