Summary

On the strength of one of the NFL's most talented young rosters, third-year head coach Zac Taylor and the Bengals enjoyed one of the most successful runs in team history, cruising to a 10-7 record, AFC North title, AFC Championship and berth in Super Bowl LVI. It was the second consecutive season played under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to circle and affect the entire globe. The league's pandemic protocols remained in effect throughout the entirety of the 2021 season, but were loosened for teams and fans who were fully vaccinated. In April, the Bengals announced the formation of a Ring of Honor to display inside Paul Brown Stadium, with team founder Paul Brown and Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz as the first two members, who were later joined by, as voted by season ticket holders, both QB Ken Anderson and CB Ken Riley. The ROH was unveiled to fans during a halftime ceremony of Game 4 vs. Jacksonville. The team also unveiled new team uniforms in April, updating the striping on the various color options of the jersey and pants while keeping the team's iconic helmet design intact. It was the first major uniform change since 2004, and the fourth significant uniform redesign in team history. With regard to the roster, the Bengals assembled a collection of new players who proved to be key in the team's run to the Super Bowl. While the team said goodbye to a number of notable veterans — including two of the most celebrated Bengals ever in DT Geno Atkins (released) and WR A.J. Green (signed with Arizona as a UFA) — it began the new league year actively involved in free agency, signing many significant new players, particularly on defense. That list included DE Trey Hendrickson and DT Larry Ogunjobi, as well as CBs Chidobe Awuzie, Eli Apple and Mike Hilton. In the draft, the team added first-round WR Ja'Marr Chase (fifth overall) and fifth-round K Evan McPherson, who both proved to be key additions that were fundamental to the team's successful season. And via trade, the Bengals also acquired DT B.J. Hill from the N.Y. Giants. Second-year QB Joe Burrow posted new team records for passing yardage (4611), passing TDs (34) and passer rating (108.3) en route to being named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year. His 525 passing yards on Dec. 26 set a new team record, breaking Boomer Esiason's longtime mark of 490, which was set 31 seasons earlier in 1990. Burrow's primary target was Chase, who had teamed with him in college to win a national championship at Louisiana State University in 2019. Chase put together arguably the top NFL rookie season ever by a WR en route to earning the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He caught 81 passes for 1455 yards and 13 TDs during the regular season. The receiving yards total established a new team record and was the most ever by an NFL rookie in the Super Bowl era, and his 1734 combined receiving yards in both the regular season and postseason counted as the most ever by an NFL rookie. He set a new team record for most receiving yards in a game with 266 on Jan. 2 vs. Kansas City. With the Bengals, Chase teamed with second-year WR Tee Higgins (74 catches for 1091 yards and six TDs) and sixth-year slot WR Tyler Boyd (67 for 828 and five) to form one of the NFL's most productive receiving trios. Fifth-year HB Joe Mixon proved to be one of the NFL's top RBs, posting career-highs in rushing yardage (1205) and total TDs (16), while seventh-year TE C.J. Uzomah, the longest-tenured Bengal on offense, also had a career season with 49 catches for 493 yards and five TDs. Cincinnati's defense showed significant improvement thanks to the new faces and returning veterans. Hendrickson recorded the second-most sacks (14) in team history while bookend DE and Cincinnati native Sam Hubbard added another 7.5. At NT, 347-pound D.J. Reader returned after his first Bengals season was cut short by injury, and he helped Cincinnati's 2021 run defense improve 24 spots over the '20 squad. Ogunjobi and Hill rotated next to Reader and combined for 12.5 sacks. Second-year pro Logan Wilson made the leap from 2020 rotational player to one of the NFL's top young LBs, leading the team both total tackles (98) and interceptions (four). Logan's four INTs also tied for the NFL lead among LBs, and counted as the most by a Bengals LB in 16 years. The secondary was led by a pair of team captains at S in Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III, who combined for three key INTs and a sack during the Bengals' playoff run, while all three of Cincinnati's starting CBs were new to the team in 2021 — Apple, Awuzie and Hilton — and each had a pair of INTs. On special teams, the celebrity of the year was McPherson, a 22- year-old rookie whose leg strength and reliability under pressure turned him into an immediate fan favorite. McPherson's nine FGs of 50 or more yards during the regular season was just one shy of tying the NFL single-season record of 10, and enough to set a new team career record. He also became the only kicker in team history to convert three FGs of 50 or more yards in a game, and he hit five game-winning "walk-off" FGs as a rookie, including two in postseason. On Dec. 19 at Denver, McPherson set a new team record for longest FG in team history when he converted a 58-yarder. The Bengals recorded their first postseason victory since the 1990 season when they won a Wild Card Playoff vs. the Las Vegas Raiders in front of a record crowd of 66,277 at Paul Brown Stadium. The team followed that win with road victories at the No. 1-seed Tennessee Titans and the No. 2-seed Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC Championship and secure a berth in Super Bowl LVI. The Super Bowl was played against the L.A. Rams on their home field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., however Cincinnati was listed as the home team. The Bengals fell behind 13-3 early in the second quarter, but closed the gap to take the lead on the first play of the second half with a 75-yard TD pass from Burrow to Higgins that counted as the longest play from scrimmage in Bengals postseason history. Cincinnati stretched its lead to seven, but L.A.'s defense stood strong. A TD by WR Cooper Kupp gave the Rams a three-point lead with 1:25 remaining, and the Bengals' attempt to tie or win ended on a fourth-and-one at midfield when Burrow threw an incomplete pass while being tackled. Shortly after the Super Bowl, the NFL and the NFLPA jointly announced that they had suspended all COVID-19 protocols going into the new 2022 league year.

