Reflecting on Cincinnati Bengals' Historic Run Following Loss in AFC Championship Game

The Bengals' season came to an end on Sunday in Kansas City.

CINCINNATI — It wasn’t supposed to end this way. The Bengals were supposed to win their fifth-straight road playoff game to advance to Super Bowl LVII and bring Cincinnati their first Lombardi Trophy.

This team broke multiple franchise records, despite facing plenty of adversity throughout the season. It felt like they were a team of destiny.

From Joe Burrow undergoing an appendectomy at the start of training camp that limited him early in the year, to overcoming injuries to key guys, including Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon and multiple offensive and defensive linemen.

Burrow’s playmaking ability, smarts and elite weapons, combined with a mad scientist named Lou Anarumo on defense made everyone believe they could win a championship this season. 

This team was supposed to have the fairy tale ending. Instead, they lost to the Chiefs for the first time in the Burrow era and were sent home two games short of their goal.

“I feel great about the direction that we’re headed in,” Burrow said after the game. “That’s the great thing about the NFL, it’s not like college where you only have four years, you have as many years as you want to, hopefully. We will come back, have a great offseason and get better as a team, get better individually and come back next year ready to go.”

What will this team look like? Will Jessie Bates or Vonn Bell still be on the roster? What about Germaine Pratt?

The Bengals should be really good again next season, but this roster is going to change a lot more than it did following their run to Super Bowl LVI. Outside of the departures of C.J. Uzomah and Larry Ogunjobi, the Bengals brought everyone back and added talent in the offensive line room.

That’s what made this group so special. They were close. They cared for one another. 

From their locker room card games to intense ping-pong sessions—they competed on and off the field like brothers. 

They came together following a blowout loss to the Browns on Halloween night and won a franchise record 10-straight games. They won back-to-back AFC North Championships for the first time in team history.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed and you wanna capitalize on the moment,” Vonn Bell said. “Just be there for one another because you wanna keep on going as long as this thing can go because it’s the nature of the business. You wanna come out on top with you guys, keep on going with your guys, but we fell short.”

Losing in the playoffs, especially after winning 10-straight games, is like the bottom dropping out of a elevator that was hoping to reach it's championship peak. 

The Bengals have had a great two-year run. They've established themselves as one of the NFL's best teams. They’ll have the chance to make another run next season with Burrow, Chase and plenty of other talent still on the roster.

"Didn’t get it done. It’s heartbreaking to lose in a championship [game],” Ted Karras said. “We have to come back ready to go. There’s been a lot of history of teams that don’t do well after a long season like that. We’ll do everything we can to start faster next year and our goal is to get back to the championship game.”

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