Bengals Can Have Another 8-0 Start

[BonnieBengal]

(03-30-2017, 11:31 AM)kevin Wrote: I love the Reds but I see last place again.   If I thought Bengals were last place, but I don't.  We don't lose a home game playing in London.  We don't play at New York on 9/11 or at New England and at Dallas. It was a bad year to play the NFC East.   When I saw the schedule last winter I knew the cards were stacked against us.  A rough schedule plus losing a game in The Jungle to play in London.  I never complain about the schedule except for last year as soon as it came out.  This years schedule is a more average schedule.  Plus we lost a lot of players to free agency and Eifert injured in Pro Bowl and Burfict suspended to start season and then all the major injuries.  Not little injuries which is football, but just too many major injuries. Plus Nugent.  Last winter I ticked people off when I saw the schedule and I said Bengals could start 0-4 and I didn't like losing a home game. Bengals did not start 0-4 as I feared. I've been a Bengal Fan since 1968 and I never complained about a schedule until 2016 came out.

Now here comes 2017.  A more average schedule. Dalton healthy with pass catchers he knows, not like losing Jones and Sanu. We have a great D and the makings for a great offense.  Our kicking has to be better.  I look for us to have a great draft picking more early and more often.  I see this team looking more like the 8-0 start in 2015 than everything that went wrong in 2016.  Plus look at all the coaches that left after 2015.  I think our coaches are more settled in and ready to fire it up in 2017.  If this team can avoid many major injuries and of course injuries happen but if we can be one of the more injury free teams, we do have the Pro Bowlers to get after teams. I see some rookie of the year types added in the draft.  I see us having a Defense teams hate to play.  I see us having too many pass catchers to cover and the running game back.  Now, if our O Line comes together and can fire off the ball and block and use their size to dominate we have as much chance at Super Bowl as anybody. 6 play-off seasons in 8 years tells me this team can bounce back and get after it. The 1980's O Line eat together, went bowling together, were together on and off the field and this group trying to become a unit need to do the same. I think this team will block, and we have everything else.

It all comes down to O line.  I have predicted us to win less than 6 games based on losing Zeitler and Whit and relying on Ogbuehi as our starting left tackle.  I hope you're right and i'm wrong.