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Bengals: Vegas believes team is headed in right direction in 2021

By Leigh Oleszczak

CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 4: Head coach Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals walks on the sideline during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paul Brown Stadium on October 4, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Jacksonville 33-25. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 4: Head coach Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals walks on the sideline during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paul Brown Stadium on October 4, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Jacksonville 33-25. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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Zac Taylor has mostly disappointed for the Cincinnati Bengals in his two years at the helm but he’s doing something right, as Vegas believes the team is on the right track. WynnBET released their win totals for every NFL team in the 2021 season and has the Bengals at 6.5 wins.

The Bengals won four games last year and had just one win under their Belts in Taylor’s first season at the helm in 2019. Naturally, they’d like to get a few more wins in 2021 and Taylor needs to win more than four games to save his job.

Peter Dewey of FanSided offered this analysis:

"Vegas may be taking into account the fact that the Bengals still won four games last season despite Burrow missing the team’s final six contests with a torn ACL. But, the Bengals have three teams in their division in the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers that all made the playoffs in 2020."

Not having Joe Burrow for the final six games last year likely cost the Bengals an extra win or two. He was playing well and had the team trending in a more positive direction until he got injured. Having him back this year will help the team, at least that’s the hope.

The Bengals’ win total for the 2021 season is 6.5 games, per WynnBET.

Getting 6.5 wins won’t be an easy task, of course, as Cincinnati has an incredibly tough schedule this year. They have some “easier” games against teams like the Jaguars and Jets but then they also have to play six games against their divisional opponents, all of whom made the playoffs last year. They also have the Chiefs and Packers on their schedule.

Having Burrow back this year should get the Bengals more than the four wins they totaled a year ago but playing in a hard division and also not fully shoring up their offensive line is still going to hold them back. The poor o-line play cost Burrow the final six games of his rookie season and also likely cost the team another win or two.

Here were the win totals for the other three teams in the AFC North, courtesy of WynnBET:

  • Baltimore Ravens – Over 10.5 (-150) | Under 10.5 (+125)
  • Cleveland Browns – Over 10.5 (+115) | Under 10.5 (-140)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers – Over 8.5 (-116) | Under 8.5 (-105)

The division is projected to be very good once again, making the Bengals’ chances of competing much more difficult. Fans are used to the division being tough so this is nothing new.

Bengals: Pros and Cons from 2021 Schedule. dark. Next

Six and a half wins seems generous for the Bengals with how stacked their schedule is but Vegas clearly has trust that they can get close to that mark in Taylor’s third season. If he doesn’t, he’s definitely going to lose his job at the end of the season, which is motivation for the team to show some improvement.

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