Twistity Sports Exclusive: BENGALS AND LOCKS

Maybe the Cincinnati Bengals are ready for their close-up.

The Bengals beat the Denver Broncos 37-28 on Monday Night Football and clinched their fourth consecutive playoff berth. They will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale on Sunday Night Football, with the winner taking the AFC North Division title.

Before beating the Broncos, the Bengals had been disasters in primetime. They were 0-4 dating to last season, 0-2 this season (both losses by 21 points or more). Their three previous playoff appearances all amounted to one-and-dones as well.

The Bengals didn’t make it easy on themselves in a driving rain at Paul Brown Stadium. They let a 13-point escape, but rallied late. They also intercepted the Broncos’ Peyton Manning four times, the most he has thrown in a single game in more than four years. Dre Kirkpatrick returned the third one for the touchdown that set the final margin with 2:41 left, and then picked off another with a little over a minute to go.

“Everybody talking about what we can’t do at night time and this and that — it worked out for us today,” Bengals defensive back Adam Jones said after the game. “We played good. We showed the growth of the team and everybody kept their head down.”

The Bengals are 10-4-1, the Steelers 10-5. Cincy has won its last two games, Pittsburgh its last three.

No matter which way Sunday night’s game comes out, the Bengals still have another primetime challenge. They’ve lost six consecutive playoff games, their last win coming in 1991. They’ve not scored more than 17 points in any of those playoff defeats, three times being limited to 10.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .