TELL ‘EM, LOU!!!!!!!!!!
Bless the Cardinals for not hiring Anarumo as their head coach.
The vibe check off of Caleb’s video with Joe Burrow alone is good enough for me.
First training camp practice is Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. Not that anyone’s counting or anything!
This is perhaps the most excited I’ve ever been personally and/or professionally entering an NFL season.
Look no further than the past two seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They would suffer an inevitable hangover from losing the Big Game.
After a 0-2 start, it appeared those folks were going to be right.
Training camp is here.
I don’t really know how to feel to be honest.
Hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history.
Let’s dive a little deeper, though.
Fair warning: These sections are pretty wapper-jawed in terms of length.
Final record/season prediction below.
No need to freak out about the contract situations
Burrow and Chase are staying no matter what.
Contrary to popular belief, no matter who’s around Burrow, he’ll make it work.
Not a weapons merchant in the slightest.
But hey, give him elite skill players and he’s only going to cook even more.
Think he realizes that?
Hear it from the man himself.
Only a matter of time for Burrow’s mega deal now that Justin Herbert is locked in!
Everyone understands the task at hand.
Joe Mixon already took a pay cut.
This locker room is uniquely close-knit.
On the same page.
Bonus good vibes re: Ted Karras, Drue Chrisman and Paycor Stadium upgrades!
The nature of the sports media beast is to dwell on negative-skewing off-field stories.
Not the case for Karras or Chrisman and their good samaritan/humanitarian efforts.
Will focus on Chrisman for a quick sec because punters are people, too.
Check him out on social media.
Well worth your time, especially if you pledge allegiance to Who Dey Nation.
Aaaand now for the Paycor Stadium stuff!
They’re intent on enhancing the fan experience on game day, which is great.
The Jungle is about to be fucking electric.
Fans would be going ballistic in ‘23 regardless.
A better fan setup can only aid the home-field advantage.
OK NOW TO THE FOOTBALL OF IT ALL!
Once again, the Bengals are stacked.
I have them with the best overall roster in the AFC and third-best across the NFL.
I told you this blog would be mostly objective.
That wasn’t a popular opinion amongst Buffalo Bills fans, let me tell you.
I had them seventh and they had a pissy shit fit about it.
We just beat that ass 27-10 IN BUFFALO.
1 cornerback in Chidobe Awuzieandwithout not one, not two, but three starting offensive linemen.
BONUS GOOD VIBE: CHIDO IS CLEARRRRRRRREEEEDDD!!!!!
Blown-out ACL last Halloween against the Browns.
Let’s fucking go.
“BUILT DIFFERENT” as the kids say.
The Jets have a championship-caliber defense and went from the equivalent of a moped to a Maserati at quarterback.
Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers, that is.
Then they added Jalen Ramsey to their defense.
Ramsey and Xavien Howard form arguably the best cornerback tandem in football.
Jackson’s contract spat is now over.
Baltimore has upgraded the weapons around him.
The big question is how he’ll fare with a new play-caller in Todd Monken.
When in doubt, I like teams with schematic continuity.
To be fair, Watson has flashed top-five ability before.
Look what happened to the Jaguars when Trevor Lawrence got Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson in his corner.
Now let’s touch on those 27-0 Chargers.
LA has a new offensive coordinator for Justin Herbert in Kellen Moore.
That’s such a galactic upgrade I can’t even quantify it.
Because they’re actually good.
Head coach Brandon Staley might continue to be their undoing until they fire him.
Nearly goes without saying that the Chiefs are the team everyone’s gunning for.
Bullseye on their backs and so on.
I contend a full-strength Bengals squad knocks them off more often than not.
It’s been true so far, at least.
In heads-up duels with Patrick Mahomes, Joey B is 3-1.
They happened to poach him from Kansas City to add to the psychological warfare between the two sides.
What a stunning move that I’m still reeling from.
I almost can’t believe it’s real.
Realize that this is easily the best protection Burrow will ever have from his blindside and elsewhere.
If not, we’ll pray that La’el Collins is back healthy.
Fearless forecast for the 2023 Cincinnati Bengals
Bad news first, right?
It mostly boils down to the AFC North and how good all three of those rivalscouldbe.
Watson could always turn it on again for the Browns.
His level of play is the biggest wild card among all QBs in the sport, in my opinion.
Literally no idea what to expect from him.
Then of course, Mike Tomlinstillhasn’t had a losing record as Steelers coach.
They’re frisky no matter what.
TJ Watt likely won’t get injured for a significant stretch like he did in ‘22.
Pretty confident Cincinnati can win the North for a third straight time.
Having the best defensive coordinator among those teamsandthe best offensive weaponsandthe best quarterback go a long way.
Again, we return to that quiet confidence Joe Burrow inspires in all of us who love this team.
Burrow has said the Super Bowl window is his entire career.
Not only do I agree with Burrow’s assertion that the window is his whole career.
I’ll go further.
This is a new era of Bengals football where they don’t cut every corner.
They’re open to making upgrades in every which way.
They’re not rigid to any bang out of change.
1 seed
Actual: 12-4 record, AFC North title, No.
3 seed (on a technicality)
2023 prediction: 12-5 record, AFC North title, No.
2 seed
Stay tuned for a blog about full playoff predictions sometime in the next month or so.
Who Dey Nation, rise up!!!
THE 2023 SEASON IS NIGH.
