Bengals fans will love Joe Burrow's optimistic message after win over Browns

Joe Burrow is feeling pretty good about the state of the Cincinnati Bengals following their 21-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 7. The win was the second straight and third out of the last four for Cincinnati after an 0-3 start to the season.

The past couple weeks haven't been pretty offensively for the Bengals, but the defense has stepped it up in a major way, allowing just 21 points combined over the past two games. Considering how poorly the unit played early in the season, that's a good sign for Cincy.

Burrow is feeling good about the Bengals after their second straight victory

When asked about his level of optimism about the Bengals after seven weeks, Burrow provided an answer that Bengals fans can feel good about.

"I would say I'm pretty optimistic on how our team is playing right now.," Burrow said. "The last two weeks have been big for our defense, getting healthy, making plays, causing turnovers, that's what our defense is all about. Rushing the passer, so that was big."

Burrow doesn't sound satisfied with where the Bengals are, but at least they're trending in the right direction since he declared that they weren't a "championship-level team" after their Week 5 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Cincinnati's remaining schedule should also provide Bengals fans with a major reason for optimism. Heading into Week 7, the Bengals had the third-easiest remaining schedule in the entire league. Only the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets have an easier path to the end of the regular season.

Cincinnati 10 games remaining, including four against division opponents -- one more against Cleveland, one more against Baltimore and two against Pittsburgh. In addition to the division opponents, the Bengals also still have games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans.

The Bengals have been able to remain in the AFC playoff picture with back-to-back victories, but they'll need to continue to win in order to remain in the race. Their next concern is the Eagles, who will travel to Cincinnati in Week 8.

Like the Bengals, the Eagles are on a two-game winning streak and appear to be playing some better football after an underwhelming start to the season. That game promises to be a good one, even though the league decided to bump it up in favor of a battle between rookie quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.