After a favorable outcome on Thursday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals' playoff hopes went from far-fetched to at least in the realm of possibility. As long as the Bengals can take care of business against the Cleveland Browns the team will have a chance to further increase its odds next week against the Denver Broncos.
Getting past Cleveland is step one, though, and for most of the week, there were concerns about the Bengals being full strength on Sunday. The last thing Cincinnati needed was to be shorthanded against a division foe, but thankfully, that does not appear to be the case.
Head coach Zac Taylor confirmed to reporters that both Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins will be active and ready to go against the Browns. More importantly, neither player is expected to be limited in any sense despite the injury designation. This is huge news for both the Bengals and fantasy football players.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins and QB Joe Burrow are good to go for Sunday’s game against the Browns.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) December 20, 2024
For those of you in fantasy playoffs, I asked Zac Taylor if any injuries should could impact their workload. He said they would not.
Bengals receive huge injury updates for Tee Higgins and Joe Burrow
We all know this Bengals defense is suspect and this is a matchup that can snowball. If Burrow and Higgins were compromised in any way then they could fall into an early rut that would be hard to dig out of because of the defense.
Thankfully, that is not the case and the Bengals' offense will be at full strength against Cleveland. While nothing is guaranteed, this is a huge boost to the Bengals' chances, even as a touchdown favorite in the game.
Burrow was always expected to play, so his status update does not come as much of a surprise. The bigger story here is Higgins, who will not only help the Bengals but help football fans around the world.
It's not secret that we are in the fantasy football playoffs in Week 16 and Higgins is a big name who is starting on many fantasy teams. Higgins playing will absolutely be the difference in many fantasy matchups this week, assuming he has his normal production against the Browns.
Fantasy players do not have to worry about his workload either thanks to Taylor's comments. The worst-case scenario would be starting Higgins only for him to hardly play because of the injury. That does not appear to be in the cards.
This is a huge win for the Bengals and a huge win for fantasy players around the world (unless you are someone who is facing off against Higgins in Week 16). Hopefully, the Bengals can make the most of it and not only win the game but give said fantasy players exactly what they are looking for out of Higgins.