The Cincinnati Bengals have bold hype chasing them into the regular season.
In fact, it has never been more dramatic than this in the Joe Burrow era. The all-in push by the organization around Burrow this offseason has created an almost now-or-never feel to the season.
Plenty of things have to go right, especially when it comes to health and a years-long defensive rebuild. But the pieces for a major run certainly feel like they are in place.
Here’s a look at some quick bold predictions for the season.
Bengals bold predictions
All the pressures
Let’s call it 45-plus sacks and roughly 350-ish pressures.
The defense should all be coming together to Al Golden’s liking now. They signed Boye Mafe, who has had 40-plus pressures in each of his last three seasons. Dexter Lawrence averaged 50-plus
when healthy. Myles Murphy had 41 last year while appearing to break out. And they have big hopes for Shemar Stewart and Cashius Howell, two guys who should benefit from joining the rotation. If Burrow’s offense is putting up big numbers, teams should often be playing from behind, setting the defense up for their own big numbers.
Bengals close season on a heater
The Bengals have an “easy” schedule this year thanks to last season’s flop, so a streak of wins near the end won’t be another “dead cat bounce” this time out. The Bengals close the season with these games:
- At Carolina
- At Indianapolis
- Vs. Baltimore
- Vs. Cleveland
Three of the four could be layups. The Panthers are a rebuilding mess. The Colts dropped seven in a row to close last season and have a starting quarterback coming back from a torn Achilles. Games against the Ravens are always slugfests, but it’s a homestand. And the Browns are, well, the Browns.
Amarius Mims, All-Pro
There’s All-Pro buzz in the building at Paycor Stadium around Amarius Mims for good reason. Mims stayed on the field last year and hit on a developmental upswing that realized much of his ceiling. That, while fighting the likes of TJ Watt and others. From Week 12 onward last year, he had just one game below a 70 PFF grade. There’s no reason to think he won’t keep ascending.
Joe Burrow, MVP
Let’s face it: MVP is a popularity award as a deciding factor. Burrow’s one of the most recognizable names in the NFL. He’s grown as an ambassador for the sport internationally too over the last year while showing up late to help out the league with its Pro Bowl and by taking part in the flag football tournament.
That’s a big chunk of this because, when it comes down to it, if Burrow’s healthy for all 17 games or more, he’s for sure putting up MVP-like numbers. The Bengals need to be winning games, too, but there’s enough encouraging stuff going on defensively that we’ve reached the point that predicting Burrow to win MVP…is starting to feel not that bold at all.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: 4 bold predictions for Bengals’ season
