Cincinnati Bengals: 2017 season record prediction

CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 11: Darqueze Dennard #21 and William Jackson III #22 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrate in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 11: Darqueze Dennard #21 and William Jackson III #22 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrate in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 11: Darqueze Dennard #21 and William Jackson III #22 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrate in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 11: Darqueze Dennard #21 and William Jackson III #22 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrate in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

A game-by-game prediction for the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2017 regular season.

The 2017 NFL regular season begins this week, with the Cincinnati Bengals’ first contest coming against the Baltimore Ravens. With just a few days standing between us and the start of Week 1 for the Bengals, now is a perfect time to take a final look at their schedule and predict how they’ll fare this year.

Things appear decidedly in their favor for this to be a better season than 2016 for them. Their strength of schedule for last season was tied for the 10th-hardest in the NFL by the end of the campaign; this year, they are set for a much easier slate: the fourth-easiest of any in 2017.

Of course, while heartening, those numbers and expectations have a tendency to change across a season. That was no different for 2016: heading into the year, the strength of schedule numbers showed Cincinnati with the sixth-easiest slate. Still, Cincinnati ended that year with a disappointing 6-9-1 record.

With more young weaponry on both sides of the ball and a hope for better health all around, maybe things will end up better this time around.

Let’s take a look into that.