4 biggest obstacles in Bengals’ way of winning AFC again in 2022
By Eric Bruns
Bengals are no longer under the radar
Going into the 2021 season, no one was looking at the Bengals. No one expected this team to do anything last season. Joe Burrow was coming back from injury, Ja’Marr Chase was dropping everything in the preseason, and questions of how the free-agent signings would perform paired with Zac Taylor still being unproven as a head coach.
This is not to say that teams do not prepare as hard for opponents they deem inferior but, the teams that are great are studied hard because teams are attempting to figure them out. No one picked the Bengals to do anything better than fourth in the AFC North.
This year, WynnBET has given Cincinnati the second-best odds to win the division (+210), trailing only the Browns (+165). With the uncertainty with Deshaun Watson playing for the first time in over a year (and potentially facing a major suspension), there’s a good shot the Bengals will host a playoff game for the second year in a row.
Being kings of the conference also comes with teams attempting to recreate your success. This means several teams tried to get their Ja’Marr Chase, which we saw as the Raiders acquired Adams and the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill. They’re hoping for that home run ball that Chase provides for the Bengals.