Bengals will have a harder schedule
Winning the division automatically makes for a tougher schedule in the following season because now the first-place team has to play all the other division champs. That means that the Bengals will play the Chiefs (again), Titans (again), and the Bills.
Next season's opponents. ⤵ pic.twitter.com/S4ezOAV6Ty
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) February 20, 2022
The Bengals not only have the three other division winners but the entirety of the AFC East. The Patriots made the playoffs last season, and the Dolphins are going all in appearing that they think they think they can make a Super Bowl. The Jets might be the Jets but they beat Cincy last year with Mike White, so anything can happen.
Cincinnati also has to play the NFC South. Tom Brady is back in Tampa and the Saints are always a tough scratch. Plus their “17th” opponent is the Dallas Cowboys, who also made the playoffs.
Just by looking at the schedule it looks brutal, then you look at All Sports Culture’s tweet showing the Bengals have the third toughest schedule of all 32 NFL teams and the two teams with tougher schedules are in the NFC.
Where does your team stand on the 2022 Strength of Schedule rankings? #NFL pic.twitter.com/OOg0RwRdsc
— All Sports Culture (@ASCSportsMedia) March 3, 2022
The Bengals have the toughest schedule for 2022 of all 16 AFC teams. Cincinnati is the only AFC team in the top five so it’s easy to see why people would predict the stripes not making the playoffs in 2022.