2023 Bengals Schedule Breakdown

NOV. 5 _ Buffalo, 8:20 p.m. NBC: One of the more long-awaited games on the NFL calendar after the Monday night game in Week 17 last year was canceled when Bills safety Damar Hamlin was revived on the field and three weeks later the Bengals won a berth in the AFC title game with a decisive 27-10 win in Buffalo. In the first meeting between Burrow and Josh Allen, the Bengals rolled up 412 yards, but the Bills came out and drafted two defensive players, one in the seventh round.

MATCHUP TO WATCH: Bengals Edge Myles Murphy vs. Bills QB Josh Allen: Another draft pick responding to the AFC arms race. Murphy, the first-rounder, is 6-5, 270 pounds and can fly, which is good because Allen is almost the same size and is as lethal on the ground as he is in the air. Murphy projects to be one of the first pass rushers off the bench and now that November is here and a bye underneath him, he’ll be settled. A hidden stat from the playoff game is the Bengals held Allen, with a career rush average of nearly six, to 3.3 on eight tries.

NOV. 12 _ Houston, 1 p.m. CBS: Texans new head coach DeMeco Ryans played 140 NFL games at linebacker, none wilder than his last game at Paycor when the Texans beat the Bengals with a last-play touchdown in 2011. His teammate that day, Bengals tight ends coach James Casey, is part of a coaching staff that has largely stayed together for five years contrasting with Ryans’ new staff.

MATCHUP TO WATCH: Bengals CB DJ Turner vs. Texans QB C.J. Stroud: An initial matchup of vets from two The Game, Michigan’s Turner and Ohio State’s Stroud.

NOV. 16 _ at Baltimore, 8:15 p.m. Prime Video: The last time the Bengals were here, Jackson caught them at the gun for a win on Sunday Night Football despite being held to 19 points. Now they’re back in prime time for their first Thursday night division road game since Ryan Fitzpatrick took them into a 2008 game in Pittsburgh.

MATCHUP TO WATCH: Bengals CB Chidobe Awuzie vs. Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr.:  Two standouts from…