The Cincinnati Bengals are going into the final week of the season clinging onto playoff hope. As of Week 18, The Athletic’s playoff prediction model gives the Bengals a 6% chance of making the playoffs.
This is the narrowest margin among the three teams competing for the final AFC playoff spot; the Denver Broncos are projected to make the playoffs at 74%, while the Miami Dolphins are projected to make the playoffs at 19%.
If Cincinnati doesn’t make the playoffs, there’s going to be a lot more questions than answers going into the off-season.
Joe Burrow raised a major one.
“Letting Great Players Leave” Bengals’ Joe Burrow Tears Into Organization (Report)
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow sent a clear message to the front office this past week, imploring them to find a way to keep Tee Higgins.
“You don’t want to make a living out of letting great players leave the building,” Burrow told reporters. “And I think that’s why you gotta do everything you can to get those deals done early.”
Because Burrow rarely speaks out, this was a quote that no doubt ricocheted through the building. With Cincinnati playing the Steelers tonight with their season on the line, there is a real possibility it is the last game together for Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins. Even if the Bengals win, they’ll need losses by the Broncos and Dolphins to get into the playoffs.
Sources say the three have discussed playing together again for years to come. It’s their goal, and privately they have made no secret about it.
Here is a look at Higgins’ stats this season:
| Receiving | Rushing | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Team | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Lng | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Touch | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | ||||||
| 2024-12-28 | CIN | DEN | W 30-24 (OT) | 12 | 11 | 131 | 11.9 | 3 | 31 | 91.7% | 10.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11.9 | 131 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2024-12-22 | CIN | CLE | W 24-6 | 11 | 8 | 58 | 7.3 | 1 | 21 | 72.7% | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7.3 | 58 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2024-12-15 | CIN | @ | TEN | W 37-27 | 8 | 5 | 88 | 17.6 | 1 | 38 | 62.5% | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17.6 | 88 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024-12-09 | CIN | @ | DAL | W 27-20 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 0 | 13 | 40.0% | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11.5 | 23 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024-12-01 | CIN | PIT | L 38-44 | 10 | 5 | 69 | 13.8 | 1 | 31 | 50.0% | 6.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13.8 | 69 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2024-11-17 | CIN | @ | LAC | L 27-34 | 13 | 9 | 148 | 16.4 | 1 | 42 | 69.2% | 11.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16.4 | 148 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024-10-20 | CIN | @ | CLE | W 21-14 | 8 | 4 | 82 | 20.5 | 1 | 25 | 50.0% | 10.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20.5 | 82 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024-10-13 | CIN | @ | NYG | W 17-7 | 7 | 7 | 77 | 11.0 | 0 | 24 | 100.0% | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11.0 | 77 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024-10-06 | CIN | BAL | L 38-41 (OT) | 14 | 9 | 83 | 9.2 | 2 | 17 | 64.3% | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9.2 | 83 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2024-09-29 | CIN | @ | CAR | W 34-24 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 10.0 | 0 | 12 | 60.0% | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10.0 | 60 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024-09-23 | CIN | WAS | L 33-38 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 16 | 50.0% | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13.0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | ||
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