NFL: Projecting final records for all 32 teams

Cincinnati Bengals

While a great deal of attention has been paid to the somewhat questionable decision to throw a lot of money at QB Andy Dalton, the Cincinnati Bengals are still very talented. Offensively, the Bengals boast two explosive play-makers in A.J. Green and Giovanni Bernard, and they added to that depth with the draft selection of bruising runner Jeremy Hill. The pass-catching options dip significantly after Green, but former first round pick Tyler Eifert is poised for a leap at tight end, and Green injects enough fear into the opposition to provide room for his counterparts to operate.

Defensively, Cincinnati finished 5th in DVOA last season, and that included significant injury issues for both All-Pro DT Geno Atkins and big-time cornerback Leon Hall. The Bengals used a first round pick on Darqueze Dennard to bolster their secondary, but if everyone is healthy, Marvin Lewis and company have one of the best units in all of football.

Then, there is Dalton. Is he worth the money? Probably not, but he is (at worst) a serviceable NFL starter, and when you have weapons like this and a potentially dominant defense, that is all you need to be.

The Pick: 9-7