Bengals can prove themselves over next two weeks

The Cincinnati Bengals are always a punchline when it comes to big games. For years, the Bengals have always been the team on the receiving end of gut-punch losses, owning the longest current span between wins in the postseason.

The last time Cincinnati tasted a playoff win? The 1990 season, when Boomer Esiason and Co. beat the Houston Oilers. Yes, it was so long ago that the franchise on the losing end doesn’t even exist anymore.

This weekend, the Cincinnati Bengals don’t have a chance to right that wrong with the postseason being more than two months away, but they can take a big step toward that dream. Cincinnati is playing host to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that historically has given the Bengals fits. Cincinnati is trying to beat the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since 2014, and if it can fin a way to do so, the Bengals would be looking at a 2.5-game lead over Pittsburgh in the AFC North.

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The Steelers have been an uneven 2-2-1 to this point, but the last time we saw them, they were blowing out the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field, 41-17. Just the Bengals luck, it appears Pittsburgh is starting to get its act together right before going into the Queen City, which might be why Vegas, despite the Bengals being 4-1, are only installed as a 2.5-point favorite.

Once the game with the Steelers comes to a close, Cincinnati won’t have much time to sit back and relax. The Bengals found out on Tuesday that their next game, a date at Arrowhead Stadium with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, has been flexed from Sunday afternoon to the primetime night game.

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Kansas City has arguably the best offense in the league with Patrick Mahomes, Kareem Hunt, Sammy Watkins, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, along with a menacing home-field advantage that has seen Chiefs wins in each of their last five regular-season primetime matchups.

To beat the Chiefs in this spot, the Cincinnati Bengals are going to have to overcome some serious baggage. Since Marvin Lewis became head coach back in 2003, Cincinnati is a brutal 8-24 under the lights, including an almost impossible to believe 1-16 on the road. The Bengals are 0-10 in their last 10 Sunday night games in general, dating back to 2006.

In short, Cincinnati has a chance these next two weeks to make believers out of a lot of people … or to prove that the Bengals of present day are the same old Bengals we’re all used to seeing.