The issue of the "difficult schedule" argument

[Luvnit2]

(10-05-2015, 10:46 AM)Matt_Crimson Wrote: Bengals are 4-0, which is great, but obviously there are still a lot of Bengals fans not impressed with the Bengals record, including me. That's not because I think the Bengals are bad, I actually do think that they're good which is why I'm not that impressed by their record. I wouldn't say we're on the Patriots level, but I wouldn't be impressed if I was a Patriots fan either. They're supposed to be winning their games, much like I believe the Bengals should be winning theirs. There hasn't been a team yet this year that I thought the Bengals would lose to. So, for me it's hard to feel "impressed" knowing how good our team is and that it's the regular season against questionable teams. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I will be absolutely impressed and jumping out of my seat if we can win a playoff game this year. My Bengals bar is high. We SHOULD be doing this good, so it's not surprising or impressive to me, but I am happy that we're not losing.

The main thing I wanted to address with this thread is the argument that the Bengals at first had a "hard schedule" but now have a weak one since we're winning. I would honestly like to hear peoples opinions of how they came to the conclusions that the Bengals had a hard schedule in the first place before the season even started or if they believe the Bengals now have a weak schedule. I personally believe it's a dull argument because it sounds like a lot people make these sort of assumptions based on teams records from the previous year. I don't think it's fair to say how "difficult" a teams schedule is until you've actually seen what the teams can do within the current season.

Well, it is impossible to make a schedule prediction prior to the season starting without factoring in some facts and intangibles so I guess I am confused.

I have to use old info:
1. Who we play in 2015 versus 2014
2. Records of teams we play in 2015 versus 2014
3. Significant injuries of teams we played in 2014 and same for 2014 teams we did not play, but had injuries

But, here was my thoughts:
1. We swapped the NFCS for the NFCW (advantage based on last few years was huge the NFCW was better)
2. We swapped the AFCS (worst division in football) for the AFCW. The Chiefs were derailed by injury in 2014 and lack of a true #1 WR. They go get Macklin and they start year healthy. Raiders have a second year QB progressing, a stud rookie WR and added some guys on defense. The Broncos may have the best defense in the NFL and QB Manning is a winner. The Chargers also have a great QB and many predicted them making the playoffs.

We play a 2nd place schedule. The other teams in our division also have similar schedules, but the Steelers play 1st place schedule (harder) and the Ravens have a similar schedule to us.

As far as 2015 goes, we beat a KC team who is 1-3, but has losses to 3 undefeated teams. The Chargers 2 losses were on the road to an undefeated team and an improved Viking team (almost beat Denver at Mile High).

The bottom line is if we lose and are 0-4, then the 4 teams we beat record looks a lot better, it looks a lot worse right now as we beat them all.