Updated: 5 p.m.
The Bengals will know exactly where they stand in the AFC playoff picture when they line up to start the NFL’s last regular-season game of the year Sunday night against the Jets in the final game ever at The Meadowlands. And head coach Marvin Lewis indicated Monday he’ll use all that information on deciding who plays and how much.
“We’re going to take all those things into consideration,” Lewis said at his news conference.
Just some of those things are the distinct possibility the Bengals could host the Jets the very next week in the Wild Card game, the fact that Rex Ryan’s No. 1 defense aggressively goes after the quarterback, and the Bengals’ seed will already be set by the time of the 8:30 p.m. kickoff on NBC.
If the Patriots win in Houston earlier in the day, the Bengals No. 4 seed is set no matter what they do. If the Pats lose, the Bengals have to decide how important that No. 3 seed is. Gregg Rosenthal of ProFootballTalk.com reports that a New England win isn't an automatic clinch for No. 3. The Patriots currently have a big edge in the strength of victory tiebreaker and if the Vikings beat the Bears Monday night, the Patriots would have a five-game lead going into Sunday, he reports. So PFT is saying a win makes it "a high likelihood," the Pats would be No. 3.
“Just another Sunday,” Lewis said. “We’ll approach it as a game we need to win.”
But asked if his plans would be impacted by what happens earlier Sunday he said “it could.”