Bengals: Five pessimistic predictions for Cincinnati’s 2020 season

The Bengals spend another offseason thinking about how to spend a top ten pick

The AFC North is a tough division. With the Ravens having a breakout campaign last year, Pittsburgh seemingly always finding themselves in a position to snag a playoff spot, and Cleveland looking like its ready to finally turn the corner, there is tough competition if Cincinnati wants to get to the postseason.

In order for the Bengals to make the postseason, they have to at least perform better than two out of the three teams in their division and saying definitively that Cincinnati is better than Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or Cleveland feels like a stretch.

Having to play each of those teams twice could put a few more notches in the “L” column, making the chances of success slim. The more losses picked up by the team in the division means that winning games outside the division become even more important.

There are some winnable games for Cincinnati this year, but there will be some battles that will be hard to overcome. Overall, if Cincinnati can’t fix some of the previously mentioned issues they may see their chances of a successful season slip away early. Cincinnati could find itself in a situation again where they are more excited about the draft than the end of the football season.