AFC Contenders Can't Sleep on Bengals

It’s been a frustrating offseason for Cincinnati Bengals fans wishing that their front office could put one foot in front of the other until they found themselves at a contract extension for edge rusher Trey Hendrickson (or common sense for rookie Shemar Stewart).

Cincinnati is certainly not immune to criticism. But it’s worth remembering the moments before the Bengals were eliminated from contention a season ago. They had won in Week 18, capping off a five-game winning streak to end the season. Before that Sunday’s festivities knocked them out of the playoffs, AFC teams and their fans were uneasy.

Cincinnati was the hottest team in football. Quarterback Joe Burrow was playing the best football of his career. And he was so close to bringing that momentum into the playoffs, where a franchise quarterback makes anything possible.

Just about everything on the defensive side of the ball went wrong in 2024, and the offense was hit hard by injuries, too. Things don’t need to go great for the Bengals to be poised for a massive rebound in 2025. They merely can’t be cataclysmic.

Subsequently, Pro Football Focus ranked Cincinnati as one of the most overlooked teams heading into the new season.

“One of the biggest stories of the 2025 regular season was the Bengals finding ways to lose games despite continuous heroic efforts from quarterback Joe Burrow,” Dalton Wasserman wrote. “Burrow ranked second in the NFL in PFF passing grade, but the team’s lack of balance around him on both sides of the ball prevented them from making the playoffs.

“Cincinnati lost seven of its 11 one-score games last season. The franchise was realistically only a handful of plays from having one of the best records in the league, even accounting for its plethora of flaws.”

Burrow, once again, will be expected to perform like an MVP. With Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins back (and paid), the sport’s most lethal passing-game trio is primed to explode again, especially with a below-average defense.

Cincinnati is due for positive regression, both on defense and in one-score games, which Wasserman noted. Burrow can keep them in any game, and with better luck, he’s bound to come out on top more often.

“The AFC is loaded with contenders who have excellent quarterbacks,” Wasserman concluded. “Burrow has proven time and again that he can beat any of them, including Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Cincinnati just needs to find him a little more help and execute better in big moments.”

It’s easy to see the Bengals in the playoffs in 2025. If fortune truly falls in their favor and they host a playoff game or two, no one would be surprised to see Cincinnati make a run.