The Bengals weren’t supposed to be the AFC we were writing this about, but they’ve been better at being bad than everyone else in the league.
Via ESPN, the Bengals were eliminated from playoff contention with yesterday’s loss to the Raiders which dropped them to 0-10.
Week 11 is the earliest a team has been knocked out of the playoff race since at least 2002.
It’s an impressive feat, made easier by the fact their offensive line has been a hash since their first-round pick Jonah Williams was lost for the year to an offseason injury. Then they lost their best player A.J. Green after the first practice of training camp, and he hasn’t played since. And then they changed quarterbacks, though it’s hard to lay this all at the feet of Andy Dalton.
Either way, it’s a special achievement for first-year (and maybe only-year) coach Zac Taylor.
