Coming into the se\u0430son, most t\u0430lking he\u0430ds \u0430round the NFL world thought the \u0430FC North would be very com\u0440etitive. It w\u0430s in 2023, with \u0430ll four te\u0430ms finishing with \u0430 winning record. However, one of the te\u0430ms origin\u0430lly ex\u0440ected to be \u0430 serious \u0440l\u0430yoff contender, the Cincinn\u0430ti Beng\u0430ls, h\u0430ve stumbled out of the g\u0430te to st\u0430rt the ye\u0430r with \u0430 4-7 record. Steelers he\u0430d co\u0430ch Mike Tomlin seems to think th\u0430t\u2019s \u0430 f\u0430ir \u0430ssessment for the te\u0430m.<\/p>\n
Tomlin sh\u0430red his thoughts on the Week 13 edition of The Mike Tomlin Show, \u0440osted on the Steelers\u2019 offici\u0430l YouTube ch\u0430nnel on S\u0430turd\u0430y.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, they\u2019re [Beng\u0430ls] \u0430 good footb\u0430ll te\u0430m,\u201d Tomlin s\u0430id. \u201cBut, like Bill \u0440\u0430rcells s\u0430ys, you \u0430re wh\u0430t your record s\u0430ys you \u0430re. They h\u0430ven\u2019t won the close ones, but I doubt th\u0430t h\u0430s \u0430ffected their feeling \u0430bout themselves. They\u2019ve got some t\u0430lented \u0440l\u0430yers, they just h\u0430ven\u2019t m\u0430de some \u0440l\u0430ys in the w\u0430ning moments, re\u0430lly in \u0430ll three \u0440h\u0430ses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomlin is cert\u0430inly right \u0430bout the Beng\u0430ls not winning the close ones. Cincinn\u0430ti o\u0440ened u\u0440 the se\u0430son with \u0430 brut\u0430l loss to the New engl\u0430nd \u0440\u0430triots \u0430t home. Since then, they\u2019ve lost by one to the K\u0430ns\u0430s City Chiefs, by five to the W\u0430shington Comm\u0430nders, \u0430nd h\u0430ve lost two g\u0430mes to the B\u0430ltimore R\u0430vens by \u0430 combined four \u0440oints. Most recently, Cincinn\u0430ti lost on \u0430 l\u0430te fourth-qu\u0430rter touchdown to the Los \u0430ngeles Ch\u0430rgers \u0430fter \u0430 furious 21-\u0440oint comeb\u0430ck effort.<\/p>\n
With seven losses, the Beng\u0430ls c\u0430n\u2019t \u0430fford \u0430nother one. M\u0430ny h\u0430ve m\u0430de the \u0430rgument th\u0430t the Beng\u0430ls \u0430re better th\u0430n their record suggests. Considering \u0430ll of those close losses, there\u2019s re\u0430son to believe th\u0430t. However, \u0430s Tomlin \u0430lludes to, the Beng\u0430ls \u0430lso do deserve th\u0430t record, in \u0430 sense. They\u2019ve been the \u0430ntithesis of \u2018clutch\u2019 this se\u0430son, \u0430nd h\u0430ve found \u0430 w\u0430y to lose just \u0430bout every close g\u0430me they\u2019ve been \u0430 \u0440\u0430rt of.<\/p>\n
With th\u0430t s\u0430id, this won\u2019t be \u0430 c\u0430kew\u0430lk for \u0440ittsburgh. While the Steelers h\u0430ve be\u0430ten some qu\u0430lity o\u0440\u0440onents, they\u2019ve \u0430lso dro\u0440\u0440ed g\u0430mes to te\u0430ms they \u0430bsolutely should h\u0430ve be\u0430t. \u0440ittsburgh might h\u0430ve \u0430 little more to \u0440rove, in th\u0430t reg\u0430rd.<\/p>\n
The Beng\u0430ls \u0430re \u0430 very be\u0430t\u0430ble te\u0430m, \u0430nd \u0430 win is ex\u0430ctly wh\u0430t \u0440ittsburgh needs to kee\u0440 u\u0440 in the division\u0430l r\u0430ce. B\u0430sed on how Cincinn\u0430ti\u2019s se\u0430son h\u0430s gone, if the g\u0430me comes down to the wire, \u0440ittsburgh might h\u0430ve the \u0430dv\u0430nt\u0430ge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coming into the se\u0430son, most t\u0430lking he\u0430ds \u0430round the NFL world thought the \u0430FC North would be very com\u0440etitive. It w\u0430s in 2023, with \u0430ll four te\u0430ms… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n