The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off of an extremely disappointing 2024 season. Sure, they won the last five games of the year, but that was just to dig themselves out of a self-inflicted hole to climb back to a somewhat respectable 9-8. And no, that record did not earn them a playoff berth.
It hurts worse when you miss the tournament by one game and you opened the season with a loss at home to a New England Patriots team that only won three more the rest of the year. That, and the Bengals also lost six games when scoring twenty five or more points. No wonder Joe Burrow is in a foul mood in his post-game pressers.
Nate Davis of USA Today has projected the 2025 NFL season for us (why watch then? Nate took care of it) and it’s not a very rosy picture for Who Dey Nation. It’s not bad, but Davis has the Bengals…exactly where they were last year.
So, how did he arrive at the conclusion that the Bengals will be a nine-win team again?
“A note on methodology: Using the most current information amid a few iterations of this exercise, I predict winners and losers for all 272 regular-season games to arrive at my projections,” Davis writes. “The outcomes allow me to apply tiebreakers, when needed, to determine and slot the 14-team playoff field – seedings in parentheses – before arriving at a champion. Warning, past performance is no guarantee of future returns.”
How did the Cincinnati Bengals earn a repeat performance of 2024?
Davis gave the Bengals the Maxine Nightingale treatment and has them right back where they started from last year (was that reference too obscure?). He was kind enough to have them securing that final, this-shouldn’t-even-be-a-playoff-spot playoff spot at the No. 7 seed, but he also thinks they’ll finish third in their own division.
“(7) Cincinnati Bengals (9-8): Since QB Joe Burrow was drafted in 2020, they’re 1-9 collectively in Weeks 1 and 2 – the lone win coming in 2021, when Cincy reached Super Bowl 56,” Davis writes. “The ongoing drama with All-Pro DE Trey Hendrickson seems to portend another rough start – and the Bengals open at Cleveland, where they rarely win, followed by a stretch of six games that includes five 2024 playoff opponents.
“Starting in October, the Bengals leave Ohio once in a six-week period, so perhaps that’s when they catch fire. Still, as much money as they’ve already spent this offseason, the Stripes seem to have fallen further behind Baltimore and Pittsburgh, teams that finished ahead of them last season.”
The Ravens are still king of the AFC North
It’s not crazy to think that the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will finish ahead of the Bengals. It doesn’t seem like Cincy – with that 25th-ranked dumpster fire called a defense – can catch Baltimore, but the Steelers have a Miami Dolphins “I dunno this could go in either direction” feel to them, so who knows?
Davis clearly loves the Ravens this year and thinks they’ll win the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
“(1) Baltimore Ravens (14-3): Could this finally be the year QB Lamar Jackson takes his team all the way? An upgraded secondary should address what was Baltimore’s Achilles for much of 2024. And how good is an offense that seems to (somehow) get an improved version of Jackson every year, including 2024 when he was probably robbed of a third league MVP?
“Consider that recently signed WR DeAndre Hopkins, likely a future Hall of Famer, is probably the sixth option when you consider an attack that has a second tight end like … Isaiah Likely. Yes, I like, like, like these Ravens – and considering they have a midseason stretch when they play two games in 27 days, good way to stay fresh as they pursue a second No. 1 playoff seed in three seasons.”
Okay, Bengals fans, he makes a good argument there, even if I think 14 wins sounds like an awful lot. Also, as long as the Bengals get into the dance, they – and pretty much anyone else – have a chance to choke the Ravens out of the playoffs. Someone’s done it every year of Lamar Jackson‘s career, so why not Cincy?
