FanPulse: 84% of Bengals fans are confident in the team heading into Week 1

Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send polls to 100+ plugged in fans from each of the NFL’s 32 team. Bengals fans can sign up HERE to join FanPulse.

Will the Bengals win or lose in Week 1?

Bengals fans think they will beat the Colts by 9

Reaction: Even though the Bengals are on the road, there’s a lot to like about this matchup, especially when it comes to the trenches. With Anthony Castonzo banged up and possibly out this week, the Colts may field the worst offensive line of any NFL team in Week 1, while the Bengals have one of the best defensive lines in football.

While it’s hard to project a nine-point win over Andrew Luck in his own building, he’s probably a ways away from being the Luck of old after missing all of 2017 due to injury. This is perfectly setup for a Bengals win.

How confident are you in the direction of the team?

Very confident: 25 percent

Somewhat confident: 59 percent

Meh: 10 percent

Not very confident: 1 percent

Not confident at all: 4 percent

Reaction: Confidence is what fans should have in this franchise right now. They’ve had as good of an offseason as one could hope for, including the additions of Billy Price and Cordy Glenn, who will ultimately make this offensive line significantly better than it was in 2017.

They also signed Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap to long-term extensions. Those are easily two of the Bengals’ best players, so getting them locked up for the foreseeable future was a huge win.

All told, this team has a great foundation of young talent and quality veterans who will help get this team back to its winning ways.

What is the worst NFL rule?

Reaction: The helmet rule is pretty awful, at least based on what we saw in the preseason. Thankfully, it didn’t come up much in the opener between the Falcons and Eagles, so it may have just been a preseason issue of referees adjusting to the rule.