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2021 NFL Draft: April 29-May 1

Summary

The 2022 offseason included two major facilities announcements for the Bengals. In April, the Cincinnati Planning Commission approved the team's application to build a temporary indoor practice facility southwest of the team's practice fields on the north bank of the Ohio River. Later in October, the team began to regularly utilize the structure, which was named the IEL Indoor Facility (after Cincinnati-based international logistics company and team sponsor Integrity Express Logistics). Then, on Aug. 9, three days prior to the preseason opener, Paul Brown Stadium was re-named Paycor Stadium when the team and Cincinnati-based human capital management company Paycor announced an expanded partnership which included stadium naming rights. Once the regular season started, the defending AFC Champion Bengals put together a second consecutive remarkable season which included a second straight AFC North Division title and a repeat appearance in the AFC Championship. Cincinnati finished the regular season 12-4, tying for the most wins in a season in team history. The team started the season with a 4-4 record heading into November, and then quickly evolved into one of the hottest teams in the NFL down the stretch. Cincinnati tied a franchise record with eight consecutive victories to close out the regular season, five of which came against teams that qualified for the playoffs the previous year. The Bengals, who during the win streak adopted the mantra "They Gotta Play US," claimed the AFC North crown prior to the regular-season finale. The team proceeded to extend its overall win streak to 10 after postseason wins vs. Baltimore in a Wild Card Playoff and at Buffalo in a Divisional Playoff. As they did after the 2021 season, the Bengals once again traveled to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, only this time they came up just short in a 23-20 loss to end the season. The 2022 Bengals offense again was headlined by QB Joe Burrow, who in his third pro season further established himself as one of the league's elite signal callers. Burrow passed for 35 TDs, eclipsing his own team record of 34 set just one year earlier, while also ranking fifth in the NFL in both completions (414, also a team record) and passing yards (4475). He was selected to the Pro Bowl, as was his top target, second-year WR Ja'Marr Chase. Chase led the Bengals in receptions (87), receiving yards (1046) and receiving TDs (nine) during the regular season, despite missing four games due to injury, and he joined former WR A.J. Green as the only players in team history with consecutive 1000-yard receiving seasons to begin their careers. WR Tee Higgins had his second consecutive 1000-yard season with 74 receptions for 1029 yards and seven TDs, while WR Tyler Boyd added another 58 catches for 762 yards and five TDs. HB Joe Mixon totaled 1255 yards from scrimmage (814 rushing and 441 receiving) and nine total TDs. In the team's Game 9 win vs. Carolina, Mixon had a historic performance, rushing for 153 yards on 22 attempts (7.0-yard average) with four TDs, while also catching four passes for 58 yards and a TD. His five total TDs and 30 total points each set Bengals single-game records, and his four rushing scores tied former HB Corey Dillon for the team's single-game mark. Mixon's total of 211 yards from scrimmage also was a personal career high. The performance made him just the sixth player in the Super Bowl era with at least 200 scrimmage yards and five total TDs in a game, and just the third player in the Super Bowl era with at least four rushing TDs and one receiving TD in a game. On defense in 2022, Cincinnati allowed just 20.1 points per game, the sixth-lowest average in the NFL, while it held opposing QBs to a league-low 58.9 completion percentage. The Bengals' defense boasted playmakers on all three levels, led by a line that spearheaded the NFL's seventh-ranked run defense (106.6). DE Trey Hendrickson had a team-leading eight sacks and three FFs to earn his second straight Pro Bowl nod. At LB, Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt each set a career high in total tackles with 123 