The Bengals and 49ers always seem to intersect at the junction of fate and history and here they are again Sunday (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) when the 10-3 Bengals try to translate AJ McCarron’s first NFL start into a victory over 4-9 San Francisco that would secure a playoff spot and possibly the AFC North title.
If the Jets lose in Dallas Saturday night or the Chiefs lose in Baltimore Sunday, the Bengals make the playoffs for the fifth straight season before McCarron’s first snap. But Cincinnati is looking for much more that since one of the AFC’s top two seeds gives them an extra week of rest for quarterback Andy Dalton to heal his fractured throwing thumb and in order to do that they have to win out.