Ranking Bengals 2021 season schedule by opponent difficulty

Ranking Bengals Opponents by Difficulty

12. Detroit Lions (Week 6)

The Lions are a difficult team to peg this year. They’re starting over at quarterback after shipping Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for Jared Goff and have Dan Campbell as their new head coach. This could lead to them having a better season than many are expecting.

Detroit jumped at the chance to draft Penei Sewell when the Bengals and Dolphins both passed on him, making their o-line significantly better, which should help Goff during his inaugural season as a member of the Lions. Their season really hinges on Goff and how well he plays with his new team.

The Bengals get the Lions early on in the season and it’s a road game, which can always be a coin flip in some situations. While Detroit is an interesting team, the Bengals are better on paper. They have the better quarterback, the better offense, and a more experienced head coach.

Last week I put together a list of the must-win games on Cincinnati’s schedule and the Lions made the list. I did this because they’re one of the few teams with a losing record from last year and Cincinnati has to take advantage of that if they want to be at all competitive this season.