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NFL projections in May are a tricky thing.
This is especially the case for the Cincinnati Bengals given the massive roster overhaul. Not only did the team start over under center with Joe Burrow, it completely revamped the defense with names like D.J. Reader in free agency and Logan Wilson in the draft.
As expected, win projections for the Bengals in 2020 are all over the place. They also might smack a bit underwhelming — and realistic.
Over at ESPN, Ben Baby projected five wins for the Bengals.
At Touchdown Wire, Barry Werner projected two wins for the Bengals:
“Congratulations on earning the right to pick Joe Burrow. Just don’t let him see how some other great college quarterbacks have suffered as rookies on bad teams in the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor.”
Tough, especially the two-win thing — but not totally unfair. The Bengals won just two games last year. Historically, teams winning that many games don’t experience massive bumps in the win column.
Now add in other factors like the roster overhaul and an odd offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic and one can begin to see why projections aren’t giving the Bengals a ton of wins in 2020.
For what it’s worth, we put out our own game-by-game predictions after the schedule release:
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