The Cincinnati Bengals are on the heels of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they are in very good position to win a wild card spot this season. They are good enough to sneak into the playoffs, but they may not be good enough to do much more. The belief that the Bengals are underachieving is true, but this franchise is not actually terrible anymore. They simply are not as good as the Steelers.
Marvin Lewis' consistency
Marvin Lewis is the consistent face and voice of the Bengals. He has been with the team for what feels like forever, and he has created a team that is based on brotherhood and partnership.
He deals with guys who have behavior problems well, and he has helped make players like Adam Jones respectable members of the NFL. Marvin Lewis is the best thing that has happened to this franchise since Boomer Esaison and Sam Wyche.
The Bengals have Joe Mixon
The offense in Cincinnati will start to improve a lot because they have Andy Dalton, Aj Green, and Joe Mixon playing together. Mixon can break off plays easily that will make the offense much easier to run, and AJ Green will have more room to make some amazing catches. There are a number of people who are thinking that they could use Jermaine Gresham as the brute on the inside that moves the ball. They will move the ball almost as effectively as the Steelers, and they will be very close to them in the division race.
This offense is why they will split their season series with the Steelers.
Burfict and company
The defense in Cincinnati is still good even though Vontaze Burfict got suspended for a hard hit, and he will come back to play hard for the team this season. Someone who is watching the games will notice that the defense makes stops just as frequently as it gives up big plays.
They may make some inconsistent plays that will cause problems for their defense, and they could score in another game so much that they will help out the offense. The defense is sort of an enigma in Cincinnati, and it has to be kept on an even keel.
The wild card
The Bengals will take a wild card spot because they will be much better than the Ravens this year.
They have not spent all their money on the quarterback, and they have space to build their team. Their offense will be amazing, and their defense must be kept in the best frame of mind possible. They will be much better than we can imagine, and we may be calling for Joe Mixon to be rookie of the year by the end of the season.