SEPT.

7 AT BALTIMORE
Paul Dehner Jr.: L, 23-20. The Bengals have played poorly in Baltimore the last four years and have
lost five of their last six openers, including 44-13 at M&T Bank Stadium in 2012.
Richard Skinner: L, 24-20. The Bengals are the better team, but havent won here since 2009.
SEPT. 14 VS. ATLANTA
Dehner: W, 27-19. While openers havent gone well, the Bengals have won the next week the last
four times they lost their opener. Dalton will have time to pick apart the Falcons secondary.
Skinner: W, 31-23. Falcons should be better than 4-12, but allowed almost 28 points a game in 2013.
SEPT. 21 VS. TENNESSEE
Dehner: W, 44-20. Just not buying Jake Locker and Bishop Sankey as the answers for this offense.
Skinner: W, 34-14. Chris Johnson bolting for the Jets leaves a 1,400-yard offensive hole to fill.
OCT. 5 AT NEW ENGLAND
Dehner: L, 33-20. Andy Dalton in prime-time games, not great. The Bengals are 2-4 and Daltons only
averaged 5.6 yards per attempt with five TDs and five INTs.
Skinner: L, 28-20. Just cant see the Bengals beating Tom Brady in a prime-time game.
OCT. 12 VS. CAROLINA
Dehner: W, 17-14 (OT). Trouble for Cam Newton: thin receiving corps vs. talented Bengals corners.
Skinner: W, 23-13. Carolina won five games last season by four points or less, and that has a way of
evening out from year to year. Its a homecoming for linebacker Luke Kuechly (St. Xavier).
OCT. 19 AT INDIANAPOLIS
Dehner: W, 28-26. Dalton enjoyed one of his best games of the season last year against the Colts,
going 24-for-35 for 275 yards with three TDs and no picks.
Skinner: W, 34-31 (OT). The Colts were 6-0 inside the AFC South last season and 5-5 outside it.
OCT. 26 VS. BALTIMORE
Dehner: W, 20-17. Begins a critical, sink-or-swim stretch of three straight home games.
Skinner: W, 27-17. Bengals have won four of the last five meetings in Cincinnati.
NOV. 2 VS. JACKSONVILLE
Dehner: W, 31-27. The Jaguars long ago ditched the Chad Henne project and Blake Bortles will be
better than any rookie quarterback in the league. But he wont have enough to pull off the win.
Skinner: W, 41-14. While Bortles has a chance to be pretty good, he doesnt have the weapons.
NOV. 6 VS. CLEVELAND
Dehner: W, 24-9. Browns will be waist-deep in the cesspool of the Johnny Football experience.
Skinner: W, 27-7. Manziel has little chance to do more than run around the Paul Brown Stadium turf.
NOV. 16 AT NEW ORLEANS
Dehner: L, 31-27. The Saints are on a short list of NFC Super Bowl teams. Dont see it happening.
Skinner: L, 31-23. The Saints went 8-0 at home last season. As long as Drew Brees is taking snaps and
Sean Payton is calling plays, they will be tough to beat in the Superdome.
NOV. 23 AT HOUSTON
Dehner: W, 13-12. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney will give everyone trouble this year, but will be
especially rattling for Dalton, who traditionally struggles with pressure.
Skinner: W, 20-17. The Texans will be much better defensively, but will be challenged to score.
NOV. 30 AT TAMPA BAY
Dehner: L, 21-13. The Lovie Smith cleanse of Greg Schianos rubble hits its stride, Michael Johnson
terrorizes his old mates and the three straight road games finally catch up to the Bengals.
Skinner: L, 24-20. The Buccaneers could be the surprise team in the NFC this season.
DEC. 7 VS. PITTSBURGH
Dehner: W, 27-17. Ben Roethlisberger will be playing behind his usual late-season makeshift line.
Skinner: W, 28-17. Im just not buying the national hype that this a bounce-back year for Pittsburgh.
