The updated path to the playoffs for the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati must win versus the Steelers in Week 18, but there's more to the potential path

CINCINNATI, Oh. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- Two of the five dominoes that need to fall for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the postseason have tipped over, but knocking down the other three are easier said than done.

Control the Controllables

Cincinnati can only control part of the equation by beating both their final two opponents.

After dispatching the Denver Broncos, Cincinnati has the strong Steelers to deal with in Pittsburgh on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The 10-6 Steelers beat the Bengals 44-38 on December 1 in Cincinnati.

Coming off of their fourth win in a row, Cincinnati can end the regular season at 9-8 with a win.

They also won a close game after seven of eight previous losses were by one score.

“We’ve known we had a good football team all along,” said Head Coach Zac Taylor said. “And those (close) games are disappointing that we came up short, but they didn’t change our process. They didn’t change what our guys believed in. We didn’t have to change everything we did. We still believed in what we were doing. And now we’ve won four in a row, and we have to make it five in a row.”

The Other Dominoes

The Bengals need both the Colts and Dolphins to drop one of their two last games of the season.

Indianapolis lost to the New York Giants on Sunday 45-33 while Miami beat Cleveland 20-3 in Week 17.

That means the Dolphins must lose to the New York Jets on Sunday for the Bengals to have life in the playoff race. That result is easier said than done. The Dolphins beat the Jets o December 8 32-26.

Lastly, the number one seeded Kansas City Chiefs must beat Denver to knock them out of the playoff bubble.

If all those results fall the Bengals’ way, football fans in the Queen City will have witnessed a miracle of a turnaround this season.