The Cincinnati Bengals have experienced two major setback seasons in the last two years. Though the team is loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball, the defense has not played up to par.
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The defense nearly got worse, as perennial edge rusher Trey Hendrickson nearly made his exit. That did not happen, and now the Bengals need to ensure the defense holds its own in 2025.
The issue with the 2024 season is the Bengals got off to a rough start, dropping four games in their first five outings. They did rebound at the end of the season, securing a five-game win streak, but it was not enough.
It appears the same kind of season could be ahead for the Bengals. In fact, the team has already landed on ESPN’s bold prediction list, and their postseason outlook doesn’t look good.
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According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, the Bengals’ bold prediction would leave them on the outside of the playoffs yet again.
“The Bengals will miss the playoffs — again. I worry about how much Cincinnati relies on four players — Burrow, Chase, Higgins and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson — and fell short with all of them last season. Maybe the Bengals will get some positive defensive regression, but are we sure they’ll match their offensive output from 2024, when Burrow played the best ball of his career? The offensive line is still shaky, too,” Walder writes.
It is not hard to agree with Walder on his bold prediction. The Bengals have missed the playoffs two seasons in a row, ending both seasons with a 9-8 record.
The easy thing here is to blame the defense, which has not played great. However, the team needs to prepare better and get some big wins to start the season.
Starting slow in the NFL matters more than ending the season with a win streak, unless that win streak is rifling off 8-10 wins. The Bengals are up against the wall in terms of talented AFC teams gunning for a playoff spot.
Even the AFC North is ripe with playoff-caliber competition in the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals need to beat both of those teams to even be considered a threat, and that remains to be seen right now.
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