So that’s that.
In a yawner of a Super Bowl, the Eagles flexed their considerable roster muscle and outclassed the Chiefs, 40-22, in somewhat humiliating fashion. Losing GMs throughout the NFL looked on with fawning envy, including those in the AFC North.
While the AFC North’s collective outcome wasn’t too awful at .500 (34-34 overall), it’s also not very good – isn’t a .500 record the very definition of mediocrity?
Over the next month or so, I’ll offer a few paragraphs on each team’s 2024 outing and potential offseason direction. This installment covers the division’s most-frustrating team (to fans, at least).
Enjoy.
Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
The 2025 Cincinnati Bengals were an exercise in physics, as the NFL rarely sees such marked imbalance between an offense and a defense.
First, the offense.
QB Joe Burrow, playing through a “comeback” season of sorts while attempting to rebound from numerous 2023 injuries, posted the best overall numbers of his career. Burrow threw an NFL-leading 43 TD passes with only nine INTs and a 70.9% completion percentage, which rightly earned him some league MVP consideration. Not coincidentally, WR Ja’Marr Chase also showcased his best numbers with 127 catches, 1,708 yards and 17 TDs, all of which led the NFL. WR2 Tee Higgins battled injuries but still managed 73 catches for 911 yards and 10 TDs, and TE/WR Mike Gesicki added 65 catches for 665 yards and two TDs. Rookie RB Chase Brown had a good initial campaign with 990 yards rushing and 360 receiving, with 11 combined TDs.
While the team’s rushing output was somewhat limited overall, the Bengals’ aerial antics provided more than enough to compensate.
Good stuff, eh? Now…this:
The 25th-ranked defense struggled most of the season, trailing the league in most categories until mid-December. DE Trey Hendrickson became the NFL’s current sack leader with 17.5, overwhelmingly leading his team as well (the next-nearest sack total was five, by LB Joseph Ossai). MLB Germaine Pratt contributed 143 tackles, many of which were downfield after the team repeatedly failed to stop the run. The Bengals lost seven games by at least one score, and in all of those, the Bengals had scored at least 25 points. It’s pretty obvious which unit was the most detrimental to the team’s overall success.
And that last sentence is largely where the Bengals still stand.
The team DID win their last five games and would have squeaked into the playoffs if not for some unforgiving tiebreakers. Of course, another win or two by simply making a defensive stop here or there matters. The Bengals, notorious slow-starters, should be keenly aware of this. To most observers, the fixes should be clear, if not immediately easy to implement.
Those fixes so far? The team has placed the franchise tag on WR Tee Higgins for the second consecutive year in hopes of working out a long-term, hopefully team-friendly deal. Chase, for all his accolades, has a real claim to be the highest-paid WR in the NFL, and he is reportedly acting like it. The team has inexplicably given Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, which begs the question of how they plan to replace the clearly-best defensive player on the roster. Despite ample salary cap space, the team is not known for using it wisely or at all, and keeping both Higgins and Chase may kill any flexibility the team has. They have not drafted well on defense, so expecting them to fill multiple holes through the draft is probably unrealistic.
And then there’s Burrow, who will likely be clamoring for more money if he continues to post MVP-level numbers. This doesn’t bode well for a franchise that’s historically seen its best players sit out or demand trades simply to earn an honest contract. The current ownership group is not known for its generosity or clarity of decision-making, and the Bengals’ head-scratching offseason thus far appears to be further proof of that.
The Bengals were labeled “the team no one wants to play” as they neared season’s end in 2024. Internally, they’re becoming known as “the team no one wants to pay”.
Take your Tums, Cincinnati. No one deserves it more.
