The 2023 NFL playoffs kick off this Saturday afternoon and the Cincinnati Bengals will be hosting the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round on Sunday night.
Bengals fans feel confident that this team can get back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year but what is the most likely path for them to get there? Let's take a look.
Bengals' most-likely path to the Super Bowl
First and foremost, the Bengals obviously have to win all three of their playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. That's the easy part. This means that they'll have to knock off the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, which shouldn't be difficult to do even if Lamar Jackson does suit up. He hasn't practiced in over a month though so do with that info what you will.
As for the rest of the Wild Card matchups, the Bills should easily take care of business against the Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins, setting up a Bengals-Bills matchup in the divisional round. We didn't get to see these two go at it in Week 17 because of the cancelation but now should be the time we finally get to see these two go head-to-head.
From there, the Bengals probably end up squaring off against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship once again. I'd tread with caution here though because it's entirely possible that Kansas City has to get past the Chargers a third time this season and that's hard to do. If the Chargers knock off KC, the AFC Championship Game would be at Paycor Stadium. It's a realistic scenario for sure.
While it'd be great to have the title game in Cincinnati, more than likely, the stripes head to Kansas City, which won't be intimidating considering they've won three straight games against the Chiefs. That means the Bengals have to get through the Ravens, the Bills, and the Chiefs to reach their second-straight Super Bowl.