Why Bengals are in great shape with strength of schedule after 4-2 start originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Cincinnati Bengals just beat the Baltimore Ravens by scoring 35 unanswered points in a dominant 35-13 victory to get to 4-2 on the regular season through seven weeks.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the 2026 season and the Bengals' chances of winning the AFC North, they're actually in fantastic shape despite the 5-2 Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers having a slight advantage heading into Week 8.
Why are they in such great shape? Well, considering the strength of schedule for the remainder of their 2026 campaign, according to Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) on Twitter/x, things are about to get very easy for the Bengals for the rest of the season.
Bengals' strength of schedule makes the rest of 2026 easier than any team has it
"Oh my goodness, the Bengals' remaining schedule," @benbbadlwin commented on the "Remaining Strength of Schedule" update around the NFL prior to Week 7's Monday Night Football matchup.
While plenty of teams have an "easy" schedule this season, none can compare to the Bengals, whose strength of schedule this season is well below 45%, down to roughly 42.5%.
So, how does the Bengals' schedule get so easy? Well, looking at their November matchups paints a clear picture of how easy things will get.
The Bengals face the 1-6 Tennessee Titans in Week 8, followed by the 3-4 Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. They then get the 5-2 Steelers in Week 10 and the 1-4-1 Washington Commanders in Week 11, ending November against the 2-5 New Orleans Saints.
That's a ridiculously easy schedule in November, and while things do get a bit more difficult going forward, it's not an extremely challenging slate either.
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They face the 5-2 Cleveland Browns in Week 13, the 5-1 Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14, followed by the 3-3 Carolina Panthers in Week 15, the 2-6 Indianapolis Colts in Week 16, the 4-3 Ravens in Week 17, and finally one more game against the Browns in Week 18.
Over the next 11 games for the Bengals, only the Chiefs are a challenging opponent outside of their AFC North matchups. The Ravens might have Lamar Jackson back, but their team as a whole has some question marks.
Plus, the Steelers and Browns at 5-2 are not especially threatening opponents and are teams this Bengals team can realistically beat.
So, at 4-2, thanks to a very soft schedule for the rest of the season, the Bengals are in great shape to not only make the playoffs, but win the AFC North as well.
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