The Cincinnati Bengals appear to have one of the NFL’s tougher schedules to start the 2019 season.
Unfortunately, this intersects with the beginning of a new era for the Bengals in an almost unfair fashion. In fact, the schedule had been the biggest talking point when it comes to adversity facing the Bengals well before Jonah Williams went down and Clint Boling retired.
As such, it isn’t a surprise to see the Bengals only projected to win six games by Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr:
This is probably my least favorite result. Cincinnati’s initial 10-6 record in my first projection was a reflection of my positivity surrounding this team, with or without Jonah Williams. Still, the Bengals have a wicked first half, starting in Seattle, hosting the 49ers, traveling to Buffalo, traveling to Pittsburgh, hosting the Cardinals, traveling to Baltimore, hosting Jacksonville and traveling to Los Angeles. It was hard have them emerge from that stretch in a place to make a run at the division.
And to paint an even bleaker picture, the Bengals don’t actually travel to Los Angeles in Week 8 — that game against the Super Bowl team from a year ago actually takes place in London.
The Bengals get a break after that before…playing Baltimore and then going to Oakland, before returning home for another game against Pittsburgh. From Week 13 onward, they have to play the Browns twice and also encounter the New England Patriots.
Long story short, it isn’t hard to see how things could spiral out of control if the Bengals don’t start off grabbing a win or two over the first few weeks of the season.
