The issue of the "difficult schedule" argument

[Matt_Crimson]

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.

[StLucieBengal]

We have our second place schedule. The only difference is we have Bills instead of Pats and Texans instead of Colts.

NFC West is a tough division. But I think we will do well. Cards are the only team that concerns me there. And We have almost won the NFC West as its turning out to be less than expected. We will be fine, Mannings arm will be more dead than last year by the time we play them.

[*bengalfan74*]

1. The Patriots and the Packers are in a league by themselves. More often than not, no matter whom or where they're playing they're going to win. That's not to say they're not going to lose, they will.

2. Every year there's 3 or 4 teams at the bottom. This season looks like the Texans, Jags, Bears, 49ers, hell maybe the Eagles ? Throw out those 6 or so teams, the cream and the crap. And there's not a lot of difference in the middle 25 teams !

3. The whole strength of schedule thing is basically a joke. There's always 1 or 2 teams that did good last year that won't this year. And likewise on the bottom, there's always 1 or 2 that turn it around.

4. We haven't played the Pats or Pack, but you're fooling yourself if you think the teams we've played are just total pushovers ! The Ravens aren't going to set the world on fire this year, but they're still a mid level team. The Chargers and Chiefs will most likely both finish in the playoff hunt.

5. What we've done is impressive - period.

[fredtoast]

(10-05-2015, 10:46 AM)Matt_Crimson Wrote: 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.

This isn't college where a large portion of the team leaves each year.

Obviously some teams improve or decline from year to year, but usually you have a pretty good idea how good an NFL team is going to be before the season  starts.

[WhoDeyWho]

(10-05-2015, 11:30 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: 1. The Patriots and the Packers are in a league by themselves. More often than not, no matter whom or where they're playing they're going to win. That's not to say they're not going to lose, they will.

2. Every year there's 3 or 4 teams at the bottom. This season looks like the Texans, Jags, Bears, 49ers, hell maybe the Eagles ? Throw out those 6 or so teams, the cream and the crap. And there's not a lot of difference in the middle 25 teams !

3. The whole strength of schedule thing is basically a joke. There's always 1 or 2 teams that did good last year that won't this year. And likewise on the bottom, there's always 1 or 2 that turn it around.

4. We haven't played the Pats or Pack, but you're fooling yourself if you think the teams we've played are just total pushovers ! The Ravens aren't going to set the world on fire this year, but they're still a mid level team. The Chargers and Chiefs will most likely both finish in the playoff hunt.

5. What we've done is impressive - period.

I agree.  SOS is a joke because you never know how  a team will perform once the season starts.  On paper, the Colts were World Champions so were the Ravens.  Philadelphia was also getting a bunch of hype.  The Bengals certainly weren't the same team they were a year before so anyone playing against us this year is playing against a better team than last year.  

At the end of the day, all you can do is play who you have on the schedule, and I've watched enough football to know that winning week in and week out in the NFL is hard.  The fact that we play 2 against the AFC North year in and year out is enough for me to not get too bent out of shape about the "SOS".  

[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.

[BleedNOrange]

It always comes down to past performance. In this case, the NFC West and playing on the west coast.

The NFC West has been one of the best conferences recently. Seattle has been the bar for defense. Cardinals are up-and-coming especially with a healthy QB (not to be named). Rams are underrated. 49ers were good but have had a disasterous offseason.

Couple this with the fact that the Bengals have not played well on the west coast. I believe they are 3-12 since 1990 on the West Coast. Since we play both the AFC West and NFC West, that is 4 games on the west coast.

10 wins is the goal.

Maybe the thought process was assume 2-3 losses in the AFC North, 2-3 losses on the west coast. That didn't leave a lot of margin for error.

We are off to a great start in both those categories so far.

[ItsOdellThurman]

NFL schedule strength is the most overrated thing out there.

The NFL is a league that literally can shift power in a year. Injuries happen. Luck happens. The draft has more of an immediate impact in the NFL than any other sport. You also have players that improve and decline, which becomes much more evident and impactful in the NFL.

You take wins when you can get them and you don't take any team for granted.

[Luvnit2]

(10-05-2015, 12:17 PM)ItsOdellThurman Wrote: NFL schedule strength is the most overrated thing out there.

The NFL is a league that literally can shift power in a year.  Injuries happen.  Luck happens.  The draft has more of an immediate impact in the NFL than any other sport.  You also have players that improve and decline, which becomes much more evident and impactful in the NFL.

You take wins when you can get them and you don't take any team for granted.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This

The hardest thing to do in the NFL is win on the road and beat teams you are supposed to beat. Many fans forget every team can beat you, they are pro players and pro coaches.

I see many teams progress as the year goes on and so get worse. I believe both the Chargers and the Chiefs will end up with winning records even though one od 1-3. The Chiefs schedule has been brutal thus far and face it, they let one slip away against Denver and could easilt be 2-2.

