Schedule is Brutal

[walzav29]

http://www.bengals.com/schedule/schedule-rotation.html

All games except 4 vs teams that have been to the playoffs at least once in the last 2 seasons. I'm glad. They will have some great games. Hopefully! Compared to 10 games vs teams that didn't make the playoffs the last 2 seasons going into this years schedule.

[Kazkal]

Wanna win the superbowl gotta beat good teams,Plus look at last year going in to the schedule we had 3rd hardest schedule no? least top 10 and turned out to be one of the easiest.

[walzav29]

I agree. We get to 10-6 next year it will be a hell of a job!

[COB]

It doesn't look that bad. The NFL changes so quickly these days that it's tough to say how difficult the schedule will be.

The only absolutes I see on there are that the Colts, Saints, and Charges will be very tough, and that the Bucaneers and the Bills will both still be building. Other than those 5 games, pretty tough to call.

[kingwilly]

bills, bucs, cleveland(x2) - teams that are not winning programs

NE, Pitt, Miami, Carolina, Atlanta - have their share of issues.

Baltimore + Jets - played way over their head to get into playoffs. Jets overachieved vs Cincy and SD. Snuck into playoffs...were not a playoff team as of week 15. Baltimore played their best ball late but it could have gone either way...borderline.

Saints, Indy, Chargers - winning programs that will continue.

I don't see any team who is bad jumping up and I don't see any "good" team regressing...maybe the chargers due to free agents leaving but until that happens, they still make the cut.

it is a tough schedule. gotta win the games against the junk and go 500 or better vs the quality.

We are guaranteed to be playing the SB winner. nothing like kick the tar out of the defending champs...yeah, I'm looking at you pittsburgh...eat turds.

[cincy9275]

It doesn't look that bad. The NFL changes so quickly these days that it's tough to say how difficult the schedule will be.

The only absolutes I see on there are that the Colts, Saints, and Charges will be very tough, and that the Bucaneers and the Bills will both still be building. Other than those 5 games, pretty tough to call.

i agree, we all though the bengals would struggle with the 1st half of the schedule this year. then we would coast on the second have. did not happen that way lol. we showed we can play with any1. we just have to get carson some weapons, n come up with a effective passing game. i don't care much for brat at all. i will give him and marv credit. they where trend setters this year with there run blocking. by the end of the season, how many teams were copying what the bengals do with there o-line.

[Sea Ray]

Can we petition the NFL to get Indy scheduled as the last team on our schedule?

I for one am awfully glad to see the Jets on our schedule and I hope the Bengal players feel the same way

[cincyhokie]

Gotta keep playing the best teams to become a good/great team.

The Bengals play their best football against good teams....so this schedule is a good thing. Has anyone thought of that?

[kevnz]

If we can't beat those good teams we don't deserve to be a good team. It's that simple. But it's the NFL, who the hell know's how those teams are gonna be next season? I say bring it on and smack some teams in the face.

[BengalPimp]

After the playoff loss to the Jets, I immediately looked at their 2010 opponents. Though actual dates wont be announced for a while, the thing that stuck out the most at first glance was their opponents combined record (138-118) and Winning Percentage (.539)

That's pretty tough. Then you look deeper into it, and you see that there are really only 3 Below average opponents (Buccs 3-13, Browns 5-11, and Buffalo 6-10) I don't count the 7-9 Doplhins because of injuries, and Ronnie Brown will be back strong next year. But every other opponent was 8-8 or better.

There is no guarantee what will happen next year...for example an

8-8 team like Carolina could easily go either 10-6 or 4-12 next year.

I can see them going 10-6 again, maybe better and beating some great teams. But I can also see them losing to one or two of the worse teams as well.

[cincyhokie]

After the playoff loss to the Jets, I immediately looked at their 2010 opponents. Though actual dates wont be announced for a while, the thing that stuck out the most at first glance was their opponents combined record (138-118) and Winning Percentage (.539)

That's pretty tough. Then you look deeper into it, and you see that there are really only 3 Below average opponents (Buccs 3-13, Browns 5-11, and Buffalo 6-10) I don't count the 7-9 Doplhins because of injuries, and Ronnie Brown will be back strong next year. But every other opponent was 8-8 or better.

There is no guarantee what will happen next year...for example an

8-8 team like Carolina could easily go either 10-6 or 4-12 next year.

I can see them going 10-6 again, maybe better and beating some great teams. But I can also see them losing to one or two of the worse teams as well.

It's also possible that the Bengals play more consistent and even better football and end up 8-8 or 9-7. If that means getting tougher and gaining experience from a tough schedule, then so be it. I don't plan on this season making or breaking my fandom...and I expect they will be a better team regardless of their record. Play who's on the schedule and make progress. Next year is going to be tough no matter how you look at it.