Bengals-Jets: The Excitement of This Matchup Lies in the Hands of Texans

As exciting of a game Sunday's matchup could have been between the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets, it may end up becoming a meaningless game for the Cardiac Cats.

One week after head coach Rex Ryan stated his team was eliminated from the postseason, the Jets all of a sudden control their playoff destiny after a surprising win over the previously undefeated Indianapolis Colts. For New York it's simple: win and they're in. The only factor that has yet to be determined is which Cincinnati team they will have to overcome.

If the playoffs ended today, the Bengals would enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed behind the New England Patriots in the AFC because of strength of victory (.433 to Cincinnati's .403).

With the Patriots heading to Texas to take on the Houston Texans on Sunday, head coach Marvin Lewis will have to wait until after 4:00 PM before the Jets know which Bengals team they will have to face.

At 8-7, the Texans are one of five teams remaining that can still end up with one of the two Wild Card spots in the AFC. If Houston can find a way to overcome Tom Brady and company, they will clinch their first playoff berth with one of three scenarios:

• A Jets loss or tie (vs. Cincinnati) and a Baltimore loss or tie (vs. Oakland)
• A Jets loss or tie and a Denver loss or tie (vs. Kansas City)
• A Baltimore loss or tie and a Denver loss or tie

While all three of these scenarios are capable of happening, the most important factor is none of it matters unless the Texans win against the Patriots. Not to mention if Houston falls short against New England, the highly anticipated Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Jets becomes meaningless for Cincinnati.

With a Patriots win, the Bengals automatically secure the No. 4 seed in the AFC. If this happens to be the case, Lewis will allow the starters to rest for a majority of the game—if not the entire.

That being said, the Jets could be looking at a second-straight week against their opponents' backups. As frustrating as this may be to the rest of the teams in the AFC fighting for their playoff lives, there's nothing they can do about it.

All they can do is have their fate controlled by the outcome of the Texans-Patriots game and the Bengals find themselves playing for the No. 3 seed instead of No. 4.

Dan Parzych is the Cincinnati Bengals Examiner for Examiner.com

He is also the founder of WhoDeyBengals.com

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