The Cincinnati Bengals 2023 season is officially here as of Sunday when they head into Cleveland for their Week 1 game against Deshaun Watson and the Browns.
With the season beginning, Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports looked at every team in the NFL and predicted what their ceiling and their floor would be.
For the Bengals, Kerr believes the worst possible outcome is an 11-6 record, still making the playoffs and losing the divisional round. If Burrow stays healthy, it is hard to imagine Cincinnati doesn’t at least make it in with a wild card spot.
The best possible outcome for the Bengals would be a 14-3 record and winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Here’s what Kerr said about the Bengals and their ceiling:
Back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances (including a Super Bowl appearance) have Cincinnati as a Super Bowl contender once again. This is what to expect when the Bengals have a franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins every week. Joe Mixon restructured his deal to stay in this offense, which also took Orlando Brown away from the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. The defense gets better under Lou Anarumo every year. Cincinnati is the biggest threat to dethrone Kansas City in the AFC — and win it all. This may be the Bengals’ best chance.
It’s not a surprise this is what Kerr views as the Bengals’ ceiling, given they have been to back-to-back AFC Championships and made some big additions over the offseason.
The floor for the Bengals could happen if the defense doesn’t play up to the level it was able to last season, but it doesn’t seem like a slow offense would be on the list of possible outcomes unless Burrow’s calf injury is worse than reported, or continues to bother him.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]