Week 12 has been an ugly day of football, but the Cincinnati Bengals will come out of it in improved position for the 2020 NFL Draft. The Bengals nearly upset the Pittsburgh Steelers, but came up short in a 16-10 loss at home. Meanwhile, Washington hung close and eventually stunned the Detroit Lions 19-16 with a last second field goal.
The Bengals took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and the Steelers evened it up heading into halftime. It was an ugly game that saw Mason Rudolph benched in the third quarter and replaced by Devlin Hodges. Hodges finished the game 5 of 11 for 118 yards and a touchdown. He connected with James Washington on a 79-yard score. The Bengals offense could get nothing going in the second half and dropped to 0-11.
Meanwhile, Detroit was atrocious on the road in Washington. Jeff Driskel threw for 207 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. There were some dropped opportunities for Washington and frankly, they should have won by more. With the win, Washington improved to 2-9.
Cincinnati now holds a two-game lead in the race for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. With only five weeks remaining, it seems highly unlikely they blow this. Maybe it gives them more reason to finally shut down A.J. Green.