Cincinnati Bengals: Early 2018 game-by-game season predictions

Week 1

Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts

With a full season away from the field for his shoulder to recover, I’m going to lean into the more fun option and say Andrew Luck is available. Because of that, his team will have a much better chance to win. Still, even if he is playing, this would be his first game since New Years Day 2017; even if he makes it through training camp and the preseason unscathed, he’ll almost certainly be rusty in his first official game action in over 20 months.

Meanwhile, his offensive line still needs work, his skill position comrades beyond T.Y. Hilton are equal parts limited and unproven, and his defense is years away from being good. Cincinnati may have issues, but their stars on offense and defense should be able to lead the way to a season-opening win.

Cincinnati 24, Indianapolis 20

Record: 1-0

Week 2

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals

Each side had themselves a lot to like (and hate) about how this series went last season: a 23-0 shellacking in Week 1 quickly set Cincinnati off on their eventual 7-9 path, but their miraculous stolen victory in Week 17 kept Baltimore out of the playoffs. This season probably won’t have that same level of drama, but it could give one of them the upper hand in the early goings of the playoff race.

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With this being an early-season Thursday Night game, things could be even more manic and sloppy. While that idea doesn’t necessarily portend well for Andy Dalton (17 interceptions in 13 contests vs. Baltimore), it isn’t as if Joe Flacco has been a bastion of excellence in these matchups either (23 interceptions in 19 games vs Cincinnati). At this point, Cincinnati seems to have more trustworthy offensive pieces around their questionable quarterback, so I’ll give them a slight edge at home.

Cincinnati 13, Baltimore 10

Record: 2-0

Week 3

Cincinnati Bengals @ Carolina Panthers

A somewhat surprising beginning to the year for Cincinnati would be a nice story, but this team has far too many flaws to expect them to continue winning unimpeded. Remember: this team couldn’t even manage to look functional without Vontaze Burfict as they lost their first three games last season; while the overall talent of their defense has improved — and with it, their record should follow — the linebacker corps are lacking.

Carolina, with their heavy insistence on running the ball and enough quality personnel to do so, should be able to exploit this area in a way Indianapolis and Baltimore could not. A rough loss here doesn’t undo the two previous wins, but it does considerably dull the positives they had provided.

Carolina 27, Cincinnati 13

Record: 2-1

Week 4

Cincinnati Bengals @ Atlanta Falcons

The cracks in Cincinnati’s armor shown against Carolina were just the start of their worries. Atlanta’s good enough to enter this game undefeated through three games despite a rough opening schedule (at Philadelphia, vs. Carolina, vs. New Orleans); behind Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and their cadre of offensive talents, Cincinnati will have a difficult time trying to keep the score manageable for their own pedestrian attack to keep up.

Their hope will be that Atlanta’s fast-but-inconsistent defense will have one of their off days, but Cincinnati’s own offense may still find themselves settling for field goals far too often anyway; if they do (which I suspect is all too likely) things will be decided before the fourth quarter.

Atlanta 37, Cincinnati 23

Record: 2-2