The Cincinnati Bengals in most respects, outside of Joe Burrow’s offense, appear to be dead in the water.
A miserable defense that just lost another player for the season doesn’t appear to be fixable and that 1-4 record, historically speaking, is a season-ender.
But as Bengals fans would agree, anything is possible with Burrow under center.
And someone like Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio isn’t counting them out just yet. In a recent video with Devin McCourty, Florio actually predicts the Bengals will go on a four-win tear over the upcoming schedule, though he admits a huge culture shift needs to happen in Cincinnati.
Despite how things have been, the prediction isn’t all that unwarranted. The team has yet to lose by more than six points; two of the four were against really, really good teams (Washington, Baltimore), and even league-average defense might swing each of those contests.
Looking ahead, the Bengals get the New York Giants (2-3), Cleveland Browns (1-4), Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) and Las Vegas Raiders (2-3) — before a Week 10 rematch with the Ravens.
Suddenly rattling off four straight would put the Bengals at 5-4 and at least keep them in the hunt. But that requires great injury luck, better coaching from an under-fire Zac Taylor and the defense to show roughly average play in each contest.
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