SEASON PREDICTION 

Last year was a typical Bengals season with Joe burrow getting hurt and missing a significant portion of the year and the defense being below average throughout. When Burrow was healthy, the offense was exceptional, one of the best in the league if not the best. The issue is that Burrow missed an extended amount of time which dug Cincinnati into a deep hole that was too deep to climb out of. Joe Flacco came in and gave a valiant effort, but there wasn't much he could do when his defense was giving up 40 points a game. I was disappointed when Zac Taylor wasn't fired this offseason, but the moves, they have made to improve their defense, and their relatively easy schedule makes this upcoming season seem very promising.   

On defense they lost their biggest pass rusher in Trey Hendrickson and another key contributor in Joseph Ossai, but they added a lot of good depth pieces which is something that this defense had been severely lacking. They traded the 10th overall pick for Dexter Lawrence, who is going to be enormous in helping that run defense. They also got Boye Mafe to aid the pass rush and Jonathan Allen to stack up the defensive line. Another sneaky pick up was Bryan Cook as the Bengals biggest weakness in their secondary has been their safety play, and Cook seems ready to patch up that area of concern. As long as the defense can be league average it will be a great boost to a team that finished 31st in total defense last year. We have seen from the past that the Bengals don't need an elite defense to be successful as they had the number 16th ranked defense the year; they went to the Super Bowl.   

The main reason why the Bengals don't need an elite defense is because they have the best offense in the league when everyone is fully healthy. This offense is loaded with firepower at all of the skill positions. They have Joe Burrow who is a top five QB when healthy. Plus, the best wide receiver room in the NFL with two top 15 receivers in the league. And rounding out the backfield, they have Chase Brown who has consistently been a top 10 running back when all his teammates are healthy. The key phrase being repeated in this paragraph is the word "healthy" and that's something the Bengals have not been able to achieve these past few years. However, due to this article being written in the hypothetical scenario where injuries do not occur, the Bengals are my frontrunner for AFC champions. Apart from health, they have been blessed with the second easiest SOS with matchups against teams such as the Dolphins, Titans, Falcons, and Browns.  

The Bengals are greatly benefiting off this blog being written on the hypothetical scenario but due to this technicality that I have given myself I have the Bengals finishing off as 13-4 and having the best offense in the league. If this defense can be what we expect them to be, which is simply league average, then I see no reason why Cincinnati can't make it back to the Super Bowl. Burrow has proven time and time again that he has that clutch gene, and they have the offensive firepower to get by any defense in the AFC. Furthermore, they have proven that they can beat the Chiefs in the playoffs something that their fellow AFC rivals such as the Ravens and Bills have yet to do.