As the 2015 NFL season winds down, we take a look at the opponents the Cincinnati Bengals will play next season.
The Cincinnati Bengals 2016 schedule of opponents is set. While the full Bengals schedule won’t be released until some time this spring, we do know the list of opponents Cincinnati will play, just not the order it will play them in.
The NFL’s scheduling is actually not as complicated as some fans think. You will often hear folks talk about their favorite team playing a “first place schedule.” In reality, how a team finishes within its own division only impacts two of its games the following year. The rest of the schedule is set well in advanced as the NFL uses a rotating schedule.
In 2016, the Bengals and the rest of the AFC North will play the NFC East and the AFC East. Cinci will play it’s regular six games against AFC North opponents. That leaves just the two remaining games which are decided based on how the team finished the previous year. Since the Bengals will finish in first place in the North this season, they’ll play the two first place teams from the AFC divisions they are not already scheduled to play. In this case, that means the divisions winners from the AFC West and AFC South.
As of this writing, the Bengals will face the Denver Broncos and the Houston Texans in those games. Should the Broncos lose in Week 17 and the Kansas City Chiefs win, then the Chiefs would win the AFC West and the Bengals would play KC instead.
As for the South, the Texans are all but locked into first place. There are some crazy scenarios in which the Colts could surpass Houston to take the division but it is very, very unlikely.
Check out the full Bengals 2016 schedule of opponents below.