May 29, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) stands with head coach Marvin Lewis (right) during organized team activities at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

To start with a frank statement, the 2013 schedule for the Cincinnati Bengals is not easy.

In fact, it appears quite difficult, with several games that will be closely contested, making a season prediction a bit hard to do.

However, in this article, I’ll try to do a brief breakdown of first the AFC North match-ups, and then the rest of the regular season for Cincinnati.

Please bear with me.

Series with the Cleveland Browns: We should win both of these games. The Browns had a relatively strong off-season, but then again, so did the Bengals. I don’t expect the Bengals to have too much trouble dispatching their intrastate rivals in 2013.

Leon Hall is going to have an interception early in the second quarter. Place your bets now. I’m thinking around the 12:00 mark.

Series with the Baltimore Ravens: The Bengals have always played well against Baltimore under Marvin Lewis. Both are very good teams, and just like the usual prediction, both games this season will be fought with a lot of grit and muscle. I’ll say that a split between the teams is likely, and each team will probably claim a victory at home.

Dear Geno Atkins,

Please gently place Joe Flacco on the turf.

Series with the Pittsburgh Steelers: Unlike going against the Ravens, the Bengals haven’t been so lucky against their other main division rival. However, when the team most needed to perform in a win-or-go-home environment for both teams, they did so, propelling themselves into the postseason. Maybe that bad luck at Heinz Field is starting to shift? Either way, I’ll still predict a series split, with each team winning their home game.

I know Harrison’s looking forward to Week 2. Not so sure Big Ben is.

Week 1: @ Chicago Bears: Right off the bat, this is a really tough game to call. A new coach in Chicago will bring a new look to a tough defense missing Brian Urlacher. I was counting this game as a loss about a month ago, just because I don’t like the idea of creating expectations that are higher than they should be. However, I’m having a change of heart. I say Bengals by six.

Charles Tillman, I’d like to reintroduce you to A.J. Green. Please recall last year’s Pro Bowl.

Week 2: Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: See top.

Week 3: Vs. Green Bay Packers: Another interesting match-up, and another close one to call. It’s going to come down to how effective the Bengals defense can be against the Packers’ pass-first offense. Cincinnati will be able to put up points against this team, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough. I’ll predict the Packers in a close one.

However, Andy, the game’s in Cincy. Here’s your chance to send them home…packing.

Week 4: @ Cleveland Browns: See top.

Week 5: Vs. New England Patriots: I don’t see Tebow being the death of us here. However, Tom Brady has the ability to tear apart any defense, no matter how good it is. The Bengals will hang around for awhile, but the Patriots are just a more dominant team right now.

Mr. Belichick, this would be the perfect game to start Tebow. Just sayin’.

(more…)

Nov 25, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham (84) is congratulated by head coach Marvin Lewis after scoring during the second half against the Oakland Raiders at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals defeated the Raiders 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

After a memorable comeback win over the San Diego Chargers yesterday, The Bengals improved to 7-5, but still sit a game outside of the NFL playoffs with the Steelers holding a head-to-head win over Cincinnati. With four games remaining against opponents with a combined 25-24 record, we posed this question to some of our staff:

With the Bengals at 7-5, how do the Bengals have to finish the 2012 season for you to consider this year a success?

Trevor

Well if we turn back now, the season will be a disappointment, it would simply get our hopes up and then shoot them down with extreme force; we’ve been through that before, and it’s terrible. I think a 10-6 season is what I would call a huge success, but I can see us losing 2 games, which isn’t the end of the world as long as the Steelers keep losing. And win a playoff game Marvin! He’s 0-3, and this is his chance, I’m not calling for a perfect playoff to the Super Bowl, (although that’d be beautiful) we still have pretty large holes to fill, but a winning season and perhaps a playoff victory is a step in the very right direction.

Jerod

I’m cautiously optimistic the Bengals can slip into the playoffs, but it’s still going to be tough. Cincinnati likely will need to beat Pittsburgh in Week 16 to make that happen, and Roethlisberger will almost certainly be back at that point. However, even if the Bengals miss the playoffs I don’t think that necessarily makes the 2012 season a failure. Cincinnati hasn’t finished with back-to-back winning seasons since 1981-82, and if the Bengals can accomplish that, I don’t think this will be a wasted season. The players, coaches, and most fans probably wouldn’t agree with that, but what can I say–as a Bengal fan, it’s tough to set expectations all that high. A second straight winning season would make this year a success.

Jason Marcum

Given the fact that this was a very young team coming into 2012, coupled with a number of devastating injuries to key players before the season even began and through the first few weeks of the season, for this team to finish 2012 with a winning record would be a success to me. The fact that they would be defeating history also plays a role here, as it would be the first time in over two decades that the Bengals had back-to-back winning seasons.  At 7-5, the Bengals are just two wins away from achieving that feat. The Cowboys and Eagles are their next two opponents, and they’re a combined 9-19.

Another thing that needed to happen for for 2012 to be a successful years was for the Bengals’ young corp of Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, Jermaine Gresham, and Geno Atkins needing to show significant improvement from 2011. They’ve done just that, as Green and Gresham are ll set to achieve career highs in receiving yards while Dalton will surpass his 2011 passing totals, and Geno Atkins has already broken the franchise record for sacks by an interior defensive lineman (9.5).

Defeating history and continuing to establish a bright future: that’s the definition of success for me.

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Nov 25, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) scrambles from the pocket during the third quarter of the game against the Oakland Raiders at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Leifheit-US PRESSWIRE

a five-game stretch of sub-.500 opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals have impressed so far. Coming off of their demolition of the New York Giants, the running game picked apart the Kansas City Chiefs, and then had an exceptional encore performance against the Raiders. The defense has been stronger than it has looked all year long, and the passing game has become significantly more effective.

Andy Dalton has led that offensive charge, while throwing 9 touchdown passes in comparison with no interceptions in their three-game winning streak. That brings his total to 23 touchdowns with just eleven interceptions. Yesterday was the first time in ten weeks that A.J Green didn’t catch one of those “Red Rifle” touchdowns, but Mohamed Sanu made up for the change, grabbing two to his name against the Oakland Raiders.