Tonight at 8pm the NFL is releasing the full NFL schedule and we will see who Joe Burrow will face week 1. We have a mere 12 hours until that happens so I wanted to look into who I thought would be the best opponent for him to face first. Flashbacks of the Bengals completely destroying Johnny Manziel in his first NFL game come to mind. Manziel lost that game 30-0, passed for 0 TDs and 2 INTs with a rating of 27.3. He was sacked three times that game by a relentless Bengals defense who wanted to welcome the bragadocious rookie to the league properly.
No I am not suggesting that Burrow is anywhere near Manziel but your first game as a rookie cannot be easy. We know that the Bengals will be facing the NFC East so let’s take a look at their 2019 rankings:
Defense
Most yards given up per game: Washington Redskins (27th), New York Giants (25th)
Most passing yards given up per game: New York Giants (28th), Philadelphia Eagles (19th)
Most rushing yards given up per game: Washington Redskins (31st), New Yorks Giants (20th)
Offense
Least amount of total yards per game: Washington Redskins (31st), New York Giants (23rd)
Least amount of passing yards per game: Washington Redskins (32nd), New York Giants (18th)
Least amount of rushing yards per game: Washington Redskins (22nd), New York Giants (19th)
It looks pretty clear that the team with the worst record and the #2 overall pick would be the best for Burrow. The addition of Chase Young is going to really help that defense but the NFL might really like the idea of matching up the 2nd pick chasing down the 1st pick narrative. Unfortunately for fans the Skins game is an away game but with the lackluster fan base now in D.C. the Bengals faithful could make it a home game by attendance.
I would also like to see the Bengals play the Skins in week 1 because their offense isn’t that good. Dwayne Haskins started to come around at the end of the 2019 season but he has a long way to go. Burrow is already more NFL ready than Haskins and the Ohio State storyline might be fun to add to this as well. I think the Bengals get an easy win here in week 1 if this is the case. A backup would be the Giants at home.