Bengals Schedule: Most difficult stretch of games in 2022

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ schedule is here for the 2022 season and it was hard not to notice how difficult the back half of the slate is.

Before we dive into that, let’s recap the teams on the stripes’ ’22 campaign. They’ll obviously face each of their divisional foes twice apiece and will also face the entire AFC East and NFC South divisions. They’ll square off with the winners of the AFC South, AFC West, and NFC East. That gives them all of their opponents for the most anticipated season in Bengals history.

Now, with that in mind, let’s discuss the most difficult stretch on the schedule for the good guys.

Bengals Schedule: Most difficult part of 2022 schedule

Following the Bengals’ BYE in Week 10, the reigning AFC champs head to Pittsburgh for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Steelers. Not only is this their third road primetime game against a division rival but it also kicks off the most brutal part of the schedule.

After this game, Cincinnati then heads to Nashville to face the Titans in a rematch of the AFC Divisional Round. While they head home after that game, they’ll be welcoming in the Chiefs in a rematch of the AFC Championship Game. In two straight weeks, the Bengals will have to hold serve against two teams whose seasons they ended.

Oh, but surely it gets easier after those games, right, Leigh?

Hahahaha NOPE.

After hosting the Chiefs, the Bengals then have a home matchup against the Browns. Anytime a divisional opponent comes to town, you can throw the records out the window, but that’s even more so the case when it comes to the Bengals-Browns rivalry.

The Bengals then hit the road for a two-game stretch with the first taking place in Tampa Bay. It’ll be the first time Joe Burrow goes up against Tom Brady, which should be fun, but that’s going to be a really hard game for the good guys to reign victorious in.

After that, a trip to Foxboro is in the cards and while some might not be as intimidated by the Patriots now that Brady is gone, Bill Belichick is a mastermind at what he does. He’ll come prepared to take away the Bengals’ best weapon and make the team figure out another way to win. That’s what he does best.

While Cincy then returns home for the final two games of the season, things won’t get any easier from there. They’ll host the Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 17 and then close out the season against the Ravens and that could have massive division and playoff implications.

So, to sum up, the most difficult stretch of games on the Cincinnati Bengals’ schedule spans from Week 11 to Week 18. It’s going to be a dog fight to the end but every game will matter at that point and the stripes can’t make mistakes.

The good news is that if they get through those games with a respectable record, they’ll be well-prepared for the gauntlet that is the playoffs.