Bengals bye week rooting guide: It does not get much bleaker than this

The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of time to control their own destiny this season, but in Week 6, it might feel like the sky is falling a bit as they watch on helplessly in the midst of their bye.

Why do I say that? Because any which way you break down the favorable scenarios for Cincinnati, well, there aren't many of them that are realistic. The AFC is so tightly clumped together that the Bengals, despite boasting a solid 3-2 record that could easily be 5-0, are 10th in the conference standings.

In other words, tiebreakers galore alert as we just start exploring those pesky playoff what-ifs. But it goes beyond the standings in some cases for obvious reasons.

Browns hosting Ravens is an AFC North gross-fest

• Ravens at Browns: Sunday 1 p.m. ET on FOX
• Rooting verdict: Baltimore and it isn't close

Look, if you want to root for Deshaun Watson, that's your business. I disrespectfully refuse. In some ways, it would be more beneficial for Ravens head coach Jesse Minter to put Watson's brain in a blender, force him into taking multiple unnecessary sacks and coughing up multiple turnovers just to get the Browns off the board.

Can you believe that puff piece approach Amazon took a while back with Watson? Shrilling with maximum cringe in its self-flagellating tone-deafness, idiocy and audacious ignorance.

Maybe the Browns winning would bring the Bengals a bit closer to sitting atop the AFC North. For me, from a pure football standpoint, it'd actually just cloudy the picture and bring another team into the Wild Card mix. For as much as I loathe Watson, Cleveland is always a tough out with that defense no matter who's playing QB for them.

Rooting for the Ravens usually sucks. Especially when they can create more breathing room atop the division. As Jonathan Frakes has famously said on many occasions, "Not this time."

Crowded AFC Wild Card picture features few winning Week 6 outcomes for Cincinnati

• Seahawks at Broncos: Thursday at 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video
• Rooting verdict: Hard yes to Seattle

Yup, the Bo Nix-led Denver Broncos are one of those 3-2 teams ahead of the Bengals. It annoys me how good Nix has it, and how absolutely little he does with all those assets. Stout offensive line. Stellar defense. He's a completion-hunting checkdown machine.

Not sure what the ever-arrogant Sean Payton saw on film to conclude that his play-calling could fix Nix. If anything, he made it worse than when Davis Webb was calling the shots.

The Seahawks look a little shaky after that loss at home to the 49ers. They lost to the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders, barely beat the winless Chargers after that, and then kinda blew it in Week 5 to their NFC West rival.

Let's hope Seattle has a get-right game, although that may prove difficult in the higher altitude of Denver. Come on Mike Macdonald, surely you can flummox Bo Nix!

Fun subplot: Would love to see how Broncos fans feel about those, "WE COULD'VE WON THE SUPER BOWL!" takes after watching Nix in this one. Have a feeling said takes aren't gonna age so well.

• Bills at Raiders: Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS
• Rooting verdict: Slight lean to Buffalo

Again, we're pulling for a favorite here who is not only a threat to Joe Burrow's first-ever MVP award in Josh Allen, but it's another case where the Raiders are 3-2 and just need to take a step down.

It's been a joy to see Kirk Cousins ball out in Vegas, especially since he's one of the least-Vegas QBs to ever walk the Earth.

Allen is the ultimate gunslinger/gambler/agent of chaos who cracks up at anyone who tries to hit him hard because they just bounce off. This dude is the Terminator. I'm convinced he cannot get hurt in any meaningful way.

Yeah, the Bills' defense is dreadful for the most part. It doesn't really matter when Allen and Bills tailback James Cook are rolling.

Best-case scenarios involve Bengals rooting for Jalon Daniels and Geno Smith as victorious QBs

• Steelers at Buccaneers: Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS
• Rooting verdict: Hard yes to Tampa Bay

Jalon Daniels might've caught lightning in a bottle in that Thursday night win over the Dallas Cowboys. Hardly any film on him, short week, supreme athlete facing a bad defense. The signs were all so clear in retrospect!

I don't see an encore performance like that from Daniels. Not against such a stout Steelers defense that's old but experienced and can throw some wrinkles at Daniels that he ain't ready for.

The question is, can Bucs head coach Todd Bowles get home with his blitzes to get Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh's offense out of sync? Should be interesting. Rodgers will be feeling himself a bit after Week 5's 34-22 beatdown of the Colts. Could be a trap game for the Steelers even on the road.

...And yeah. Since Pittsburgh holds the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Bengals, a loss by the Steelers would be huge for division and Wild Card purposes. Easiest "root for" of the bye week by far.

• Jets at Patriots: Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS
• Rooting verdict: Hard yes to Gang Green

I mean the Jets did beat the Browns in the rain at MetLife Stadium. That must count for something, eh? Drake "The Schedule" Maye has looked good the last two games in lighting up the Bills and Raiders, but how impressive is that really?

Sounds like another case of "The Schedule" striking. The Jets have their flaws, but Geno Smith is playing exceptionally clean football this season. He's lost two fumbles but hasn't thrown a single interception.

If superstar receiver A.J. Brown returns for this contest, the Pats will be massive home favorites. That remains to be seen.

What is clear is that the 3-2 Patriots are dangerous when Maye isn't doing a terrible Josh Allen impersonation. Any loss they take could be Wild Card or playoff home-field leverage in a prospective duel with the Bengals down the road.

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