Where did the Bengals go wrong to miss the playoffs two years in a row?
The Cincinnati Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday night when the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cincinnati’s 9-8 record ended up not being good enough despite beating the Broncos who earned the final wild-card spot in the AFC playoff picture. There’s plenty of blame to go around assessing how the Bengals got into this situation after starting the year with Super Bowl expectations.
But one thing stands out above all: The Bengals' inability to win games in the month of September is costing them far too much. Cincinnati was one win away from securing a postseason berth and in a performance-based business, the players, coaching staff and front office/ownership all played a role in the wasted season.
No one is above blame and that’s why quarterback Joe Burrow had no problem saying if the Bengals weren’t able to get in, it would be a disappointment.
“Anytime you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure,” Burrow said. “That's what you're aiming for every year. That's why you work so hard is to be at your best in the end. These last five weeks we have been. We just weren't able to find an extra win there early in the season that would put us in a better spot.”
There are plenty of things on the Bengals’ to-do list this offseason and at the top of the list should be a deep dive into the process of how Cincinnati gets ready for the season.
Head coach Zac Taylor’s record in the month of September is 7-14-1. Here is the breakdown of how each season has gone in September during his six seasons leading the club:
2019: 0-4
2020: 0-2-1
2021: 3-1
2022: 2-2
2023: 1-2
2024: 1-3
The Bengals are guilty of digging themselves such a deep hole early in the season they leave themselves no margin for error down the stretch. This is a proven theme under Taylor’s leadership, and it must be addressed if the goal of the organization isn’t to try and squeeze into the playoffs each year.
Ja’Marr Chase said this year the expectation for the Bengals now is the AFC championship each year. In order for that to take place, the Bengals can’t keep starting 0-2 or 0-3 in September. Kansas City is the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC and started the year 4-0. The Buffalo Bills are the No. 2 seed and won their first three games of the season.
How a team starts the season matters in the NFL and the record proves that it hasn’t been good enough from the Bengals.
With Burrow and Chase on the roster, the Bengals view themselves as a Super Bowl contender each season. If the Bengals ever want to make the AFC go through Cincinnati and actually host teams in the playoffs, they need to play at a higher level earlier in the season.
Winning five straight games down the stretch says a lot about the culture within the Bengals’ locker room. It doesn’t absolve what happened this year, though. The Bengals entered this year with the third-easiest strength of schedule based off projected win totals for each team.
Then, Burrow was able to get through a training camp without an injury for the first time. It looked as if everything was in place for Cincinnati to finally get off to a fast start. And then Week 1 happened and the Bengals lost at home to one of the worst teams in the NFL. New England beat the Bengals with a backup quarterback starting and a first-year head coach who was ultimately fired after the season because of the team's poor performance.
Those are the types of games championship teams win, which hasn’t been the case for the Bengals, and it needs to be the next step the organization takes.
Cincinnati’s front office deserves shared criticism for their role in the slow starts, too. The Bengals aren’t getting enough consistency out of their Day 1 and 2 draft picks. The roster disparity is proof of it. Defensive end Trey Hendrickson, Burrow and Chase all went on to have their best professional seasons and it still wasn’t enough for this team to win more games.
The Bengals never replaced nose tackle D.J. Reader with a quality starter. Sheldon Rankins was signed a week after the free agency window opened and played in just seven games due to an illness that left on him on the reserve/non-football related injured list. In the seven games he did play, Rankins registered just one sack.
Cincinnati never added a veteran cornerback prior to the season despite the cornerback room being incredibly young and inexperienced. Those two positions ended up being the Achilles' heel of the Bengals’ defense.
From a draft pick perspective, take a look at the Bengals top 100 picks in the last four years and there’s not many players who will enter the upcoming season without question marks:2021:
Round 1: Ja’Marr Chase | Round 2: Jackson Carman | Round 3: Joseph Ossai
2022:Round 1: Dax Hill | Round 2: Cam Taylor-Britt | Round 3: Zach Carter
2023:
Round 1: Myles Murphy | Round 2: DJ Turner | Round 3: Jordan Battle
2024:
Round 1: Amarius Mims | Round 2: Kris Jenkins | Round 3: Jermaine Burton, McKinnley Jackson
Several of these players are still young and have showed flashes of their potential. But to not have more sure bets on the defensive side of the ball is a big reason the team was so flawed on defense.
When NFL teams have to pay a quarterback as much as the Bengals are paying Burrow and what they will pay Chase, it becomes that much more important to hit on your draft picks.
For the Bengals to ensure another incredible season from Burrow and Chase isn’t wasted, they need to enter the offseason with a winning plan. It starts with re-signing some of their key players, adding quality talent with their free agency plan and hitting on more draft picks this year.