CBS projects the ceiling and floor for the 2023 Bengals

As the season quickly approaches, CBS projected all 32 teams’ ceiling and floor for the 2023 season.

As you can imagine, the ceiling was as high as it gets for the Cincinnati Bengals, who spot what’s easily one of the five best rosters in the entire NFL. So of course, the ceiling for such a team will be a championship.

The Bengals’ ceiling, according to CBS, is finishing the regular season at 14-3 and going on to become Super Bowl champions!

Jeff Kerr wrote, “Back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances (including a Super Bowl appearance) have Cincinnati as a Super Bowl contender once again. This is what to expect when the Bengals have a franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins every week. Joe Mixon restructured his deal to stay in this offense, which also took. Orlando Brown away from the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. The defense gets better under Lou Anarumo every year. Cincinnati is the biggest threat to dethrone Kansas City in the AFC — and win it all. This may be the Bengals’ best chance.”

The floor is 11-6, losing in the Divisional Round, which honestly isn’t a terrible floor to have, given it wasn’t that long ago that the Bengals had gone over three decades without making the second round of the NFL Playoffs. And 11 wins would be the second-best regular-season finish of the Joe Burrow era thus far, even more than the 10-7 team in 2021 that made it all the way to the final game.

In this scenario, Kerr wrote, “There aren’t many question marks on the Bengals, although they are going young in the secondary. No more Jessie Bates at safety means Dax Hill and Nick Scott are in charge of replacing that production. Are Chidobe Awuzie and Cam Taylor-Britt good enough at cornerback? Burrow’s injured calf also lingers, but the Bengals overcame a slow start last season to reach the AFC Championship Game. This team will be battle-tested in the AFC North, which will help prepare for a gauntlet of a playoff.”

The road to the 2024 Super Bowl begins on Sunday in Cleveland vs. the Browns.