Young Bengals Aren't Playing With House Money, Need to Beat Raiders in Wild Card Matchup

Cincinnati hasn't won in the postseason since Jan. 6, 1991.

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are hoping to exorcise their playoff demons on Saturday against the Raiders. 

Cincinnati hasn't won a playoff game since Jan. 6, 1991. I wasn't alive and neither were most of the players on the current roster. 

The Bengals are 0-7 in the playoffs since their last postseason win. They've had some heartbreaking losses in the process.

Of course this team is different. They have a new coaching staff and a completely revamped roster. 

"We're not worried about that," Joe Burrow said. "We're going to go out there and execute the way we need to on Saturday to try to get the win." 

That's the funny part about this season. On one hand, the Bengals overachieved. Not many people had them winning the division or making the playoffs. They did both. Then they swept Baltimore and Pittsburgh in dominating fashion—winning all four matchups by double-digits. 

The Bengals are young and they might be scratching the surface of their potential, but they need to win on Saturday. They need to beat the Raiders. 

They aren't playing with house money. 

This team needs to exorcise the demons that have followed Mike Brown and the rest of the organization for 30+ years. 

Cincinnati is a 5.5-point favorite according to the SI Sportsbook. Can you imagine what would happen if they lose? 

The Bengals beat the Raiders 32-13 in Las Vegas on Nov. 21. The game was closer than the final score indicated, but Cincinnati won. 

Combine that with the fact that the game is at home, they're as healthy as any team in the NFL and most believe they have the better quarterback and a more talented roster. 

If the Bengals lose, then the playoff narrative won't just continue, but it'll be amplified. 

Burrow is expected to be the savior. This era of Bengals football is supposed to be different. That doesn't mean they have to make a Super Bowl run over the next three weeks, but they can't lose to a Raiders team that they beat earlier in the year—especially considering what Las Vegas has gone through this season. 

Their head coach resigned in October. Former first round pick and emerging star wide receiver Henry Ruggs was released in November after being charged with four felonies after a car accident that ended in the tragic death of 23-year-old Tina Tintor. Ruggs' blood-alcohol level was 0.16%, which is two times the legal limit.

The Raiders have overcome a lot, but the Bengals have to end their improbable run. Cincinnati can't afford to lose this game. 

Not with this quarterback and a trio of real life Monstars at wide receiver. 

Burrow and the Bengals have the dagger in their hands. They need to drive it into the heart of the demon, curse or whatever it is that has plagued this franchise since 1991. 

If they don't do it Saturday, then the storyline, the narrative, the spirit of a "playoff curse" is going to get stronger and even tougher to overcome in the future. 

Pressure from the ghosts of Bengals past will start to hover around Paul Brown Stadium and the weight of the playoff drought will be placed on the shoulders of Burrow, Zac Taylor and company. 

Winning on Saturday buries that narrative. It ends the drought and any negative storyline about that past impacting the present.

This game has to end with Dan Hoard's famous "Coffin Nails!" line, followed by Dave Lapham screaming "Bam! Bam! Bam!" on the Bengals radio network. 

Anything less would be more than a disappointment. It would strengthen a narrative, a storyline, that has followed this organization for far too long. 

Not many expected the Bengals to be here, but now that they are, they have to take advantage of the opportunity.

It's time. 

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