Predicting the Bengals next five games after 3-3 start
The Cincinnati Bengals started the season slow once again and sit at 3-3 heading into their Week 7 bye. The Bengals started 0-2, then eventually were 1-3, and now are 3-3 so it's been a rollercoaster to start the season to say the least.
The good news is that the Bengals are back at .500 despite their sluggish start. The bad news is that they're still in the cellar of the AFC North and have a gauntlet of a schedule coming up after the bye week is in the books.
With that difficult schedule coming up, let's take our best guess as to what the Bengals' schedule could look like after their next five games.
Week 8 @ San Francisco 49ers
Nothing like coming out of the bye week with a date with one of the best teams in the league. That's exactly what the Bengals will be looking at in Week 8 when they head to the Bay Area to play the 49ers, who hold a 5-1 record.
The Niners just suffered their first loss of the season and it came against the Cleveland Browns, a team who the Bengals know all too well. The Browns have an elite defense and were able to frustrate the 49ers all day long. Brock Purdy didn't look like himself and the Niners also lost Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, and Deebo Samuel to injuries during that game.
Those are three huge pieces to the 49ers' offense but even without them, the 49ers still nearly won the game. Jake Moody missed multiple field goals, including what could have been the game-winner. This is going to be a very difficult game for Cincinnati and I'm not sure they'll be able to stop the 49ers' run game, even without McCaffrey.