Like last season, the Cincinnati Bengals will enter their bye week with a 5-4 overall record. However, after the bye week, the Bengals will have their toughest stretch of games this season. They will have three division matchups, a Monday night showdown with the Bills, a rematch with the Chiefs, and will have road trips to Tampa Bay and New England to take on the Buccaneers and Patriots.
It was big for Cincinnati to get Joe Mixon going Sunday because Mixon will be a vital piece to the puzzle through the colder winter months. Mixon managed to set the single-game touchdown record in Bengals franchise history after totaling five touchdowns, four of those coming in the first half.
With that being said, the Bengals will head to Pittsburgh for a division showdown with the Steelers, and the hope is that the Bengals will get most of the guys currently injured back on the field. Ja'Marr Chase and D.J Reader are still in question, but Mike Hilton and Tre Flowers should be good to go by Week 11. Let's now predict the next five matchups for the Bengals after the bye.
Week 11 at Pittsburgh Steelers
The Cincinnati Bengals are in desperate need of a division victory, and being able to get fully healthy and have two weeks of preparation for a team they are already familiar with should bode well for them to be ready to go Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh in two weeks.
This game was supposed to be played in primetime but was flexed out for Chiefs/Chargers. This is definitely more of a slight against the (currently) two-win Steelers than it is against the Bengals.
🚨 WEEK 11 SCHEDULE FLEX ALERT 🚨@Chiefs vs. @chargers will now be played on SNF on NBC. @Bengals vs. @steelers moves to 4:25pm ET on CBS. pic.twitter.com/udwtGWBXq1
— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2022
The Steelers beat the Bengals in overtime in Week 1, but Joe Burrow and the Bengals played one of the worst games you could play. The offense turned it over five times, the defense didn't get a single sack or turnover, special teams was bad, and the Bengals missed two potential game-winning kicks. One was a blocked extra point on a bad snap, and then one was a shanked 29-yard attempt with, once again, a bad snap.
With all that happening, the Bengals still brought the Steelers down to the final seconds of overtime and lost on a game-winning field goal. They are the better team overall if Cincinnati can play a cleaner game and execute from start to finish.