Bengals face critical moment

The Cincinnati Bengals were rolling along. In the earlier part of the 2015 National Football League season, the Bengals took care of business with nine consecutive wins to start the campaign, including victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.

Then, there were two straight losses to the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals, with both coming in primetime. There was a resounding rebound win against the Cleveland Browns, but that was followed by a disaster. Not only did the Bengals lose to the hated Steelers on Sunday afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium, they watched as tight end Tyler Efiert sustained a concussion while quarterback Andy Dalton suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand.

Cincinnati will likely still win the AFC North but it will do it without Dalton. The good news? Dalton will reportedly not require surgery. The bad news? The Bengals are going to have a very hard time getting a BYE week in the AFC playoffs, and there is a great chance that the Steelers will be their opponent in the Wild Card round.

Throughout the last few decades, Cincinnati has always come up against and fell to the Steelers. Pittsburgh has gone into the Queen City and won 22 of the last 27 games between the two teams at Paul Brown Stadium/Riverfront Stadium. It has been a brutal stretch for Who Dey Nation, which is sick and tired of seeing the black and gold dance all over them. The toughest loss was in the 2006 Wild Card, when Carson Palmer tore his ACL and Pittsburgh won, then went to a Super Bowl championship.

For the Bengals, the moment is now to make a stand. Cincinnati should have Dalton back for the postseason, meaning that he could face the Steelers in the rematch. Whether or not Dalton will be completely healed at that point is another question, but the Bengals must find a way to get over their biggest obstacle; winning a playoff game.

Cincinnati faces the San Francisco 49ers this week with A.J. McCarron under center for his first career start. Should McCarron win the contest, it will be the first time a quarterback out of the University of Alabam has started and won a game in the NFL since Jeff Rutledge took one home in 1987.

The following two games will see a visit to the Denver Broncos before coming home to the Baltimore Ravens. Even if the Bengals lose each of the next two contests, they can still beat the lowly Ravens and win the AFC North, guaranteeing itself of the No. 3 seed at the worst.

The injury to Dalton is crushing, but it does not end the season. The Bengals must stay mentally tough and weather the storm, then rise up when everything is on the line.