Bengals veteran sends clear message regarding importance of matchup with Chargers

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton is known for speaking his mind, or "keeping it real," if you will. He doesn't typically sugarcoat things. So when Hilton talks, people tend to listen, and the veteran just sent a very clear message to the rest of the locker room regarding the importance of Cincinnati's Week 11 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

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“We’re sitting at 4-6, we take this L on Sunday (and fall to) 4-7, you can pretty much cancel the postseason,” Hilton said. “We have belief in each other in this locker room and we’re still in the fight. We just got to take care of Sunday and go from there.”

Hilton is completely correct in the fact that the Bengals' playoff hopes hinge largely on the outcome of the contest on Sunday night. As it currently stands, the Bengals have a 36 percent chance of making the playoffs following their Week 10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football.The number will either rise or drop drastically depending on what happens in the game against Los Angeles.

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With a win over the Chargers, Cincinnati's playoff odds will jump up to 53 percent, which means that it would be more likely than not that they would qualify for postseason play at that point. However, with a loss the Bengals' playoff odds would drop down to 22 percent. That's over a 30-point percentage swing depending on what happens against the Chargers. So yeah, it's safe to call this game a "must-win" for Cincinnati.

At least the players are well aware of just how important this one is. Despite their struggles this season, the Bengals still have an enormous opportunity sitting right in front of them. Given how good guys like Joe Burrow, Ja'marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson have been playing, the Bengals could definitely be one of those lower-seeded teams that no higher-seeded squad wants to have to face in the playoffs. But, in order to fill that role -- and potentially make a real run of their own -- the Bengals will have to get to the playoffs first, and that starts with a big win over the Chargers in Los Angeles on Sunday Night Football.