The Cincinnati Bengals rebounded from their early season struggles and were 5-3 heading into last week before a tough loss to the Houston Texans. They still have hopes of qualifying for the postseason or even catching the Ravens in the AFC North, but they’ll have to navigate through the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL if they want another chance at a Super Bowl appearance.
Bengals Have Toughest Path Of Any Team
The #Bengals have the Hardest Schedule in the NFL the rest of the way.. not a single team with a losing record.
8 Games Left.
How many wins do you see? 🐅 #WHODEY pic.twitter.com/QjwFcCBHpp
— Cincinnati 💔 (@CincyProblems) November 14, 2023
The Bengals’ schedule featured a full slate against the AFC South, which many believed would be one of the worst divisions in football. But Cincinnati has already lost two games against the division, with their other two losses coming to fellow AFC North teams. The “easiest” remaining game on their schedule will come on December 10th against the Colts, who are currently 5-5, and they’ll take on the first-place Jaguars a week before that.
They’ll have two other out-of-division games, as well. On December 17th, the Bengals will take on the upstart Vikings, who hope to keep their momentum rolling into next month, and it is the only remaining game against an NFC opponent for Cincinnati.
The rest are games against familiar foes that will go a long way in determining what direction the season heads in for Joe Burrow and company. They still have two games against the Steelers between now and Christmas, and will face the Browns in the final week of the season. But first, they’ll travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens this Thursday night, and they are listed as 3.5 point underdogs.
Despite Turnaround, Cincy Still At The Bottom Of Competitive AFC North
Bengals ruled out WR Tee Higgins for Thursday night’s game vs the Ravens due to his hamstring injury.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2023
Are the Bengals up to the tall task? Their struggles through the first four games of the season had some writing them off, but they became one of the hotter teams in the league before last week’s last second loss. They are a part of a crowded AFC playoff picture, one that currently features every AFC North team except Cincinnati, but are just a game back of Pittsburgh and Cleveland and can cause a serious shake up if they are able to come out of Baltimore with a win on Thursday.
As for other teams with tough schedules, the aforementioned Ravens come in in second place. The floundering Buffalo Bills have the third-toughest path, and the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals round out the top-5.
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