NFL: One bold prediction for every team in 2021-22

One bold prediction for the Cincinatti Bengals in 2021-22: Surprise playoff berth

While it’s difficult to point to a team and tip your cap to them for winning a grand total of four games, in this case, we’ll make an exception.

Let’s take away the final six games of the regular season. Once former number one overall pick Joe Burrow went down, the Bengals lost their leader in the locker room and on the field. Now, let’s focus on the ten games in which he was in the game.

Burrow was the clear frontrunner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, although Justin Herbert was right on his heels. Before the former LSU Tiger went down, he threw for 2,688 yards, 13 touchdowns, five interceptions and completed 65.3% of his passes. Those numbers may have ultimately resulted in only two wins and a draw but the Bengals were oh so close to winning much more than just that.

Of those seven losses and that weird draw, five of those games were decided by a single score. Meaning, with one completed pass here or one less fumble there, the Bengals could have easily seven of their first ten games on the season.

Burrow is the real deal folks. Not only did he crush records and dominate the competition in college but he appeared to be on his way to doing the same in the pros. To further his development, the franchise drafted wide receiver and good friend of Burrow in Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick.

With Joe Mixon always capable of rushing for over a thousand yards in a season and the emergence of Tyler Boyd on the perimeter, this team can and will make the postseason.