With four straight losses in the rear-view mirror, the Bengals need to recognize their season has shifted. At 5-7, their hopes of even claiming a Wild Card spot are mathematically bleak. That doesn’t even take into account that Andy Dalton is on injured reserve and A.J. Green is likely to join him after appearing to re-injure his foot early against the Broncos.
There is no longer any excuse for the Bengals not to give their rookies and younger players a shot at playing over their veteran counterparts. This is valuable playing time that they can learn from, and perhaps they’ll realize they might actually be better than the player in front of them.