DEC. 14 AT CLEVELAND
Dehner: L, 16-12. You cant scream trap game any louder. Bengals have lost three of last four there,
itll be cold as ice and the Bengals will be riding high after win against Pittsburgh the week before.
Skinner: W, 27-14. The good thing for Johnny Football is this one is at home. The bad thing for
Johnny Football is the fans may have tired of him by this point.
DEC. 22 VS. DENVER
Dehner: L, 38-31. The Sheriff comes to town attempting to break his touchdown record from 2013.
Monday Night Football proves to be wrong place, wrong time for the Bengals.
Skinner: W, 34-24. This isnt going to be quite the same unstoppable Broncos offense of last season.
DEC. 28 AT PITTSBURGH
Dehner: L, 26-20. The last scenario the Bengals wanted to see play out was needing to win at
Pittsburgh to hold onto their playoff spot. Theyve won once there over the last four years.
Skinner: L, 23-13. By this point the games likely to be far more meaningful to the Steelers.
OUR WRITERS GAME-BY-GAME PREDICTIONS
THE ENQUIRER /// THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 D9
schedule

14
bengals
preview
The need to start fast often
adorns motivational t-shirts or
laces pregame speeches. For the
Bengals, starting fast isnt a luxury;
its more of a necessity.
They close the season with five
of the final seven on the road,
home only vs. Pittsburgh and
Peyton Mannings Broncos.
To analyze whether the Ben-
gals can snap their 24-season
playoff victory drought, look at
Week 5 and Week 16: prime-time
games against the AFCs best,
Denver and New England. Andy
Daltons struggles in prime time
and the playoffs have been well-
documented. Playing well in those
two atmospheres against the two
best quarterbacks in the league
could set the stage to overcome
past January failures.
Taking advantage of a favor-
able string of the first six home
games, the Bengals should break
out to a fast 7-2 start. Despite
finishing 2-5, the first half is
enough to sneak into the playoffs.
A nice accomplishment, but anoth-
er loss leaves the same questions
in 2015 as were asked in 2014.
PAUL DEHNER JR.
The view
here: 9-7,
quick exit
AFC PLAYOFFS
Wild-Card Round
(3) Colts def. (6) Bengals
(5) Dolphins def. (4) Steelers
Divisional Round
(1) Patriots def. (5) Dolphins
(3) Colts def. (2) Broncos
NFC PLAYOFFS
Wild-Card Round
(4) Eagles def. (5) Seahawks
(3) 49ers def. (6) Bears
Divisional Round
(2) Saints def. (3) 49ers
(1) Packers def. (4) Eagles
SUPER BOWL
Packers def. Patriots
The Bengals face an extremely
difficult schedule this season,
especially the final seven games.
A win in Baltimore would be
an exceptional way to start, be-
cause its on the road and because
it would give the Bengals a huge
divisional win over what should be
their main rival to win the AFC
North.
Of the first nine games, six are
at home, and only one against a
team that posted a winning record
last season (Carolina). Going 6-0 in
those games is almost a must.
Of the three road games
among the first nine, Indianapolis
is certainly winnable and I have
the Bengals winning that one to
go to 7-2, but even a loss would
leave them 6-3 record heading
into the final seven-game stretch.
I believe Denver goes 13-3 or
12-4 to clinch home-field advan-
tage with New England edging
the Bengals for the No. 2 seed.
This should be the year the
Bengals break through with a
playoff win, but heading to New
England for the divisional round
will be too tough to overcome.
RICHARD SKINNER
Win at
home to
go 11-5
AFC PLAYOFFS
Wild-Card Round
(3) Bengals def. (6) Chargers
(5) Ravens def. (4) Colts
Divisional Round
(2) Patriots def. (3) Bengals
(1) Broncos def. (5) Ravens
NFC PLAYOFFS
Wild-Card Round
(6) Lions def. (3) Eagles
(5) 49ers def. (4) Packers
Divisional Round
(2) Seahawks def. (5) 49ers
(1) Saints def. (6) Lions
SUPER BOWL
Saints def. Broncos