and 99, respectively, while also combining for 3.5 sacks and three INTs. The secondary featured a veteran safety duo in Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell, who each had a career-best four INTs and started all 19 games through the regular and postseason. After starting CB Chidobe Awuzie suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 8, rookie CB Cam Taylor-Britt stepped in and quickly asserted himself as a foundational piece on the Bengals roster. Taylor-Britt had 55 tackles and six PDs in the regular season, then grabbed his first career INT to seal the team's Divisional Playoff win at Buffalo. Cincinnati's Week 17 home contest against Buffalo was initially postponed and later canceled after Bills S Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field at Paycor Stadium early in the game. After receiving immediate emergency attention from the game's medical personnel, Hamlin was taken to a local hospital, where he stayed for one week before returning to a Buffalo medical facility to continue his recovery. Cincinnati's postseason began with a 24-17 home Wild Card Playoff win over Baltimore which produced one of the most notable and iconic defensive plays in Bengals history. With the score tied 17-17 early in the fourth quarter and Baltimore at the Cincinnati one-yard line, Ravens QB Tyler Huntley attempted to reach the ball over a pile of linemen, but LB Logan Wilson knocked it out of his hands and into the arms of DE Sam Hubbard, who returned it 98 yards for a touchdown in what ended up being the game-deciding TD. It was the longest fumble return for a TD in NFL postseason history, and the longest score of any kind in Bengals postseason history. In a snowy Divisional Playoff the following week at Buffalo, the Bengals jumped out to a 14-0 lead and dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage to cruise to a 27- 10 victory. With the win, the Bengals became just the fourth team in NFL history to win both home and road playoff games in back-to-back seasons. In the AFC Championship game, seeking its second consecutive Super Bowl appearance, Cincinnati erased deficits of 10 points in the first half and seven points in the second, but ultimately came up short in a back-and-forth contest. In the game's final seconds, with the scored tied 20-20, an unnecessary roughness penalty called on the Bengals put the Chiefs in range for a game-winning kick, and K Harrison Butker converted a 45-yard FG with three seconds left to win the conference title for eventual Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City. In the season opener on Sept. 11 vs. Pittsburgh, K Evan McPherson set a new team record for longest FG in team history when he converted a 59-yarder. During a halftime ceremony at the team's Thursday Night Football home game against Miami on Sept. 29, the Bengals presented former OT Willie Anderson and former WR Isaac Curtis as the 2022 additions to the team's Ring of Honor, as voted by season ticket holders. The Miami game also served as the introduction of the team's new alternate white helmet, as well as the introduction of the first-ever White Bengal game — a "white-out" contest in which all the team's logos on the field were painted white, and in which fans throughout the stadium wore predominantly white-colored apparel. The Dolphins game was played in front of 67,260, establishing a new mark for the largest ever crowd to attend a sports event in Cincinnati. By the end of the 2022 season, Paycor Stadium had hosted over 65,000 fans in all eight home games during the regular season and postseason, with six of the attendance figures ranking among the top-10 in team history. On Feb. 9, during the NFL Honors awards show prior to Super Bowl LVII, former Bengals CB Ken Riley was officially named as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2023. The announcement came posthumously for Riley, who passed away on June 7, 2020. In the team's record book, Riley's 65 career INTs still constitute the most dominant lead in any major category, nearly doubling the second-place total of 33. At the time of his retirement, that total of 65 INTs was the fourth most in NFL history, and it still stands tied for fifth most.

