Who are the Cincinnati Bengals?
It is unlikely we will be seeing the Bengals at the Super Bowl this year, so it might be unwise to be thinking about betting on them for the league championship this year. If you look at Super Bowl betting odds, you will see that the AFC is rife with teams doing extremely well this year, but this doesn’t mean the Bengals won’t go home at the end with a title.
The Bengals have been around since 1966 as a member of the AFC by the former Browns head coach, Paul Brown. They began playing in the 1968 season, with Paul Brown as their coach until 1975. He agreed to join the AFL as part of the merger, and the Bengals like other former AFL teams were assigned to the AFC following the merger.
The Bengals won the AFC championships in both 1981 and 1988, yet they lost the Super Bowl both times to the San Francisco 49ers. Then after Paul Brown’s passing in 1991, the team was inherited by his son Mike Brown.
History of the Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals had a 14-year post season drought that ended in 2005 as a team featuring the quarterback Carson Palmer, and the wide receiver Chad Jonson, won divisional titles before losing to the eventual champion- the Pittsburgh Steelers- in the playoffs. They managed to capture another division title in 2009 and qualified for the playoffs for five years straight, which was an amazing first time achievement in the franchises’ history, this ran from 2011 until 2015. However, they lost their opening game in each postseason, which extended the NFL’s longest active streak without a playoff victory. Which began in 1991.
The Bengals then began a non-stop stretch of losing seasons that reached a nadir in 2019, when they tied a franchise-worst record when they finished the season 2-14. In 2020, they did better with a 4-11 win-loss rate and this year they are already doing better.
How are the Bengals doing in the 2021-2022 Season?
The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the franchises in the NFL that has never won a Super Bowl. Although they have never won a league championship, they have won a conference championship, in fact, they have won two AFC conference championships; one in 1981, and one in 1988. They have won a total of 9 division championships as well, so what is the likelihood of them making the Super Bowl this year? Honestly, slim.
Although the Bengals are not at the bottom of the list, they are not at the top either. They have a win-loss rate of 7-6 this year, which gives them a winning percentage of 53.9%. While we cannot say, this dismisses them totally from the possibility of doing extra well this season. Many sportsbooks anticipate that the Buffalo Bills will make the playoffs, and their current win-loss rate is exactly the same as the Bengals, so might the Bengals have a shot at another title this year? It is totally possible.
It has been a while since the Bengals won a title, their last division championship was in 2015, and, so it is safe to say that they are about due another one.
They have been doing well in this year’s regular season, having made some epic wins. They dealt the Steelers 41-10 back in November, which is an impressive margin. They also beat the raiders 32-13, the Lions 34-11, and the Ravens 41-17. It’s not all sunshine and glory though, they suffered a brutal defeat from the Chargers at a loss of 41-22 on December 5th, which was immediately followed by another defeat by the 49ers with a loss of 26-23, although this defeat was less brutal, it was still a notable loss.
We can’t start guessing though, as they have plenty of time left, and they still have games against the Broncos, Ravens, Chiefs, and Browns to play. Perhaps they can take back these four games and give themselves an even better win-loss ratio, and maybe we will see them in the playoffs.
They have a solid chance at the North Division if they can slay these next four games. The Ravens are the only team in AFC North that has a higher win-loss rate of late at 8-5, Cleveland has the same rate as the Bengals, and Pittsburgh sits at 6-6-1. If the Bengals can overtake the Browns, they might be playing against the Ravens for the Division title this year.