CINCINNATI —The Bengals left Paul Brown Stadium Sunday not knowing who they would play in the playoffs. But the Broncos later took a win over the Chargers, pitting the Bengals against the Steelers in the first round here at 8:15 p.m. Saturday.
The season will rest upon what happens in that playoff game.
The Bengals finished regular season Sunday with a 24-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals sleepwalked through the first half and then put things away early in the second half to wrap up a 12-4 season. The 12 wins equaled a franchise record and were the most since the Super Bowl season in 1988.
Now comes the hard part.
“We can’t dwell on what we did,” cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. “It’s playoff time. The game gets a little harder, the coaching gets a little harder . . . the mindset has got to change. We’ve got to put it all on the line.”
Linebacker Rey Maualuga echoed that.
“It’s one and done,” he said. “There’s no coming in the next day and fixing things. You lose; you’re out. The best players, the best playmakers have to step up and show up and take over.”
The Bengals have made the playoffs each of the last four years, but never advanced beyond the first round.
“It is what it is,” cornerback Adam Jones said. “We need a playoff win.”
When the Bengals left work Sunday, it looked like they have to get that win against Pittsburgh. The Steelers won and the New York Jets lost. That made the Steelers the sixth seed.
Denver beat San Diego at home as expected, making it Bengals-Steelers in the first round. If the Bengals win, they would play at New England at 4:35 p.m. on the following Saturday, Jan. 16. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, considering that the Bengals have gone one-and-done in the playoffs the last four years.
And the Steelers and the Bengals have a bit of history.
“We’ll be ready,” Jones said. “Trust me. I’m not going to get in all the (stuff) we got into last time about that game. I know we’ll be ready and mentally and physically.
“Last time, we killed ourselves with the penalties. We’ve talked as a group about that game.”
But if the Bengals hadn’t taken care of things in the second half Sunday versus Baltimore, no one would have given them a chance no matter the opponent. Here are nine takeaways from the game:
QB OR NOT QB: Coach Marvin Lewis was his evasive self when asked if Andy Dalton might start the playoff opener.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I wish Andy would just be quiet and quit telling all what he’s doing. He puts a lot of pressure on himself that way.”
AJ McCarron made his third start for Dalton since Dalton broke his throwing thumb.
ODD NUMBER: Third-down conversions are huge in football, but the Bengals managed to win rather easily without converting a third down. They were 0-for-8.
OVER THE HILL: Hill broke the game open with a 38-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter. Hill broke the line and then outsprinted the secondary for his 11th TD of the year.
“They tried to blitz, and Jake Fisher did a great job of picking him up,” Hill said. “I got to the second level and got a great block from Cedric Ogbuehi. He cut off the safety and it was off to the races.”
“That was a huge play in the game,” Lewis said. “Jeremy has played well each and every week.”
Hill finished with 96 yards on 14 carries.
ACCURATE AJ: McCarron got off to a rough start. He was 3-for-8 at one point.
“For some reason, I couldn’t get in the rhythm I wanted to,” McCarron said. “We had miscommunication on some routes. When we picked up the tempo, it kicked right in and I felt great. Some games are going to be that way.”
Once he got going, McCarron made some exceptional throws.
He dropped the 22-yard touchdown to Tyler Eifert in the bucket between two defenders. The back-to-back throws to A.J. Green on the second TD drive were placed perfectly, i.e., where only Green could get to them against tight coverage.
Green did a great job of getting his feet down on both passes.
“I mess with him,” McCarron said. “For him to do so well with the sidelines, he’s a terrible dancer. You’d think he could toe tap. My job is to put it where the DB isn’t.”
McCarron finished 17-for-27 for 160 yards and two touchdowns. McCarron has not thrown an interception in his three starts.
“That’s big,” he said. “We’ve had a chance to win every game.”
‘TAZE THE ONE: Vontaze Burfict made a diving interception on the Ravens’ first drive of the second half.
The play seemed to wake the Bengals from the sleep walk that was the first half. The Bengals turned the turnover into a touchdown five plays later and never trailed again.
Burfict messes up from time to time — well, more than that — but he’s a playmaker.
“It’s so much fun to have him out there playing at a high level,” Kirkpatrick said. “We needed that spark. Him being one of the leaders on the team, he did a great job of delivering.”
STUCK IN NEUTRAL: The Bengals’ first four possessions ended with punts. The first three ended because McCarron was pressured and out of rhythm. He was 3-for-7 for 24 yards.
McCarron finally got it going in the fourth drive. He hit Green and Eifert for first downs on back-to-back plays.
The Bengals then shot themselves in their cleats. Two holding penalties and a false start and they were punting again. That made it 11 straight possessions without an touchdown going back to the Denver game.
MEANO GENO: Geno Atkins did not show up on the stat sheet in the loss at Denver. He was all over it Sunday from the start. He had a sack on the first drive and a tackle for a 4-yard loss on the second drive.
EIFERT’S BACK: Eifert, out two weeks with a concussion, made his presence known right away. He caught a 11-yard pass on the second play of the game.
Eifert caught four passes for 51 yards, all in the first half, including a 22-yarder for a touchdown. It was his 13th TD catch of the year.
“It helps (having him),” McCarron said. “He’s great target. He really made some great plays today. He definitely helped us out.”
RECORD SET: The Bengals allowed 279 points on the season. That’s a club record for fewest allowed in a 16-game season.
“We’re on a mission to be one of the top defenses,” defensive end Carlos Dunlap said. “We’ve come out and played with an edge these last few weeks.”
