After the first four weeks of the NFL season have come to an end, the Cincinnati Bengals have found themselves sitting at .500, a spot they haven’t been in since the beginning of the 2013 season. Although being 2-2 doesn’t sound very good, the Bengals will take it considering the schedule they’ve had to endure to start off the season.

The Bengals began the year in a tough situation heading to New York on the 15^th anniversary of the September 11^th terror attacks to take on the Jets who barely missed the playoffs last year finishing with a record of 10-6.

Regardless, A.J. Green took over the game like he seems to always do even with seven-time Pro-Bowler, Darrelle Revis, covering him and ended up with a monstrous 180-yard day. In the end, the Bengals squeaked out a tough road win with Mike Nugent’s last-minute field to make the final, 23-22.

After their gritty first week win, the Bengals made their way to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh to battle with their heated rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Being the first time these teams have met since the incidents occurring in last year’s playoff game, the hype was crazy. However, once the ball was kicked off, it was all Steelers.

Although the Bengals may have outgained the Steelers, it just seemed as if the Bengals weren’t really there at all. Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 24-16 victory while throwing for three touchdowns.

In Week 3, the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Denver Broncos, came to Cincinnati for the Bengals home opener. Like the week before, the Bengals just didn’t look good, especially their defense.

The Bengals defense, known as one of the best in the league, looked weak in the secondary possibly due to the loss of big-hitting safety, Reggie Nelson, in the offseason. Trevor Siemian exploited the Bengals’ weakness by passing for 312 yards and four touchdowns, including two touchdowns of more than 40 yards, while leading the Broncos to the 29-17 win.

After a short week, the Miami Dolphins came to Paul Brown Stadium to take on the Bengals in prime time on Thursday night where the Bengals have always struggled. However, they put their past troubles behind them and pulled out a 22-7 win although it wasn’t the prettiest result.

Once again, A.J. Green shined for the second time this season with 173 receiving yards and a score. With Green playing good football, the Bengals defense also stepped up after a rough start to the season by only giving up 222 total yards, creating two turnovers, and allowing only eight Dolphins first downs.

Although the Bengals aren’t looking like the Bengals we have come to know and love, they also have been without playmakers on both offense and defense.

Vontaze Burfict, who was suspended for the first three games of the season due to repeated violations of player safety rules, finally returned before the Bengals match-up against the Dolphins on Thursday night. Burfict was somewhat limited in his first game back while recording only three tackles against a poor Miami offense.

Burfict, the team’s leader on the defensive side, is ready to make an impact for the Bengals in the future and his teammates were ecstatic to have Burfict finally back.

“Can’t wait till 55 gets here, and I don’t give a damn who don’t like it either…I’m calling him right now when I walk out of here!” yelled cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones after Burfict’s suspension ended.

On the offensive side of the ball, tight-end Tyler Eifert is starting to make his way back to the field after having ankle surgery in the offseason.

Last season, Eifert was a huge target in the red zone scoring a team-high 13 touchdowns. Through four games this season, the Eifert-less Bengals ranked dead last in red zone efficiency scoring on only 31 percent of their trips to the red zone.

While losing two key contributors to the offense in the offseason, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, the Bengals are going to need all the help they can get.

Looking into the future, the Bengals have two are their hardest game in the upcoming weeks. On the road, the Bengals will have to force a young Dallas Cowboys team led by Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot to make some rookies mistakes. After traveling to Dallas, the Bengals will have to overcome the momentum of Tom Brady making his home debut to pull off the upset in Foxborough against the Patriots.

Although this prediction may be biased, I believe the Bengals are good enough to make the playoffs for the sixth straight season. However, they will have to get hot toward the end of the season against some divisional rivals to make up for their slow start.