Run the North? Bold Bengals Predictions for the Second Half of the Season

The Cincinnati Bengals have hit the midpoint of their season, or as close as they can get with a 17-game schedule, and a lot of what we’ve seen through the first eight games was unpredictable.

There will be more things over the course of the next nine — maybe more — games that no one can foresee, but we extrapolate certain other occurrences and statistics from September and October to use in place of a crystal ball.

Second-Half Predictions for the Cincinnati Bengals

So let’s give it a go.

Feel free to clip any of these and send them to Freezing Hot Takes if I’m wrong. But that’s a big “if.”

Run the North

Last year, when the Bengals went into their bye at 5-4 (0-3 in the AFC North), I kicked off my second-half predictions in bold fashion by calling for the team to sweep its three remaining division games and claim a second consecutive AFCN title.

Let’s run it back.

Running the table would be a taller task this year with four division games remaining, including road tilts at Baltimore and Pittsburgh, but this team has built a template with the ability to weather early struggles and surge late.

How did the #Bengals beat the #Bills in primetime? 👀 @ByJayMorrison and @DallasDRobinson discuss the win and make bold predictions for the rest of the season on the NEW episode of the PFN Bengals Podcast!

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— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 7, 2023

Winning in Baltimore is hard, especially on a Thursday for a franchise that hasn’t won a road prime-time game since 2012. Sweeping Pittsburgh is hard. And figuring out Cleveland, as everyone inside Paycor Stadium knows, is hard, whenever or wherever.

But I’m not betting against the Bengals, not after watching them never really sweat in impressive wins against the 49ers and Bills. And not after watching 2022. And 2021.

Sack Record Safe

The Bengals have allowed at least one sack in 38 consecutive games. The franchise record is 42.

The late 90s offensive linemen needn’t buy any champagne. The record set from 1997-1999 will stand.

Maybe it ends this week against Houston. But wouldn’t it be something if it ended next week, because the 42-game one ended against the Ravens in Week 11? The upcoming Thursday nightery in Baltimore is Week 11.

If it goes past that, chances are it doesn’t end against Pittsburgh. Although the irony would be strong after the Bengals snapped the Steelers’ NFL-record streak of games with a sack in 2021.

The last chance would be Jacksonville. I’m not going to predict, or even power rank, which game it’s going to happen. I’m just saying it’s going to happen.

The 38-game streak is the second-longest active one in the league. Denver is first with 46.

Bust on 28

This might be the longest limb on the list. But I’m going out there.

The Bengals are one of four teams in the NFL (Chiefs, Ravens, and Titans being the others) yet to allow an opponent to score 28 points. I’m going to say they stay on that list until it’s a party of one.

If Lou Anarumo’s defense goes beyond being the last one standing and makes it all the way to the finish line without allowing 28+ points in a game, it would be the first time in franchise history a team pulled it off.

MORE: Cam Taylor-Britt Said the Bengals Had Josh Allen Frustrated

The 1977 team allowed 28+ once (42), as did the 1972 team (42). And the 1989 team, fresh off Super Bowl XXIII, had one game where it allowed 28 and one with 29.

The Bengals currently rank 12th in the league with 20.3 points allowed. Chances are the defense is going to have an off day somewhere along the line and give up at least 28. But I’ll bet against those odds.

Dominate the Differential

INTERCEPTION@CamTaylorBritt_ comes up with the takeaway for the #Bengals! pic.twitter.com/A2ajmpz7bT

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 6, 2023

The Bengals are tied with the Chargers for the best turnover differential in the league at +9. And there’s no reason to think that number will only climb.

Joe Burrow rarely throws interceptions. The offensive line is playing better, reducing the chances of strip sacks. And Joe Mixon has lost just four fumbles on 1,695 touches in his seven-year career.

Cincinnati has had zero or one turnover in nine consecutive games. That’s a franchise record and the longest active streak in the NFL.

Defensively, their 11 interceptions are two shy of the number they had all of last season. And the better they play, and the bigger the leads grow, the chances increase for takeaways.

The Bengals haven’t finished in the top five of turnover differential since 2015, when they were third (+11). They haven’t led the league since 2005, when they were a franchise record +24.

Joe Burrow Will Win You a Bar Bet

I wanted to predict a record-breaking performance of some sorts for Burrow, but the slow start will make it a steep climb to challenge for his franchise marks for passing yards (4, 611 in 2021) and touchdown passes (35 last year). Through eight games, Burrow has 1,861 yards and 12 TDs.

MORE: Bengals OC Brian Callahan on Why Joe Burrow’s Performance was ‘Fantastic’ Sunday

But I wondered about touchdown pass-to-interception ratio, and this is where you can stump even the most diehard of Bengals. Among qualifying quarterbacks (at least 14 attempts per team games played), the record for the best TD-INT ratio is 3.75, and it belongs to … Neil O’Donnell.

In his one season as Cincinnati’s QB in 1998, O’Donnell had 15 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

Burrow currently is at 3.0, with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. The only other quarterback to finish above 3.0 was Andy Dalton in 2015 (3.57).

The touchdown passes are sure to climb. If Burow’s interceptions double over the final nine games to give him eight for the year, he would need to get to 30 touchdowns to tie O’Donnell’s 3.75 and 31 to top it.

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