Ranking Bengals 2021 season schedule by opponent difficulty

Ranking Bengals Opponents by Difficulty

8. Chicago Bears (Week 2)

The Bears are another team that’s difficult to get a read on but their reason is the opposite of the Raiders’. Las Vegas has its quarterback and a bad defense while the Bears have a good defense but their quarterback position is up in the air. Yes, they took Justin Fields with their first-round pick (a very good pick for Chicago) but they also signed former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and labeled him QB1 shortly after.

The Bengals are traveling to Chicago just two weeks into the season and there’s a good chance they’ll face Dalton, their former starter for nine years, as the Bears might give Fields some time before throwing him to the wolves. If Dalton is the starter, the Bears are maybe a .500 team. We don’t know what they’ll be with Fields at the helm.

The defense is good for a few extra wins and that’s why I put Chicago in the upper half of this list. They made the playoffs a year ago and their defense was a big reason as to why. If Fields really is the guy they think he is, the Bears could end up being one of the best teams in the NFC moving forward.

Fortunately, Cincinnati faces them early in the season.