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Cincinnati Bengals Have Nobody To Blame But Themselves for Missing Playoffs

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Now that the 2024-25 season has ended, the Cincinnati Bengals will be watching the playoffs from home for the second season in a row. This marks the third time in the Joe Burrow era that the Bengals missed the playoff and the first in a season when Burrow played more than 10 games. In the coming days, there will be post-mortums left and right pointing fingers, waxing poetic, and bemoaning all of the “what ifs” of the year.

While every single one will be well-founded and will have plenty of truthfulness to them, there is only one entity the Cincinnati Bengals have to blame for coming up short: the Cincinnati Bengals.

However, if your name is Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown, Mike Gesicki, Trey Hendrickson, or, really, Mike Hilton, don’t worry, this year was not on you.

All in all, most of the blame can and should be placed firmly on the decision-makers in the front office.

Cincinnati Bengals Have Nobody To Blame But Themselves for Missing Playoffs

Not Taking Care of Your Own

Remember Jessie Bates? He was an All-Pro safety that the Bengals front office just let walk away. When his contract situation was in the forefront, the general feeling among Bengals fans was, “either sign Bates or Higgins.” Getting both extended was always going to be a pipedream, so either locking down one of the best safeties or best receivers in the NFL had to be a priority.

Now, there is no guarantee Higgins even returns. This year, the fifth-year Clemson alumn played on the Franchise Tag. The team could tag him again for just over $26 million but at that point, why not just extend him?

At the same time, the team had the ability to extend Chase this past offseason and refused to do so. Chase was already one of the top receivers in the NFL, so his price tag was lofty even last year. After a likely Triple Crown season? That price has skyrocketed.

The Bengals were scared off by D.J. Reader‘s injury and let him sign with the Detroit Lions. While the injury was scary, Reader was a difference-maker for the defense and it has yet to replace him in any combination of players.

The issue with all of this is other players are noticing. If the Bengals can’t lock up sure-things like Bates, Higgins, and Chase, why would any draft pick feel comfortable in negotiations? The team can still re-sign Higgins and extend Chase this offseason. And they should.

Refusing to Fix an Obvious Issue

Last year’s defense was not good. The unit was the fifth-worst passing defense, seventh-worst rushing defense, second-worst total defense, and 12th-worst scoring defense. Even with Reader out there, the defense was a massive liability. Somehow, it got worse. And then got a little better of late.

However, going into the offseason, the defensive line needed to be addressed. The run defense was soft and the pass rush outside of Hendrickson was non-existent.

In response, the Bengals drafted two defensive tackles and signed Sheldon Rankins. In a vacuum, these moves are fine but not great. Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson have come on of late and should be regular rotational pieces. However, the fact remains that Hendrickson is the only pass rusher on the roster. Sam Hubbard was playing injured all year before being lost with a few games to go. Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy have not lived up to the hype attached to their respective draft slots.

Fine, not signing a free agent is what it is. However, the trade deadline came and went without any moves. Azeez Ojulari and Calais Campbell were reportedly on the trade block and either would have been the second-best pass rusher on the roster.

The fact of the matter is that they sat on their hands despite a glaring issue. If it weren’t for Hendrickson leading the NFL in sacks, this defense would have been historically bad. Instead, it’s only just really bad. And it could have been avoided.

Refusing to Fix the OTHER Obvious Issue

The Cincinnati Bengals have a bad offensive line. Rinse, repeat. Deja Vu. Groundhog Day. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Ever since letting Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler walk in free agency, the Bengals have failed to field even a league-average offensive line. Yet again, it reared its ugly head again this year.

This year, the team brought in Trent Brown and drafted Amarius Mims in the first round. All is well, right? Well, with Cordell Volson and Alex Cappa at guard, it made everyone’s job that much harder. It was so bad that perennial practice squad body Cody Ford had to start at left guard a few times, play left tackle, and started right tackle in Week 18. And, as most practice squad-level linemen tend to be, he was not good.

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Once again, Burrow was beaten halfway to Hell by this offensive line. He was sacked 48 times this year. Yes, some of those sacks are on Burrow but employing practice squad-level linemen is going to hurt.

Heading into free agency and the NFL Draft, the Bengals must upgrade at both guard positions at the very least.

On-Field Issues

This all boils down to what we saw on the field this year. In 17 games, and eight losses, the Bengals dropped seven one-score games. When complaining that the stars couldn’t align at the end of the year for a 9-8 Bengals team to make the playoffs, you can just point to that 0-3 and 1-4 start.

The defense let down the team each and every week. The offensive line plays as if it put out bounties on Burrow’s head. If sacks didn’t mentally bother Burrow as he’s said before, there would be a legitimate fear that he would not finish out this second contract.

And all of this falls squarely on the front office.

Wasting History

Despite fielding a soft defense, a bottom-three offensive line, and a special teams that can never seem to get out of its own way, the Bengals remained in playoff contention until the end. It wasn’t because of Zac Taylor. It wasn’t because of Duke Tobin (the Bengals’ defacto general manager because the ownership group likes to mettle in the team’s affairs).

It was due to Burrow and Chase.

If the Bengals had a league-average defense, Burrow wins MVP. He’s had to carry this team kicking and screaming to nine wins. Most of the detractors point to some of his turnovers, which is fair, Burrow does have a bit of a fumbling problem. However, he has the weight of the franchise on his shoulders. He’s mentioned that he and the offense have to play perfectly in order to give the team a chance.

He shattered his own single-season passing mark and was 81 yards away from the franchise’s first 5,000-yard passer.

Chase is in position to win the NFL’s fifth Triple Crown. He has obliterated his own receiving yards record and broke the receptions record while tying the touchdown record.

This duo should have been the reason this team made the playoffs. Instead, all of the ineptitude from the defense, coaching, and front office, it was all for naught.

A Bengals-less postseason is the handiwork of the Bengals front office, plain and simple.

Joe Burrow deserves better. Cincinnati deserves better.

The Bengals must modernize this offseason. Only two scouts won’t do it. Being stingy with guaranteed money won’t do it.

Main Image: Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The post Cincinnati Bengals Have Nobody To Blame But Themselves for Missing Playoffs appeared first on Last Word on Pro Football.