Cincinnati Bengals: Early 2018 game-by-game season predictions
By Kenn Korb
Week 5
Miami Dolphins @ Cincinnati Bengals
Returning home after a tough two-week journey into the NFC South, Cincinnati finds itself at a crossroads. At 2-2, their next game will have a huge impact on their chances to stay ahead in the playoff race. Lucky for them, here come the Dolphins!
Miami has some decent-to-scary pieces on their roster, but they are perpetually swamping themselves in mediocrity due to poor roster-building decisions. They constantly overspend for past-prime and/or overpriced talents where they don’t need to, while leaving other spots to atrophy with little-to-no help. Cincinnati has a great chance to turn their fortunes back around, and I believe they will in blowout fashion.
Cincinnati 31, Miami 13
Record: 3-2
Week 6
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals
It is a good thing Cincinnati got that dominant win over Miami, because they could use some confidence to bring into this week. As they seem to do every season, Pittsburgh pulled out a demoralizing victory over Cincinnati the last time they met, with the latter giving up a three-score first half lead this time around.
Coming in with some confidence — and having Burfict already with a game under his belt to knock the rust off following his season-opening four-game suspension — the Bengals should be able to challenge their rivals for the win. Until they actually prove they can beat this team though, I have zero confidence in them managing to do so. Another early lead blown, with another last-ditch drive saving things for Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh 27, Cincinnati 23
Record: 3-3
Week 7
Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs
With another loss to Pittsburgh in hand, the Bengals hit the road again; this time, they face another franchise which has stuck to a decent level of success for years. This year should be a transitional one, though; their defense is rebuilding, and they’ll be starting a new quarterback.
Patrick Mahomes has plenty of physical tools, but he has yet to prove capable of the sort of consistent efforts to take his franchise to the next level. It’s hard to expect him to already be doing so in just his first season as starter; though his arm strength will open up the playbook in ways Alex Smith never could, mistakes and errant passes will likely be a hindrance in the early going. Those issues are exactly what Cincinnati’s defense will be hungry to capitalize on, and if their offense has even a middling game they should come out on top.
Cincinnati 24, Kansas City 17
Record: 4-3
Week 8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Cincinnati Bengals
This has “TRAP!” written all over it. Cincinnati should be feeling good, sitting here with a winning record, facing a team which could be mired in yet another season of struggles, with a bye week coming up right afterwards prior to facing a big challenge the next week against the New Orleans Saints. If they look past Tampa Bay, however, they are in for trouble.
They’ve loaded up on the sort of defensive line talent necessary to make Cincinnati one-dimensional (Gerald McCoy, Jason Pierre-Paul, Vinny Curry, Vita Vea). On the other side, Jameis Winston and Mike Evans can explode for big plays within a moment’s notice. Cincinnati has fared well with luck much of this exercise so far; here comes the inevitable dose of horrible reality.
Tampa Bay 31, Cincinnati 20
Record: 4-4