NFL Cincinnati Bengals

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals Finally Exorcise Their Prime-Time Demons

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Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

It was ugly, wet and never assured, but the Cincinnati Bengals finally secured their spot in the NFL playoffs with a Monday night win over the Denver Broncos.

For a team that had controlled the AFC North for most of the season, a late charge by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens had some Cincy fans wondering if they’d even make the playoffs. But four Peyton Manning interceptions and one spectacular defensive game plan later, the Bengals have booked their ticket, but have they also put their prime-time woes behind them?

The easy answer is “yes.” After all, it doesn’t get more “prime time” than hosting the NFL’s glamour team and making arguably the league’s best player look foolish. The Cincy ground game ran rampant and the pass defense was tenacious. Cincy finally has its signature win, and not a week too soon.

Before Monday, the Bengals of the Andy Dalton-Marvin Lewis era had been characterized as not being able to win when the lights were brightest and the games mattered most. That’s still markedly better than the Bengals of years prior, who never had a big game to win in the first place, but the 2014 edition clearly has loftier goals in mind.

With that said, but it’s still hard to classify Cincinnati as a deep playoff contender. One great game does not a great team make, and history does not smile on Cincy. The team has been unceremoniously bounced out of the playoffs in the first round of each of the last three years, care of some stinker performances by Dalton, and there still isn’t quite enough on the resume to suggest it can hang with the big boys of the AFC.

Rest assured, Manning won’t have another four-pick night should they meet again in Denver.

Dalton had a solid performance on paper. He completed 17-of-26 passes for 146 and two touchdowns. His one pick-six wasn’t really his fault either, with the ball being tipped off a receiver’s hand. The defense’s relentless pressure on Manning meant it was simply Dalton’s job to not lose the game, and he’s a reliable player in that department.

When he was called upon to make some deep throws in long yardage, however, his decision-making was borderline disastrous. It’s hard to see the defense bailing him out many more times in January, particularly on the road.

But the time for speculation is over; the time to test the team’s mettle is now. If the Bengals thought they could benefit from a playoff simulation before the big dance, then they got their wish. Heinz Field has served as a house of horrors for the jungle cats, and it will be rocking to its very core with the division title on the line next week against Pittsburgh.

There’s not much that’s predictable in the NFL, but you can bank on this: whoever emerges from the firefight as reigning champion of the best division in football will represent its conference in Glendale, Arizona. Whether that team will be the offensive juggernaut Steelers or the defensively dominant Bengals rests squarely on the Red Rifle.

Jonathon Natsis covers the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHollywood92, ‘like’ him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+

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