Who Dey Or Dey Who: How Will The Bengals Do With Their Schedule This Season?

The Bengals 2009 Schedule came out on Tuesday, and we get a glimpse of what they’re up against. It’s not as bad as it could be since they don’t have to play the AFC East, NFC East, NFC South divisions who have proven to be the toughest division's to play.

Instead the Bengals are playing the AFC West and NFC North with the Houston Texans and the New York Jets as the extra games.

How will the Bengals stack up against their opponents this season?

Sunday September 13 will be the Bengals opener against the Denver Broncos. This could be an interesting game because no one knows how good the Broncos will be after trading their Franchise Quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears. Everyone can get a preview of how good this team will do after they see how they play against a rebuilding team.

Week two they have a road game at Green Bay. The Packers are still trying to find away to click after releasing Brett Favre. I expect Aaron Rodgers to improve and be ready to play the Bengals. The Bengals will be tested on offense with A.J. Hawk playing linebacker for the Packers.

Week three and ten Cincinnati will be playing the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers. This is always a heated game and the Steelers are always ready to play even if the Bengals aren’t. If they can beat the Steelers it will boost their confidence tremendously, especially if it is in week three.

In week four and twelve they will be playing the Browns for the battle of Ohio.

Just as beating Pittsburgh would boost their confidence this game could break it. The Browns are figuring out who they are as a team and the Bengals need to keep that question rolling through their minds. This game is either low scoring or a shootout with no defense, but it’s always exciting to watch.

Week five and nine they will be going against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are looking to get back to the playoffs after their disappointing loss to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

These divisional games will be the toughest challenge for Cincinnati in the season. I think they should be happy if they get a win. Games three through five will be a tough stretch for this Bengal team.

Week six they will be back in Cincinnati to play the Houston Texans. The Texans aren’t an automatic check in the win column and the Bengals will have to play hard to win this game. The Texans beat the Bengals worse then they beat any other team in their young franchise history so the Bengals need to get their revenge, if they have any hopes at the playoffs. This is one of their easier games they have to play.

Just like we’ll get to witness the Broncos after the Cutler deal we also get to witness the Bears in the aftermath of teh deal in week seven of the season. The Bears usually have a good defense but hopefully the Bengals offense will improve enough to handle it.

I guarantee the Bengals will not lose in week eight, because they have their bye week.

In week eleven the team travels to Oakland to play the struggling Raiders. They will have to get cocky in order to lose this game. Unless the Raiders have a miracle turnaround season, I doubt the Bengals lose this game.

I am circling week 13. The Bengals are hosting the worst team in NFL history when the Detroit Lions come to town. If they draft Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez I will have even more confidence because the Bengals have a good track record against NFC North quarterbacks.

Week 14 has the Minnesota Vikings. This could be a really ugly game if the Bengals can’t stop the run as they will be facing one of the best backs in the league in Adrian Peterson. They will need to be physical upfront and hopefully they improve in this area from the past seasons.

The last time the Bengals played the NFC North they forced five interceptions from three of the teams. These games are going to be interesting to see if they can continue their dominance over them.

In week 15 the Bengals travel west to face the San Diego Chargers and some more talented running backs. This will be a game a lot like Minnesota with the run. They need to make Rivers throw the ball and the run defense needs to step up.

The Bengals come back home for possibly their last home game, if they don’t make the playoffs. They will play the Kansas City Chiefs in week 16. Kansas City could improve from last season with a good draft class, but if they are like they were last season the Bengals could have a present two days after Christmas.

The last game of the season is against a reloading Jets team. They, like the Packers, are going through the post Favre stage and need to find someone at QB. Former Jet and current Bengal Laveranues Coles will be traveling back to New York with a new quarterback throwing the ball to him. Hopefully the Bengals can beat the Jets this year as they failed to do so last year.