Two weeks ago, Cincinnati Bengals ILB Germaine Pratt took to X to make a declaration. Coming off a frustrating loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, he guaranteed, “We will win next week. Believe that”. The “next week” in question was yesterday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and things didn’t go so well.
The Bengals lost their third consecutive game and fourth in five, their season essentially over. At 4-8, they are on the precipice of clinching a losing season. And Germaine Pratt fell flat, not only with his assurance of a victory over the Steelers but in his performance against them.
While he finished the game with 13 total tackles, including one tackle for loss, Pratt was responsible for multiple missed tackles on some big plays by the Steelers. He didn’t make too much of it, but he also made no mention of his previous declaration.
Of Pratt’s 13 tackles, by the way, only four qualified as defensive stops. He recorded a tackle, for example, 25 yards down the field on a 3rd-and-2 play. He racked up a lot of tackles cleaning up at the end of healthy gains for the Steelers. But then again, you can probably assume a linebacker had a low-impact game when they give up 37 points.
A former third-round pick, Germaine Pratt is in his sixth season with the Bengals. He has been a full-time starter for nearly all of his career, but only hit 100-plus tackles just once. At least, that was once before yesterday. His 13-tackle game against the Steelers gives him 110 on the season.
Pratt also has one interception (six in his career), two forced fumbles (seven) and two recoveries (five). He is a good player, overall, but also one prone to inconsistency. Nobody would mistake him for a Pro Bowler, even when the Bengals were making Super Bowls.
But now it’s the side of the ball Germaine Pratt plays on that is causing the Bengals to bottom out. At 4-8, they have virtually no chance of coming back and making a run at the postseason. As of this writing, they are three games back for the seventh seed. And they are five games behind to contend for the AFC North. Even if the Steelers were to lose out and the Bengals win out, I still don’t know if that would be enough.
But they still have a chance to play spoilers. The Steelers still play the Bengals again in the season finale, having lost to the Ravens twice. That final game could decide the division, the Ravens playing the Browns on that day. There is a great chance they’ll have nothing to play for at that point, as far as the playoffs goes. But Pratt would love to get that win he promised, even if it comes in the wrong week.
