2015 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule: Full Listing of Dates, Times and TV Info

The Cincinnati Bengals' playoff struggles have overshadowed a sustained run of success in the regular season. They have qualified for the postseason each of the past four years and five of the past six. It's a period of prosperity many teams around the league would gladly accept. 

Yet when a team is consistently in that position, more becomes expected. The Bengals haven't been able to deliver once they do reach the playoffs. In each of their six postseason appearances since 1991, they have been knocked out in the Wild Card Round.

A lot of the blame for the recent playoff defeats has fallen at the feet of Andy Dalton. The quarterback is 0-4 in those situations with one touchdown, six interceptions and a terrible passer rating of 57.8. That's simply not good enough.

Head coach Marvin Lewis believes there's enough blame to go around, though. Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer passed along the coach's comments about the defensive issues.

"We can talk for hours about how we need to get better on defense," Lewis said. "We weren't good enough … We haven't won playoff games because we haven't played good enough on defense. This last time we didn't turn the ball over on offense, but we didn't play well enough on defense to stop people when we needed to."

Perhaps part of that is trying to take some of the heat off of Dalton. That said, as important as quarterbacks are, it's still a team game. Lewis wants to see improvement everywhere as they seek that elusive postseason victory next season.

Now they know the road to another playoff appearance. Let's check out how things shape up for the Bengals following the schedule release (via NFL.com):

2015 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	TV
1	Sept. 13	at Raiders	4:25 p.m.	CBS
2	Sept. 20	Chargers	1 p.m.	CBS
3	Sept. 27	at Ravens	1 p.m.	CBS
4	Oct. 4	Chiefs	1 p.m.	CBS
5	Oct. 11	Seahawks	1 p.m.	Fox
6	Oct. 18	at Bills	1 p.m.	CBS
7	BYE
8	Nov. 1	at Steelers	1 p.m.	CBS
9	Nov. 5	Browns	8:25 p.m.	NFL Network
10	Nov. 16	Texans	8:30 p.m.	ESPN
11	Nov. 22	at Cardinals	4:05 p.m.	CBS
12	Nov. 29	Rams	1 p.m.	Fox
13	Dec. 6	at Browns	1 p.m.	CBS
14	Dec. 13	Steelers	1 p.m.	CBS
15	Dec. 20	at 49ers	8:30 p.m.	NBC
16	Dec. 28	at Broncos	8:30 p.m.	ESPN
17	Jan. 3	Ravens	1 p.m.	CBS

Analysis

The Bengals bring back most of the players who led them to a 10-5-1 record last season. Dalton guides an offense with top-tier playmaker A.J. Green on the outside and the combination of Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard creating a nice one-two punch in the running game.

Defensively, their marquee addition was bringing back Michael Johnson. He spent five seasons with Cincinnati before a one-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now he returns hoping to rejuvenate his career. The team also added A.J. Hawk for linebacker depth.

Yet despite a solid all-around roster and the recent success, the Bengals normally don't generate the same type of hype as other teams. Maybe it's because they lack that one standout superstar or the playoff failures standing out in peoples' minds, but they usually enter the season underrated.

Their slate this year represents a serious test, though. The NFL Network noted Cincinnati ranks second in 2015 schedule strength:

Having that type of schedule significantly decreases the team's margin for error. That's especially true in a tight division like the AFC North, where the top three teams are usually caught up in a close battle during the stretch run of the regular season.

It also makes the games that seem most winnable on paper even more important. The games with the Cleveland Browns, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders stand out. Lose any of those four, and finding an extra win elsewhere will be difficult.

The Bengals have done a nice job of navigating their schedule to get into playoff position in recent years. This could be a more difficult journey, though—at least based on how it looks at this point. So they will need to take another step forward to reach the postseason again.

Then the playoff concerns will be raised once again.

Pivotal Matchups

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

It's no secret which games are most important for the Bengals. Those clashes with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will likely determine the AFC North winner.

The Steelers won the division by a half-game last season over the Bengals. They went 4-2 in the division, while Cincinnati and Baltimore went 3-3. It wouldn't be a shock if the difference in the end is once again razor thin between that trio.

As Russell S. Baxter of Pro Football Guru notes, the rosters of the teams are still coming into focus with the draft yet to come:

Beyond that, the other key games will involve the other likely AFC wild-card hopefuls. The Bengals get the San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs at home and travel to face the Buffalo Bills.

It's far from an easy slate. The Bengals are going to find themselves going up against tough opponents almost every week. If they make the playoffs again, they'll certainly have earned it.