Week 13 @ Jacksonville Jaguars (MNF)
Who would have thought that in 2021 when these two teams met up on Thursday Night Football that two years later, this would be a highly-anticipated matchup? Joe Burrow led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season (his second in the NFL) and Trevor Lawrence got his Jaguars a division title and won a playoff game in his second season.
The Jags will be a hyped team entering the 2023 season and for good reason. I don’t see Cincinnati losing this one though. Yes, it's a primetime game at the Jags' stadium but this just feels like that late-season grind-it-out game that Cincinnati doesn't lose at this point during the year.
Prediction: 28-24 Bengals
Week 14 vs. Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis has had a difficult time finding stability at the quarterback position since Andrew Luck abruptly retired ahead of the 2019 season. After spending the fourth overall pick on Anthony Richardson, it’s hard to predict what kind of team Indy will be in 2023.
The Colts certainly have no business beating a team like the Bengals but they did hand the Chiefs one of their three losses during the 2022 campaign so anything can happen. That being said, I don’t think the Colts pull off the stunner. This game is just too close to the playoffs for the Bengals to lose to a much worse team.