The Cincinnati Bengals finished a dismal 2-14 in 2020 under first year head coach Zac Taylor. That record was good enough for them to secure the number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. With that pick, the Bengals selected all-world quarterback Joe Burrow from LSU. Fresh off a National Championship, Burrow will look to right the ship for the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 2020, Cincinnati has the 6th easiest strength of schedule in the NFL according to NFL.com. Although, their schedule does boast a handful of tough football games, detailed here. With their polarizing NFL Draft behind them, Cincinnati will look to get to work and show that 2019 is behind them and they are on the right track in 2020.
As part of a yearly tradition here at Last Word on Pro Football, we’ll take a look at all 16 games for Cincinnati ranking them from 16-1 in terms of most winnable to most challenging. So, without further ado, here are the eight most winnable games.
2020 Cincinnati Bengals Easiest Games
9. Week 15 vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Like specified before, divisional games are always tough. That is especially true when Cincinnati and the Pittsburgh Steelers get together. This game is probably the hardest “easy” game on this schedule. The Steelers will have Ben Roethlisberger back, but it is still to be seen if he will be able to recover from shoulder surgery in his late 30s. The Bengals should be more comfortable at home, and will have to get the offense going in order to win this game.
10. Week 6 @ Indianapolis Colts
Without Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts were looking for their next quarterback. They may have found him in Philip Rivers. Rivers is one of the best quarterbacks of this generation, but he is 38 years old and gradually declining. He had 23 touchdowns, but also 20 interceptions last year. He has a better offensive line with his new team, but his running backs aren’t as good as Austin Ekeler and Melvin Gordon, nor are his receivers as good as his former ones either. The Bengals should be able to move the ball on Indianapolis, as they did last year, especially with the edge in position player talent.
11. Week 8 vs Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have all the talent in the world, but with all that talent has come a lot of dysfunction. The Browns are certainly better than Cincinnati on paper, but divisional rivals always play each other tough. This game may be a little easier for the Bengals being as it’s at home, and right before their bye week. Cincinnati always plays Cleveland well at home, and has the talent to pull off a win sans week 17 of 2019. First though, they will have to stop Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in Cleveland’s running game.
12. Week 12 vs New York Giants
In week 13, the New York Giants roll into town for a showdown between young quarterbacks and good running backs. Daniel Jones will be at the helm again this year for New York, as will Saquon Barkley. This will be a nice test for the Bengals, but their offense should be able to get it done. The Giants defense hasn’t been great and if the Bengals are healthy come week 13, their offense should have no problems moving the football.
13. Week 11 @ Washington Redskins
Another NFC East team this list, and possibly an easier game than the last is against the Washington Redskins. Washington hasn’t been the same since Kirk Cousins left town. Marred by injury to running backs seemingly every year, the offense has a lot of identity issues. The defense, however, is full of promising young players, including a stout defensive line that just added Chase Young. The Bengals might struggle to move the ball, but shouldn’t have problems creating turnovers and stopping drives, both in which are critical. The more the Bengals offense can stay on the field in this game, the less the Redskins defense will cause problems.
14. Week 13 @ Miami Dolphins
The game between the Bengals and Miami Dolphins last year was quite exciting considering how bad both teams were. Both were sitting at one win apiece, and it was likely whoever lost that game would secure the number one pick, and win the Joe Burrow sweepstakes. That team was the Bengals, who somehow found a way to lose a football game in which they furiously made a comeback to win. They allowed the Dolphins to score as time expired and sent the game to overtime, where, even though they lost the game, they own the right to choose Joe Burrow. Miami is still in the same state, except they’ve added Tua Tagovailoa. This game should be one of the easier games for the Bengals.
15. Week 4 vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars have gone from the AFC Title game, to the AFC basement in just two years. They should be used to their familiar home at the bottom of things, but this doesn’t present many challenges for the Bengals. This will be one of the easiest games on their schedule and should result in a win for Cincinnati. As long as they rely on Joe Mixon and establish the tone early, the Bengals will likely run away with this game early.
16. Week 1 @ Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are an interesting team this year. They cut ties with their franchise quarterback, Philip Rivers, and lost Melvin Gordon in free agency. With that being said, they still have Austin Ekeler, and the normal cast on offense, and also have Joey Bosa and company on defense. This should be one of the easiest games for Cincinnati because of the Chargers newest addition, Justin Herbert from Oregon, who will be playing quarterback in the wake of Rivers’ departure.
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