Hunting for a third consecutive AFC title game appearance, the Cincinnati Bengals confront a difficult-looking schedule in 2023.
That schedule has some really easy games on the slate early in the season, sure. But the Bengals go on a post-bye sprint that includes more than half of their AFC North games and some tough encounters with the likes of the 49ers, Bills and Chiefs.
In our early game-by-game projections, we don’t see that stopping the Bengals from putting up double-digit wins and a likely AFC North crown, plus more.
How do others feel about the schedule, though? NFL Network’s Adam Rank just ran through his game-by-game predictions for every team and this is how he sees things shaking out for the Bengals.
Week 1: at Browns
Prediction:Win (1-0)
Week 2: vs. Ravens
Prediction: Loss (1-1)
Week 3: vs. Rams
Prediction: Win (2-1)
Week 4: at Titans
Prediction: Win (3-1)
Week 5: at Cardinals
Prediction: Win (4-1)
Week 6: vs. Seahawks
Prediction: Win (5-1)
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: at 49ers
Prediction: Win (6-1)
Week 9: vs. Bills
Prediction: Win (7-1)
Week 10: vs. Texans
Prediction: Win (8-1)
Week 11: at Ravens
Prediction: Win (9-1)
Week 12: vs. Steelers
Prediction: Win (10-1)
Week 13: at Jaguars
Prediction: Win (11-1)
Week 14: vs. Colts
Prediction: Win (12-1)
Week 15: vs. Vikings
Prediction: Win (13-1)
Week 16: at Steelers
Prediction: Loss (13-2)
Week 17: at Chiefs
Prediction: Win (14-2)
Week 18: vs. Browns
Prediction: Loss (14-3)
Final record: 14-3
This would be the absolute best-case scenario for the Bengals, to say the least. Rank sees them taking the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which isn’t all that unreasonable. But hitting the bye at 5-1 and not suffering a second loss until Week 16 might be a bit much. Not that Bengals fans would complain, of course, but the team would have to shake off its seemingly typical slow starts to the season to make this happen. Either way, the team winning 12-13 games and contending for the top spot in the AFC, health provided, makes sense.
