The 2024 Cincinnati Bengals are an oddity in many ways.
Joe Burrow might be the best quarterback in the NFL this season and has absolutely no chance of winning NFL MVP. Cincinnati is one of the most talented teams in the league but needs a miracle to make the playoffs at 6-8. The Bengals are two games under .500 but should absolutely consider doing whatever it takes to keep their core together for another run.
For that to happen, the Bengals ownership has to not be cheap. That might be too much to ask.
Sunday’s 37-27 win over the Tennessee Titans showed again that while the Bengals are flawed this season, they have the ingredients to be a Super Bowl contender in the future. Ja’Marr Chase is having a phenomenal season. Tee Higgins would be the clear No. 1 receiver on most other teams, and he made a ridiculous touchdown catch on Sunday. Having those two isn’t the reason Burrow is having a special season, but it’s certainly a factor in his favor. He had 271 yards and three touchdowns against the Titans.
This season might be mostly an afterthought — again, a miracle could get the Bengals in the postseason — but the Bengals should see a blueprint in front of them. It’s just going to cost a lot of money.
It makes no sense why the Bengals didn’t pay Chase before the season. It has been obvious he’s among the elite receivers in the NFL and a long-term contract that is similar to CeeDee Lamb or Justin Jefferson should have been simple. Chase is under contract for 2025 but it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t hold out if he doesn’t get the deal he’s earned. That contract should be easy, but it should have been easy for many months.
Higgins is more complicated. He’s on the franchise tag this season and will break the bank in free agency. That should tell the Bengals something. Keeping that core of the passing game together is Cincinnati’s path back to the Super Bowl. Without one or the other, they are stillgood but with a lower ceiling. Having Burrow, Chase and Higgins together is what might make them special. Burrow made it clear he wouldn’t be happy if Higgins leaves in free agency.
“I’d be very disappointed in that,” Burrow said recently. “Tee is a need.”
The first obstacle is the salary cap. But the Philadelphia Eagles have shown it’s possible to pay a franchise quarterback and two alpha receivers (and even add on an elite running back in free agency). It’s a challenge but smart teams would figure out a way if they want to.
The second obstacle, and maybe the bigger one, is ownership. The Bengals started to shake the reputation of being cheap, but it’s back after they bungled the Chase negotiations. They didn’t get it done and now it’ll cost owner Mike Brown a few more million after Chase had a career year. That’s their mistake. They shouldn’t make another by letting Higgins walk.
The Bengals have a lot of holes to fix on the defensive side and that won’t be easy. But with a solid draft, focused on the defensive side, perhaps it can be fixed. Or at least improved enough to get the Bengals back among the circle of Super Bowl contenders again.
This season has been a massive disappointment for Cincinnati. But the Bengals are the rare team that likely won’t make the playoffs but feel like with a decent offseason they can be Super Bowl contenders in 2025. It’s just up to ownership to get out the checkbook.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 15 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Lamar Jackson’s MVP chances: While Josh Allen took a big lead in the MVP race after last week’s game, Jackson reminded everyone on Sunday to not forget about him.
Jackson had five touchdown passes and the Baltimore Ravens got an easy 35-14 win over the depleted New York Giants. Jackson had 290 yards passing and 65 more rushing. Rashod Bateman had two of those touchdowns as he continues to finally emerge as a dangerous weapon in a deep offense.
Jackson has had a season that is MVP worthy. He might not win because Allen has been so good and there will be some sentiment that it’s his turn. Allen doesn’t have an MVP award while Jackson has two. One way Jackson can win it is to have some monster games down the stretch. He’s capable of that, as we saw on Sunday.
Chiefs, finally winning comfortably: For once, the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t need some miraculous play at the end of the game to win.
For the first time since Oct. 20, the Chiefs won by more than seven points. They got a couple of touchdowns from Patrick Mahomes, Jameis Winston tossed them three interceptions before he was benched in the fourth quarter and the end result was never in question. The Chiefs took an early 21-0 lead and even though they didn’t play great in the second half, they cruised to a 21-7 win. Mahomes took some hits late and the Chiefs were able to let him sit and have Carson Wentz finish the game. Mahomes was limping at the end of the game but his injuries didn’t seem to serious.
With three games left, the Chiefs are becoming a near lock to get the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. There probably won’t be any easy games in the playoffs, but at least the Chiefs know they can win a game without it coming down to the final seconds.
Davante Adams: Adams had no catches in the first half. Those who had him in their fantasy football lineups for a playoff matchup had to be upset.
Those fantasy managers were quite happy by the end. Adams had a nuclear second half, going for nine catches and 198 yards after halftime, and his 41-yard catch set up Breece Hall’s 1-yard touchdown with 1:05 to go. The Jets got a stop after that on a Sauce Gardner interception and held on for an exciting 32-25 win.
Trading for Adams won’t age well considering the Jets won’t make the playoffs. But he was unstoppable in the second half on Sunday.
LOSERS
Mike McCarthy haters: Is it possible that McCarthy is coaching himself into being the Dallas Cowboys’ coach again in 2025?
The Cowboys won their third game in four tries on Sunday, winning 30-14 against a Carolina Panthers team that has been playing well recently. Cooper Rush had a strong game with three touchdowns, and that has to reflect well on McCarthy too. Although the one loss of the last four was a debacle, with the Cowboys touching a blocked punt and allowing the Bengals to retain possession and beat them, it has been a pretty good stretch for Dallas recently.
Plenty of Cowboys fans want McCarthy out. That looked like a done deal when Dallas fell to 3-7, with Dak Prescott done for the season with a hamstring injury. But McCarthy has rallied the Cowboys since then. How much of an impression will that have on Jerry Jones?
Tua Tagovailoa: Tagovailoa had been on a roll lately, but he needed to be about perfect the rest of the season for the Miami Dolphins to find a way into the playoffs.
Tagovailoa wasn’t perfect on Sunday. He threw three interceptions, including one to Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. in the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing 20-12 and in Houston Texans territory, and the Texans went on to win 20-12. The Dolphins had one more shot late in the game trailing by eight points but Stingley Jr. wrestled away a pass to Tyreek Hill for a pick and the game was over.
Tagovailoa hadn’t thrown an interception since Nov. 11. On Sunday he lost Jaylen Waddle to an injury early and then receiver Grant DuBose suffered a horrible looking injury on a hit to the head. Tagovailoa didn’t have much help on Sunday. But the Dolphins couldn’t afford a loss, and Tagovailoa couldn’t carry the Dolphins to the win.
Washington Commanders, even in a win: The Washington Commanders won on Sunday, but it was a lot harder than it had to be.
Going against an entirely depleted New Orleans Saints team that benched starting quarterback Jake Haener almost blew a 17-0 lead. The Saints scored a touchdown with no time left in regulation and went for the 2-point conversion and the 20-19 win, but Spencer Rattler’s pass was incomplete and the Commanders escaped. Rattler got hot off the bench and almost beat the Commanders, which isn’t a good sign for Washington.
The Commanders improved to 9-5 and are inching closer to an unexpected playoff spot, but it looks like a shell of the team that started the season 7-2. Winning on Sunday was better than blowing a game to the Saints in the final seconds, but it shouldn’t inspire much confidence.
