3 Bengals who must step up versus 49ers in week 14

The Cincinnati Bengals continue to be a roller coaster in 2021. One week they are playing like Super Bowl contenders, a couple of weeks later they are playing like an expansion team. Inconsistency has been the most consistent trait of this team.

Yet here we are, almost two weeks into December, and against all odds, the Bengals find themselves in prime position to make a run for the division title. Against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Bengals dug themselves a hole that ultimately Joe Burrow could not dig them out of.

Despite getting into an immediate hole thanks to a Ja’marr Chase drop, a general malaise coming out of the locker room, and Charger gunslinger Justin Herbert airing the ball out to his giant receiving corp, the Bengals were still in position to take a fourth-quarter lead.

We all know what happened then. The atmosphere in the stadium deflated like a Tom Brady football when Joe Mixon’s fumble was scooped and picked up for a game-sealing Chargers score. In retrospect, a win against the Chargers would’ve propelled the Bengals into first place in the AFC North. However the rear view mirror only looks backward.

The team, and we as fans, must continue to look forward to San Francisco and hopefully getting back on track in a key inter-conference game that the Bengals can ill afford to lose.

For this to happen, the Bengals must have several key players step up. Whether because of injury or necessity, the following three Bengals must step up versus the 49ers.