The Cincinnati Bengals are in a brutal spot. They’ve now dropped four straight, and even if they somehow rattled off a miracle run and won out, they’d only finish with nine wins—probably not enough to punch a playoff ticket.
Sure, it isn’t mathematically impossible to sneak into the postseason at 9–8, but they were shut out last year with that exact record, and the odds right now sit at a bleak 1%.
Next up is a Thanksgiving night trip to Baltimore to face the 6–5 Ravens, and one massive question hangs over the entire franchise: Will Joe Burrow play? The signs suggest yes—the Bengals appear to be ramping him back up.
But the real question isn’t whether he will play. It’s should he, at least this early?
To make the playoffs, the Bengals have to be perfect from here on out and get help from other teams. That’s rarely the kind of luck Cincinnati sports enjoys. Burrow—arguably the best pure pocket passer in the NFL — would give this offense its highest ceiling and its best chance to light up the scoreboard. But we’ve also seen that scoring a ton of points doesn’t guarantee a thing with the way this season has gone.
And then there’s the darkest timeline: Burrow returns, gets hurt worse than he did in Week 2, and suddenly parts of his 2026 season are in jeopardy. If that happens, it would not only slam the coffin lid shut on 2025 but also hammer the first nail into 2026 as well.
So what do you think? Should he play this week? Should they wait until Week 13 at Buffalo? Or should the Bengals accept reality and call 2025 what it is—a lost cause?
Sound off!
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