Denver Broncos Opponent Preview: Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 1: Andy Dalton
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 1: Andy Dalton /
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As the race for the playoffs gets underway in Week 11, the Denver Broncos meet a familiar opponent in the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ever since the bye week in Week Five, the Denver Broncos play tough opponent after tough opponent. They will get a break from 2016 playoff teams in Week 11. However, the Cincinnati Bengals are no pushovers.

This will be the fourth consecutive year that the Broncos and Bengals have met in the regular season. Denver has won two of the previous three meetings. In two of the last three meetings, the teams have met late in the season.

This will be a rematch from the Week Three meeting in 2016. In that game, we saw Trevor Siemian have his first big game as the Denver Broncos starting quarterback as he threw four touchdowns and over 300 yards in a 29-17 win.

The Cincinnati Bengals have had quite a quiet offseason in 2017. Most of their moves were made in the draft. Any signings that they had in free agency were all one year deals. It could be a foreshadowing on what they want to do next offseason.

The Bengals are still led by Andy Dalton, who could be pushed to get the Bengals past the first round of the postseason this time around.

What have the Cincinnati Bengals done this offseason? Let us take a look.

2017 NFL Draft

John Ross, WR, Washington

Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma

Jordan Willis, Defensive End, Kansas State

Carl Lawson, Defensive End, Auburn

Josh Malone, Wide Receiver, Tennessee

Ryan Glasgow, Defensive Tackle, Michigan

Jake Elliott, Kicker, Memphis

J.J. Dielman, Center, Utah

Jordan Evans, Linebacker, Oklahoma

Brandon Wilson, Cornerback, Houston

Mason Schreck, Tight End, Buffalo

Key Signings: Kevin Minter (LB)

Key Departures: Andrew Whitworth (OT), Domata Peko (DE), Ray Maualuga (LB) [released]

Closing Remarks

Whenever the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals play each other, it does get interesting from time to time. Who can forget the battle of the backups in 2015 between A.J. McCarron and Brock Osweiler? That was fun.

In my opinion, this game will only be interesting if both teams are in the playoff race at this point of the season. I have no doubt that could be the case. By this time, the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos will be well into the season to make some plays.

Next: How the Denver Broncos Can Get John Elway Locked Long Term

I believe that this game can come down to defense. The games that both the Broncos and Bengals play in are normally in the mid twenties for both teams. This could be one of those 23-17 or 27-23 score games.

This could be a very important game as the season winds down.