Here's How the Bengals Can Clinch the AFC's No. 1 Seed in Week 18

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

It's hard to overlook how impressive the Cincinnati Bengals look when they are firing on all cylinders. Head coach Zac Taylor's squad locked up the AFC North division with a hard fought win in Week 17 over the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, the Bengals still have a shot to claim the AFC's No. 1 seed.

Bengals Playoff Scenarios

Of course, Cincinnati needs to end the regular season with a win over the Cleveland Browns before any other scenarios even come into play. The Bengals are currently slated as 2.5-point road favorites in that game, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

The major obstacle to overcome here is that both of the teams ahead of the Bengals in the standings need to lose. The Tennessee Titans head into Week 18 as 10.5-point favorites over the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs are 10-point favorites over the Denver Broncos.

The Titans have found themselves on the wrong end of a few upsets this season and Kansas City is playing in front of a tough Mile High crowd. It's possible that both teams could falter on Sunday. It would then come down to what happens involving the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.

A New England Patriots loss or tie against the Miami Dolphins coupled with the TEN/KC losses would slide the Bengals into the No. 1 spot. Cincinnati could also move up top if the Buffalo Bills defeat the New York Jets in addition to TEN & KC losing. That route is likely the best chance the Bengals have.

All things considered, the Bengals have a shot to grab that elusive first round bye and that's all they could ask for at this point in the season. It'll be interesting to see if quarterback Joe Burrow can keep this team rolling after guiding them to the franchise's first AFC North title since 2015.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.