JWill's 3 takes: Predicting Cincinnati Bengals, Bearcats and back to Notre Dame

Cincinnati football fans live for weekends like the one coming up. Sold-out Nippert Stadium on Saturday. Packed-house at Paycor Stadium on Sunday. The season opener for the Bengals and home opener for the Bearcats mean it's prediction time. Look for sports columnist Jason Williams' Bengals and Bearcats predictions for the upcoming weekend games in his "3 takes" column each Thursday on Cincinnati.com. Let Jason know whether you agree or disagree with his predictions by emailing him at jwilliams@enquirer.com or messaging him on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.

1. Prediction: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Bengals-Steelers doesn’t feel right as the season opener. You want both teams to play a few games to build the hype ahead of the AFC North rivalry. Alas, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will play in a season opener for the first time ever.

Sunday’s game may also feel off-kilter because Bengals fans won’t have Big Ben to hate on. Maybe that’s a good thing for Cincinnati, since Ben Roethlisberger went 24-10 in his career vs. the Bengals. The Steelers begin the post-Ben era searching for an identity. Cincinnati isn’t a good place to try to begin to find one.

The stat geeks covering the NFL don't keep data on a team’s confidence level. But this might be the most confident Bengals team entering a season opener in franchise history. The Joe Burrow effect has the defending AFC champs believing they can win anytime, anyplace.

Since the Bengals kid-gloved preseason games and practices, it remains unknown if the rebuilt offensive line is actually better. The Bengals will find out quickly if it is. The Steelers have one of the NFL’s best defensive lines, led by Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt. Pittsburgh will look to exploit the left side of the Bengals’ offensive line, the weakest spot on the team.

Expect the Steelers to make Burrow uncomfortable at times. But he’s used to thriving under pressure. He also has Joe Mixon to hand the ball to, and that's going to happen a lot. Mixon will have a big day. The Bengals are across-the-board better. Paycor Stadium will be going bonkers, and the Bengals will win 31-20.

2. Prediction: Cincinnati Bearcats football vs. Kennesaw State

Forget that UC’s home opener is against an FCS opponent. Saturday is about quarterback Ben Bryant building trust with his teammates and Bearcats’ fans, some of whom were wanting the senior to be benched in favor of backup Evan Prater last weekend at Arkansas.

Everyone needs to relax. For as rough as the Arkansas game was at times, UC still only lost by a touchdown on the road against a ranked SEC team. Trust Luke Fickell on the QB situation. Bryant gives the Bearcats the best chance to win this season. Fans will start to see that this weekend.

Look for Bryant to come out strong and have a solid game. Yeah, sure, it’s an inferior opponent. But it’s not far-fetched to think the Bearcats could win out and be in contention for a New Year’s Six bowl. That run has to start Saturday at sold-out Nippert. The Bearcats will win 42-10.

UC football home openerLuke Fickell challenges Cincinnati Bearcats following season-opening loss at Arkansas

3. Return to Notre Dame Stadium

For the second straight college football season, I’ll get to sit in the stands for a game at Notre Dame Stadium. I’m heading to South Bend on Saturday to watch my Marshall Thundering Herd play the Irish. What a treat.

I was there for UC’s magical moment in the college football spotlight last fall, my first visit to Notre Dame. What impressed me most was how friendly and welcoming Irish fans and stadium ushers were to visiting fans. The ushers were telling UC fans on their way out of the stadium: “Congratulations on the big win. Have a safe trip home.” Irish fans were doing the same thing outside the stadium gates.

That doesn’t happen at a lot of college football stadiums.

I can’t wait to get back to Notre Dame Stadium and experience it again. This time, I’m taking my younger brother, A.J., a Marshall graduate. We grew up not far from Huntington, West Virginia, and have followed the Herd all our lives. I’m 9 years older, and Marshall football is what bonds us. We always pride ourselves on being nice to visiting fans when they visit Huntington for a game. We always wonder how we’ll be treated when attending a Herd game on the road.

I know we’ll be treated well on Saturday. Irish fans are first class.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Bengals will fare in NFL opener vs. Pittsburgh Steelers