Bengals 2010 Schedule

Before we get into previewing the actual team and getting in depth with the roster, I though it might be interesting to look at this year's schedule. I have to admit that when the opponents were announced for this upcoming season, I felt like I'd been gut punched. Both Superbowl teams, Indy and New Orleans, are on the schedule. The Patriots, Chargers and Jets were all playoff teams. The division already includes perennial playoff teams in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and then you add playoff hopefuls Miami and Atlanta. That's 11 of 16 games against legitimately good teams, with a combined record 20 games over .500 last year (good for the fourth hardest schedule in the league). You get Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rivers, four of the top five QB's in the league, and Ryan, Flacco, Roethlisberger and Sanchez for good measure. My first reaction was "if this team isn't a lot better than last year, they're going 8-8 this year at best".

After a very productive off-season and a year of growth for many players, I believe this team IS better than last year (We'll go into what I think of the roster and coaching in subsequent posts). I also think, after a more thorough look at the schedule, that there's quite a bit of reason for optimism. You really can't ask for a better setup considering the opponents, so let's take a look in more detail:

Week 1-@New England
This is a tough opener, there's no way to sugar coat it. While I don't think NE is as good as they were two years ago, any team Tom Brady team is formidable. Even a loss isn't the end of the world to start the season, just look at last year's Immaculate Deflection game.

Week 2-Baltimore
The Bengals usually match up pretty well with Baltimore as long as #9 is healthy. The Ravens open up Week 1 at the Jets, so they arguably will be coming off an even tougher opener than Cincy.

Week 3-@Carolina
Carolina is in a bit of a transition period. Even though QB Matt Moore played several games last year after taking over for Jake Delhomme, he's still young and the defense lost their best player in Julius Peppers to free agency. This is usually a physical team, but Cincy is used to playing teams that want to run. Catching a young team early should work in the Bengals favor. The Panthers will also have a road game at New Orleans the next week they may be looking towards.

Week 4-@Cleveland
I don't expect Cleveland to be any good this year, that's probably enough said. Cleveland will also be coming off a road game at Baltimore the previous week.

Week 5-Tampa Bay
This screams trap game to me. Even though it's at home, the bye week is lurking, and it's really hard to tell how good the Bucs will be. Tampa will be coming off a bye after playing Pittsburgh at home, and should be well prepared. The Bengals must maintain focus.

Week 6-Bye
The schedule should have the Bengals at no worse than 4-2 at the bye. I hope it's more like 5-1 because the Alpine stages are dead ahead.

Week 7-@Atlanta
The Falcons are a dangerous team, especially at home. It'll be very interesting to see if they can become a real NFC contender this year. The Bengals will be coming off a bye and the Falcons will be coming off 2 straight road games at Cleveland and at Philly, with their own bye week looming. These are very favorable conditions for a Bengals road win.

Week 8-Miami
Another dangerous opponent. Miami had both Indy and New Orleans dead to rights last year, before pulling a Dennis Green and "letting them off the hook". Fortunately for Cincy, they are catching the Dolphins in the middle of a tough stretch. At Green Bay and a home game against Pittsburgh prior to the Bengal game, and a trip to Baltimore to follow. Late October could bring some cold weather, but I don't think this will affect the run-first Dolphins much. Like Atlanta, it'll be interesting to see just how good the Dolphins are this season. Their schedule looks brutal.

Week 9-STEELER WEEK #1
Are you ready for some Football? Steelers at home on Monday Night, are you serious? PBS will be rocking. I'm getting goosebumps just typing this (literally). This will be the third of three straight road games for the Steelers. I could kiss the schedule makers. At Miami, at New Orleans, at Cincinnati. Have fun with that. Roethlisberger will be back for this stretch of games, but that's no easy task for any team.

Week 10-@Indianoplis
Barring a Manning injury, I'm just going to chalk this up as a big L after a short week. No matter how you look at it, a win in Indy would be a huge upset.

Week 11-Buffalo
After a tough four week stretch against playoff hopefuls, you can't let down here. A payback game against the Jets looms the following Thursday, and you can't have a game like last year's against Oakland in this spot. The Bills will be coming off games against Kansas City, Chicago, and Detroit, so hopefully they won't be prepared to face better competition.

Week 12-@New York Jets
Circle your calendar for Thursday Nov 25th, believe the Bengals will. This game is payback for 37-0 and a playoff loss in back to back weeks to end the promising 2009 campaign. The Jets will be coming off a pretty weak stretch where they'll have played at Detroit, at Cleveland, and Houston at home. Hopefully Andre Johnson has worn out Revis the week before. This is a pretty tough spot for the Bengals, who will more than likely drop a second straight road game on short rest.

Week 13-New Orleans
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, right? Well, like Lee Corso likes to say "not so fast my friend". New Orleans will be playing their second straight road game coming into Cincy, after what will be an emotionally charged game at Dallas. (Remember Dallas ended the perfect season in New Orleans last year). It'll be the first week in December, so the elements have to hurt the dome team a little, right? This will be New Orleans first cold weather game of the year. Again, thank you schedule makers.

Week 14-@Pittsburgh (STEELER WEEK #2)
(Editor's Note: I'm planning on representing in person in my Bernard Scott jersey, yes I will). The Steelers will be coming off two straight road games, at Buffalo and at Baltimore, before welcoming the arch rival Bengals. Again, you can't ask for more from the schedule makers. Even if the Steelers win, playing the Ravens and Bengals in back to back weeks should weaken them for the stretch run.

Week 15-Cleveland
Again, after a tough stretch, the Bengals get a little breather before facing the last climb. This will be the third straight road game for the Browns, who will have faced Miami, and a December game in Buffalo, before heading to PBS. This game is an absolute lock. Bengal win, guaranteed.

Week 16-San Diego
This is San Diego's longest road trip of the year, and their first cold weather game all season. Seriously, the schedule makers are Bengals fans right? Between this trip and a Week 12 trip to Indy (in the dome), the Chargers will face Oakland, Kansas City and San Francisco at home. Not exactly the cream of the NFL crop. I like the Bengals chances in the elements against the vertical passing attack of the Chargers, but this is no lock.

Week 17-@Baltimore
Part of me really hopes this game determines the division (although the other part wants it to have been locked up by the Bengals in week 15). Baltimore will be coming off a four game stretch against Pittsburgh, at Houston, against New Orleans, and then at Cleveland. The Cleveland game should be a bit of a breather, but we all saw what happened to Pittsburgh last year if the weather gets nasty.

See, not as bad as you first thought, right? I figure if the Bengals go no worse than 4-2 in the division, and at least .500 on the road, they'll be around 10-6. They could end up one game on either side of that, but barring injury, I'll stand on 10-6. That may not win the division, but it should solidify a playoff spot. It really comes down to how they start. 5-1 sets them up beautifully, just like last season.

In the next few Bengals posts, we'll get into what I think will be keys to this team's success, and which areas of the roster I'm most and least concerned about.

Here's to another playoff run in 2010. Who Freakin' Dey!!!