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Summary

The Cincinnati Bengals followed back-to-back postseason appearances with their third consecutive winning season in 2023, finishing with a 9-8 record. The 2023 campaign was highlighted by a pair of winning streaks which each took the Bengals over .500, beginning with four straight from Weeks 5-9. That streak included a road victory over San Francisco, which went on to become the No. 1 seed in the NFC and advance to Super Bowl LVIII, as well as a home win against Buffalo, which won the AFC East. Then, heading into December with an offense led by backup QB Jake Browning, the team won three in a row while averaging 31.7 points scored in that span to return to the AFC playoff race.

The Bengals' offense featured fourth-year QB Joe Burrow at full health from Weeks 5-10. In that stretch, they ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in scoring (26.6 points per game; No. 7) and passing yards (275.6; No. 4), while Burrow led the league in completion percentage (74.1) and was second in passer rating (107.0). The passing game was boosted by another Pro Bowl campaign from WR Ja'Marr Chase, who had a career-high 100 receptions and became the eighth player in league history to reach 1000 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons.

Browning became a starter for the first time in his career and helped lead the team to a 4-3 finish after Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11 at Baltimore. Over the final seven weeks, Browning ranked second in the NFL in passing yards (1868) and completion percentage (71.5), and he became just the third QB since 1950 to pass for at least 1500 yards and 10 TDs with a completion percentage of 70 or higher in his first seven career starts. The three-game winning streak with Browning included a pair of overtime victories — at Jacksonville on Monday Night Football on Dec. 4, and vs. Minnesota on Dec. 16.

Several Bengals defensive players posted their top statistical seasons in 2023, led by DE Trey Hendrickson, who joined Chase in collecting his third straight Pro Bowl honor. Hendrickson recorded a career-high 17.5 sacks, which tied for second in the NFL and ranked second in team history for a single season (behind DE Coy Bacon; 22.0 in 1976). Included in Hendrickson's total was a streak of seven consecutive games (Weeks 11-17) in which he had at least one full sack, which tied for the longest streak in the league in 2023 and marked the second longest in his career. LB Logan Wilson paced the team in tackles for the third straight season, finishing with a career-high 135 stops, and his four INTs tied second-year CB Cam Taylor-Britt for the team lead.

Off the field, the team once again enhanced game day production and fan experience at Paycor Stadium, further establishing one of the top home-field advantages in the NFL. The Week 3 win over the L.A. Rams on Monday Night Football served as the annual "White Bengal" game, as Cincinnati wore its white helmet and fans accentuated the look by creating a stadium-wide "White Out" environment. For the Week 9 contest against Buffalo, the Bengals for the first time ever invited fans to "Stripe The Jungle," as different sections of the stadium were striped in orange or black to watch Cincinnati defeat the Bills in a nationally televised game on Sunday Night Football.

Each Bengals home game in 2023 boasted an attendance figure of over 65,000, with three contests — Week 6 vs. Seattle, Week 9 vs. Buffalo and Week 10 vs. Houston — ranking in the top five largest crowds in team history.

The 2023 season additionally featured three Bengals legends being honored for their storied careers in Cincinnati. In August, CB Ken Riley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining OT Anthony Munoz as former primarily Bengals players immortalized in Canton, Ohio. At halftime of the team's Week 3 game against the Rams, QB Boomer Esiason and WR Chad Johnson became the seventh and eighth members of the Bengals Ring of Honor, which recognizes former players, coaches and individuals who have played a significant role in the franchise's history and tradition.

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2023 NFL Draft: April 27-April 29