Now the true test begins

[CJD]

(11-21-2022, 11:23 AM)ochocincos Wrote: It's great the Bengals beat the Steelers, but let's be honest...the Steelers are a bottom-tier team this year.
The real test for getting back to the playoffs and showing people that this team really is a contender again begins with the Titans this coming Sunday.

The Bengals' upcoming schedule has all but one team with a winning record and also currently slotted in the playoffs.
The Browns are the only team that isn't, and they have had the Bengals' number the past few years.

Can the Bengals get enough wins between @TEN, KC, CLE, @TB, @NE, BUF, and BAL to get into the playoffs?
Will getting to the playoffs with this extremely tough remaining schedule be enough to convince people the Bengals can legitimately contend again? Or are there certain teams they need to beat to prove that?

The playoff push begins now.

This is when we learn what this team is made of. 

In a sane world, we'll be able to beat Cleveland, Tompa Bay, New England and Baltimore at the minimum, which would put us at 10-7 and hopefully in the playoffs. But I think this team, and especially this offense, is fully capable of going toe to toe with Tennessee, KC and Buffalo (likelihood of winning in descending order, respectively).

It is really good that our toughest match ups, including both divisions games, will be at home. That may end up being the difference in a few of them.

This team is trending way up and currently looks like the 2nd or maybe 3rd best offense in the entire NFL (behind KC and maybe Miami or Buffalo). Joe Burrrow is playing incredibly and the coaches have been designing and calling good game plans.

Chase coming back either next week or the following week may end up being the X factor we need to really take off into the stratosphere. 

The next 7 weeks will either be exhilarating or terribly depressing. I'm hoping for the former :) .