[West Union KennyG]

Well, Oakland has been playing alot better than people thought they were.
Kansas City and San Diego are quality wins - those are playoff contenders.
Baltimore in Baltimore is a huge win. We played them w/ a mostly healthy crew. They've been quite banged up since our game and the Pittsburgh game. I don't think they're a playoff contender this year (stranger things have happened, I suppose), but any division game is a tough fought game.

I think those are 4 wins that aren't anything to scoff about.

Now...
The next 3 games are going to be a huge indicator of how good this team is this year:
1. Seattle
2. Buffalo
3. Pittsburgh

If I could pull the trigger right now, I'd accept a 2 out of 3 from those and be quite happy! That would make us 6-1 with arguably 3 decent games to play of the remaining 9 (Cleveland, Houston, Arizona, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Denver, and Baltimore). And if we go 6-1, I could easily see us finish 13-3 if not 14-2. No other team in the AFC is going to be around that number except New England. We'll see, though.

[fredtoast]

(10-05-2015, 12:17 PM)ItsOdellThurman Wrote: You take wins when you can get them and you don't take any team for granted.

Exactly.

NFL teams almost never go 16-0 or 0-16.  In fact it is pretty rare for a team to go 2-14 or 14-2.

Every NFL team is capable of beating every other team.

Like the old saying goes "On any given Sunday, Monday, or Thursday.  .  .  "

[Sled21]

I don't see any way anyone can call this schedule weak. We have all the AFCN opponents twice (never an easy feat) and we have to go into Denver, Arizona and Buffalo, plus we have Seattle at home. It may not be the hardest schedule in the league, but definitely not weak.

[West Union KennyG]

(10-05-2015, 12:38 PM)Sled21 Wrote: I don't see any way anyone can call this scheduleweak. We have all the AFCN opponents twice (never an easy feat) and we have to go into Denver, Arizona and Buffalo, plus we have Seattle at home. It may not be the hardest schedule in the league, but definitely not weak.

If people say it's an easy schedule, it's only because this Bengals team makes it look easy

[WiregrassBenGal]

(10-05-2015, 12:38 PM)Sled21 Wrote: I don't see any way anyone can call this schedule weak. We have all the AFCN opponents twice (never an easy feat) and we have to go into Denver, Arizona and Buffalo, plus we have Seattle at home. It may not be the hardest schedule in the league, but definitely not weak.

This thread makes me think of how the Chief's game yesterday was the kind of game the Bengals would have lost at this point last year.  Last year the Bengals had so many injuries that it's a miracle they won 10 games and qualified for the playoffs.  Getting to play the weak AFC and NFC south teams helped out a lot.

For last year's team with the new DC and a beat up defense, KC would have easily been able to convert possibly two or three of those FGs int TDs yesterday and probably won.  The fact that they had lots of big plays yesterday is more about how desperate they were rather than any Bengal D problems.  They got kept out of the end zone!

[XenoMorph]

(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.

So far we have faced 3 playoff caliber teams.... chargers Chiefs and Ravens... and beat them all. Now while their records themselves dont look great look who the chiefs have played and San Diego or at least their losses they probly turn it around soon.

Okay maybe the Ravens arent playoff caliber this year they are like the bengals 2014 very much hurt by injuries but somehow i remember the bengals making it to the playoffs under those same conditions. (star LB out for season) missing WRs/TEs etc.

but Balitmore has only lost @ home 2x in september with flacco... And bengals are that team both times in their home openers non the less gotta love it.

And while we made the raiders look bad... They looked pretty good the following 2 weeks after.

[rungiorun25]

in my opinion, we haven't touched the "hard" part of our schedule yet..we've played three AFCW opponents and one AFCN opponent (although it was in their building).

one thing I know about this team and my own personal health, stay as level as possible...they won big games, they had great win streaks, they have bad losses, they have losing streaks..just like any other team.

the hardest part of our schedule (no matter the opponent) is those night games..those national televised games...those are the ones that will be the true measuring stick for this team.  Andy Dalton-led Bengals teams..have beaten them all, they even have a few bright spots in night games...but I want to see this team under the lights on national TV..I want to see if there is reason to truly buy into this team.

I am happy with 4-0 record, but as a Bengals fan (especially since Dalton-Green era began) I have learned to waiver my expectations to measure them where our weakest spots are and that is primetime games or those MUST win games.

Bengals have been excellent in September since AD-AG came here.  Lets see what we get going forward..we have taken care of what we needed to so far, but its the NFL..anything can happen.

[GreenCornBengal]

(10-05-2015, 11:30 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: 1. The Patriots and the Packers are in a league by themselves.

I think we are in their league this year. Just gotta believe!!

[XenoMorph]

(10-05-2015, 01:47 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: I think we are in their league this year. Just gotta believe!!

When they are talking about the BEST QBs in the league this year

Its Rodgers Dalton and Brady.