The Cincinnati Bengals finished the 2023 season with a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. It was a very frustrating year for the Bengals as they started out the year with a 1-3 record before winning 4 straight games to improve to 5-3 – which included a double digit win over the 49ers – in their stadium – in a game Joe Burrow threw for over 280 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also completed over 87% of his passes and this was the game where the Bengals looked like they were overcoming the rough start – and that they were probably going to be competing for a trip to the Super Bowl when January rolled around. Unfortunately the next week the Texans invaded the jungle and beat Cincinnati with a score of 30-27 and had over 540 yards of total offense. CJ Stroud threw for over 350 yards and this was supposed to be a minor setback for this team. And it happens – every team loses a game here or there. But unfortunately 4 days later in a week 11 game in Baltimore – the Bengals season was flipped upside down as Joe Burrow would exit the game with a season ending injury.
And the Bengals had some flashes after Burrow went down – like a stunning week 13 win on Monday night football over the Jags – but when your starting quarterback goes down – your season is – well – pretty much over. And the Cincinnati Bengals enter the 2024 season with a Super Bowl or bust mentality. They went to the Super Bowl back in 2021 – and I would think they’re going to get back there at some point during the Joe Burrow era – but the only question is – will they get back there in 2024? Well we’re going to break it down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down what the Bengals did in free agency – both in terms of who they acquired and who they lost. The reality of building a team in today’s NFL is teams are going to lose starters over an offseason or two and we’ve seen that with the Bengals over the last few years. During the 2023 free agency period – the Bengals lost Jessie Bates and that was fine because they had prepared for this. They knew a year in advance that they were not going to pay Jessie Bates and drafted a replacement in Dax Hill. And Dax had a really solid year for the Bengals this past year as he had over 100 tackles and and even had two interceptions. And this offseason they lost a few starters in corner Chidobe Awuzie as he went to the Titans, right tackle Jonah Williams went to the Cardinals, and the big fella – beloved defensive tackle DJ Reader signed with the Lions. They also lost two time 1,000 yard receiver Tyler Boyd to the Titans and the trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, – and of course Boyd – is no longer. That is the reality of building a team in today’s NFL and the most notable example of course is Buffalo – as they lost both safeties this offseason in Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer – as well as offensive players like Mitch Morse and Gabe Davis. And they also traded Stefon Diggs to the Texans. And the reason we bring the Bills up is because they’re not the only team to go through this – and Cincinnati has too. This is the reality of building a team in today’s era – is the re tooling or re loading of a roster every few years. But I liked what the Bengals did in free agency with the financial assets they had available
. They brought in Sheldon Rankins from the Texans who had 40 pressures during the 2023 season and bringing in a player who can push the pocket from the interior in today’s era is huge. They also have BJ Hill on the roster who had 42 pressures last year and I fully expect the Bengals defense to be one of the better units in all of football this year. They have two good interior pass rushers and even drafted a guy I like a lot in the second round in Michigan’s Kris Jenkins – who we will further breakdown during the rookie impact part of the video – but being able to rush from the interior in today’s era is huge. And there’s a reason NFL teams have started shelling out contracts north of $20 million per year to interior offensive lineman – and it’s because they don’t want pressure in the face of their quarterbacks if they can prevent. And having two players who had 40 pressures each last year be able to get after the quarterback is huge. This is of course without mentioning Trey Hendrickson who just had a career year as he would go on to have a 17.5 sack season last year – which was good for second in the league only behind TJ Watt. Sam Hubbard had a big of a down year last year relative to the player he was in 2021 and 2022 and I think he will be a better player in 2024 – than he was in 2023.
Hubbard had back to back 50+ pressure seasons in 2021 and 2022 – followed by just a 40 pressure season last year – and I would expect more than a 6 sack season from him this year. Sacks aren’t everything of course – but I also think Sam will have a better year this year from a pressures standpoint. And one other move the Bengals made that I liked a lot during the 2023 draft – was selecting Myles Murphy in the first round. Myles didn’t play much during his rookie season but that’s fine because of the guys he had in front of him. And having a player like Myles get to play behind both Trey and Sam – should in theory – only be beneficial for the long term impact of his career. Myles was only 21 asa. Rookie and this pick was always going to be a developmental selection – or in the best case scenario – a pick that may not have immediately paid off during the 2023 season – but would have given them a 3rd option to get after the quarterback in late January when it mattered – because at that point in the year – Myles would have had a full season under his belt. The only problem of course was – the Bengals had an injury riddled year and unfortunately never got to the postseason
I love the Bengals front 4 entering this year – but I don’t just like the front 4. I like all of their defense and I know we’ve said this about several signings or moves throughout the offseason for several different teams – but one move that is not talked about a lot by the media that I liked a lot – was the signing of safety Geno Stone. Geno had a career year for the Ravens in 2023 and anytime you can bring in a player that had 7 interceptions last year while also taking a starter from a division rival – especially at a reasonable cost – I’m all for it every single time. The Bengals signed Geno to a 2 year deal and what I liked in particular about this deal – was if – Geno was a one year wonder and if – Geno has one good season throughout his entire career – the Bengals are protected because they only gave him $6 million guaranteed of the $14 million he signed for. So in the worst case scenario – he’s gone in a year and the organization is protected too. I also liked the fact that they brought back Vonn Bell after a one year stint with the Panthers and even if Vonn doesn’t play a whole lot for Cincy during the 2024 season – I am all for having secondary depth – especially in today’s era – and especially in a conference where you will have to go through not just one – but several good quarterbacks to get to the super bowl. Safety Jordan Battle (show Jordan INT here) had a really solid rookie season and my thought process here is pretty simple – if you have a good rookie year – like Jordan did – who was a rookie 3rd round pick last year – then I would expect that to continue because the big transition year would have been during his rookie season. I also think the Bengals corners are pretty solid which of course is led by Cam Taylor – Britt and Mike Hilton. DJ Turner was picked on at times throughout the 2023 season which should be expected as a second round rookie corner. What may be surprising to some people is the Bengals finished 28th in opposing passing yards allowed last year. But despite that – they finished 21st in points allowed per game and what needs to be remembered for the Bengals entering the 2024 season is – I don’t think their pass defense will be as bad as it was last year at times – and even despite allowing as many yards as they did last year – they still finished with a winning record. They had very abnormal games for the Bengals – like getting beat by 20+ points by the Browns and Titans, but they overcame adversity throughout the 2023 season and I do believe they were on their way to righting the ship before Joe Burrow unfortunately had a season ending injury. And if you look at 3 losses in particular down the stretch of the season for the Bengals – and in particular the 16-10 Steelers loss in week 12, the 34-11 loss in Pittsburgh in week 16, and the 25-17 loss to the Chiefs in week 17 – is putting up 38 points in 3 games a winning recipe? No. And neither is allowing 34 points for that matter either.
But I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that if they have a healthy Joe Burrow in those games – they put up more points and there’s a chance they win. And this was all with a team that went 9-8 last year. The Bengals didn’t go 5-12 and didn’t start out 2-6 before Joe Burrow got hurt. Yes they had some bad games – but they were on their way back up. And to be completely honest with where the Bengals are entering the 2024 season – I don’t like how underrated they are heading into the year. Because I truly think – the Bengals play better when they’re underdogs and being slept on – and out of any of the past few years – the Bengals are being slept on more than they ever have been. And they are serious contenders in the loaded AFC.
