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It’s hard to nail down where the Cincinnati Bengals might land in terms of the final standings for the 2021 season.
After all, Joe Burrow continues to rehab a repaired knee and both sides of the football have once again seen dramatic roster overhaul.
And as Nate Davis of USA Today points out in his leaguewide record projections, the Bengals have a pretty tough schedule to combat, too:
“Cincinnati Bengals (6-11): The spotlight will be on second-year QB Joe Burrow and his comeback from ACL surgery. But a defense that hasn’t ranked better than 26th since 2017 deserves equal scrutiny – especially with the past three MVPs (Rodgers, Jackson, Patrick Mahomes) on the docket. Cincinnati should improve but still seems prone to the narrow defeats that have exemplified coach Zac Taylor’s first two seasons.”
Those six wins put the Bengals dead last in the AFC North behind the seven-win Steelers.
The point about the list of opposing quarterbacks on the schedule is a really good one. Cincinnati’s top three corners on the depth chart — Trae Waynes, Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton — will all make their debuts with the team in Week 1. That could ultimately provide the team with an upgrade — but it could also backfire as the secondary attempts to get used to playing together as a unit.
Overall, the schedule is but one small part of the equation when thinking about win totals. And improving to only the six-win mark over the course of a 17-game schedule would probably have us focusing on other things, like Zac Taylor’s hot seat.
The only way to avoid such chatter is to get Burrow back fully healthy and have some of that plan start to show up on the field.
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