A.J. Green Tears Hamstring, Cincinnati Bengals Playoff Hopes
After losing to the Buffalo Bills 16-12 Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced that they will be without superstar wide receiver A.J. Green for the rest of the season as Andy Dalton’s favorite target goes down with a torn hamstring.
The initial reports were simply “not good.” Things got much worse soon after the game.
“I don’t know when he can come back, but he has a hamstring injury,” said unknowing head coach Marvin Lewis postgame.
Green had 964 receiving yards coming into Sunday’s matchup with the Bills, second only to Atlanta Falcons star Julio Jones. He also hasn’t missed a game since 2014 and hasn’t missed more than three games in a single season in his career.
Well, the news certainly devastated Green, the Bengals will suffer tremendously. At 3-6-1 after the loss to Buffalo, Cincinnati desperately needs to turn a new leaf if they want to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, who both sit at 5-5 in the AFC North.
The Bengals’ streak of five straight playoff appearances seems to be in serious jeopardy. The franchise will also need to wait at least another year to grab its first playoff win since 1991 when they beat the Houston Oilers.
The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, now sit at 5-5 seeking their first playoff victory since 1995. Head coach Rex Ryan knows it will take much more than a .500 record, however. He wants at least 10 wins.
“That’s always been the number that you put out there, that generally 10 gets you in,” said Rex. “But our focus has to be on Cincinnati, and that’s it. You can’t worry about getting to 10 wins. Shoot, we have to worry about getting five wins, so I think that’s where we have to look at.”
The Bills got there, now only five more.
And, hey. The Bengals may be out of the running with A.J. gone, but at least they can hang their hats on a third-place finish in the division as the Browns struggle to win a single game, right? Thanks, Cleveland!