(Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)
Over the last two seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the biggest surprises as they’ve managed to reach the playoffs in each of the last two seasons–even if they failed to beat the Houston Texans both times. Now, expectations will be higher for the Bengals heading into the 2013 season and as crazy as it sounds–this team should be considered the favorites in the AFC North.
If there’s anything to take away from the 2012 season, it’s Andy Dalton and A.J. Green are quickly emerging into one of the league’s most dangerous quarterback-wide receiver duos and now that they have two years of experience playing together–they’re only going to be better in 2013. Everybody expected these two stars to take a year or two to adjust at the pro level, but that’s been far from the case as they’ve managed to make an impact right away.
As they head into their third season together, expect this duo to help the Bengals reach a whole new level next season as they not only look to be contenders in the AFC North, but the AFC in general. Not only does this team have the offense to compete with the best, but they should have one of the top defenses once again like last year.
When taking all of this into consideration–it’s no surprise that Cincinnati should be strong playoff contenders heading into next season and it will be interesting to see if they can manage to win the division title in 2013.
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