Don't shed any tears for the Bengals missing the playoffs

ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr. called the Chiefs' lineup decisions and play one of the lowlights of the NFL season, and wondered if their incentive was blocking the "dreaded Bengals" from making the playoffs. 

As impressive as the Bengals late season surge might have looked, they ended up with the result they deserved. 

• They lost eight games, including a season-opening loss, at home, to one of the worst teams in football (New England). 
• They again got off to a slow start in the first month of the season that put them into a deep deficit in the standings that forced them to try and crawl out of it. It has become a yearly habit with them. 
• They only beat two teams with a winning record this season, with one of those games being a team (Pittsburgh in Week 18) that had almost nothing to play for. They were 2-7 against teams .500 or better. 
• As good as their offense was, their defense was one of the worst in football that allowed 25.5 points per game. That ranked 27th in the NFL. The worst playoff team in the NFL was 18th in points allowed. Only four playoff teams ranked worse than 12th in points allowed. 
• Despite having an all-world quarterback in Burrow, they have now missed the playoffs two years in a row and are only 14-13 in the games he has started over that stretch.

Put it all together, and you have a significantly flawed, mid-tier team that has two years in a row fallen short of expectations. 

They did not miss the playoffs because they were unlucky. They did not miss the playoffs because the Chiefs sat their starters, which was a right they earned.

They missed the playoffs because they were simply not good enough, and that is a reality they are going to have to face this offseason. If they look at the past two seasons as some kind of a fluke and think they can just rely on Burrow to carry them next season, they will likely find themselves in the exact same spot.