Opinion: Cincinnati Bengals stunned everyone with ahead-of-schedule Super Bowl ascension
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl?
Kids, this is today’s lesson that if you follow the NFL long enough, you’ll see that every dog and underdog (except the Detroit Lions) will have its day.
Baby Boomers, this is like "Twilight Zone" stuff. Rod Serling will pop out of a closet at any moment now.
“We’re going to the Super Bowl!” Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard affirmed after the 27-24 overtime verdict against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Hubbard, a fourth-year pro who grew up in Ohio and attended Ohio State, undoubtedly senses the pain of long-suffering Bengals fans more than most of his teammates.
“It sounds crazy to say that,” he added of the Roman Numeral matchup. “It’s hard to believe it.”
Believe it. The Bengals have just claimed the franchise’s first Super Bowl berth in 33 years, since Boomer and Ickey and a crazy coach named Sam Wyche were in the fold. It’s been a long time coming, yet it is now so well deserved as a resilient team sprung yet another upset.
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Before stunning the Chiefs, the Bengals won the first road playoff game in franchise history by upending the top-seeded Tennessee Titans in Nashville. Now they’re headed to L.A. to meet the Rams in Super 56 after winning a second road playoff game in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 21-3 deficit.
Remember, the Bengals finished the 2020 season in last place in the AFC North. In 2019, they were worst in the NFL, which earned them the No. 1 draft pick that was used to select franchise quarterback Joe Burrow.
Now they’re AFC champs.
“If you’d have told me before the season that we would be going to the Super Bowl, I would have called you crazy,” Burrow said.
Burrow, though, did not come to Arrowhead Stadium doubting the chances to punch a Super Bowl ticket. As the season unfolded with one comeback after another, with one statement victory after another – which the AFC North-rival Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens can vouch for – Burrow and his teammates grew to realize that this was indeed possible in the topsy-turvy NFL.
“Now, I’m not surprised,” Burrow added.
These Bengals, coached by young riser Zac Taylor, have absolutely nothing to do with the units that could never get over the hump during the best years of the Marvin Lewis era and for many years largely floundered.
It’s a new era, ignited by the likes of Burrow, rookie wideout Ja’Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson and a rookie kicker, Evan McPherson. And with the achievements, including the AFC North crown, the legs of confidence keep growing.
Shoot, they didn’t panic when they trailed 21-3 on Sunday, perhaps mindful of how they beat these same Chiefs in Week 17 after rallying from a 14-point deficit.
“We’re made for this moment,” Bengals safety Vonn Bell said. “Why not us?”
Bell snagged the interception of Patrick Mahomes in overtime that set up McPherson’s game-winning field goal. And that was just one of the big plays from a defense that stiffened as the game progressed. Cincinnati allowed just three points after halftime, and starting with a stop just before halftime, went six consecutive series without allowing the prolific Kansas City offense to score a point.
The Bengals collected all four of their sacks on Mahomes in the second half, which says something about how the game turned – and how a defense that has come up with so many timely takeaways in recent weeks complements the potent Cincinnati offense.
“We’ve been counting on them," Chase said of the defense. "They’ve been our backbone.”
But still: The Bengals in the Super Bowl? Bell doesn’t care much about your expectations or mine for his team.
“We’re not worried about outside noise,” he said. He likes the idea of proving people wrong as underdogs. “Day in and day out, we know what type of group we have.”
This was undoubtedly the vision as the Bengals began building this team, with Burrow being the centerpiece addition but just one piece of a puzzle that includes Chase and a cadre of impact free agent signings.
But when these playoffs began, it was reasonable to view the Bengals – even with a phenomenal quarterback in Burrow -- as maybe being a year away from contending for a Super Bowl berth.
Well, guess what? They’ve arrived.
And so much earlier than expected to write a new chapter in Bengals history.
Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.