NFL teams most likely to go from worst to first in 2021

NFL teams to watch out for in 2021: Cincinnati Bengals

5. Cincinnati Bengals

A second-year quarterback ready to explode – have you ever heard this in the past?

Aaron Rodgers just put together another MVP season, but before that it was Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson taking home the honors in year two. Mostly, this has to do with teams that bring in a lot of weapons to surround their young signal-caller or support him with the right play-caller.

Joe Burrow looked like a pro right away when he get to the league and as long as that knee is back to 100 percent, he will put the league on notice. We have already seen him and fifth overall draft pick Ja’Marr Chase connect for 1,800 yards and 20 TDs when they were last together, and they should play some sweet music together once again in the pros.

While there's not much to like about the guys they brought in this offseason, they still should be improved on the offensive line, with new starters at left guard in Clemson’s Jackson Carman and right tackle in Riley Reiff from the Vikings.

With a focus on spreading the field and getting the ball out quickly to go along with having Joe Mixon back as a reliable option out of the backfield, Cincinnati wants to make their young promising QB feel comfortable.

#TeachtapeTuesday via Bengals S Jessie Bates III showing impressive mental processing, trigger, and range for a PBU as the single-high safety pic.twitter.com/mPP7hc2dQm

— The Scouting Academy (@TheScoutAcademy) October 13, 2020

Why things are looking up for the Bengals

The defense already showed some signs late last season, holding four of their final seven opponents to 20 points or less, including that 20-point upset over the Steelers.

In terms of what will change for them this year, the coaching staff is still the same, but they are getting nose-tackle D.J. Reader back from injury to boost a run defense whose 5.1 yards allowed per carry ranked better than only the Texans, who were 0.3 yards better themselves the year prior with Reader in the lineup.

To go along with that, they signed Browns D-tackle Larry Ogunjobi and drafted three more guys to rotate through up front. With that defensive interior, they should be able to slow down the rushing attacks of Baltimore and Cleveland, plus they stole one of the premiere nickelbacks in Mike Hilton from Pittsburgh inside the division.

While there are questions at corner, they do have one under-the-radar star in safety Jessie Bates, who can offset some of the issues on the outside with his range. This is a big year for head coach Zach Taylor, who’ll have to convince the organization to bring him back for a fourth season and beyond, having his best team yet.

Let’s revisit the time Ja’Marr Chase beat up a CB who was 3 years older, 5 pounds heavier, and is currently starting in the NFL pic.twitter.com/kpsIQg5FZY

— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) February 16, 2021

The AFC North should be highly competitive and we could see the top three teams from last season easily be flipped, while splitting their season series respectively.

If the Bengals can catch them on a couple of trap weeks, they could take a couple of games off the front-runners. Looking at the schedule, at least getting to host the top two teams from a year ago in the Packers or Chiefs is good, and then facing the Jaguars and Jets rather than facing the other teams in those divisions is certainly a plus.

If they are able to just split those season series with the rest of that division, defeating the other two bottom teams would give them a baseline of five wins.

They face the whole NFC North over the first six weeks, and all but one of their first ten games, until the bye, start at 1 pm – meaning they could catch a couple of teams by surprise, as they build up confidence and try to make a name for themselves.

The AFC is as loaded as it has been in quite a few years, so getting those couple of easier outs, while the other teams from the North cannibalize themselves and have to battle other playoff contenders, can make quite a difference.

Chance: 10 percent